What is the insurance liability regarding automobile?
The insurance liability “guarantees compensation for property damage and bodily caused to others by the driver of the car or its passengers in an accident.
Designed to enable victims of traffic accidents and still be properly compensated, it is compulsory for all motorists, and is therefore included in any contract of automobile insurance.

What is a record of information?
It is a document which traces the history of a persons record. It contains the following information:
– The usual designated drivers,
– The number, nature and shared responsibility of claims filed,
– The identity of the driver responsible and finally the reduction coefficient-increase (or Bonus / Malus).

The statement information covers a period that varies according to the companies.
The insurer is obliged to issue a statement of information to an insured when there is termination of contract.

The law requires every motorist to be insured under what is commonly known as the “liability”.
This insurance covers compensation for damage to property and tangible that could be caused to others by the driver of the car or its passengers in an accident.
A motor insurance contract may be limited to this simple guarantee, or include other guarantees.

Automobile insurance is compulsory?
The law requires every motorist to be insured under what is commonly known as the “liability”. This insurance covers compensation for damage to property and tangible that could be caused to others by the driver of the car or its passengers in an accident. A motor insurance contract may be limited to this simple guarantee, or include other guarantees.

What is the difference between an insurance “third” and all risks insurance?
Every driver must at least be insured for bodily injury and property damage caused to third by the insured vehicle (articles 211-1 and 211-5 of the Insurance Code).
This insurance mandatory minimum insurance is called “third parties”.
The assurances “all risks” include guarantees more extensive and cover damage to your car, whatever the manager, even if the driver (except in general in the case of conduct in the case of drunkenness) And even if the person is not identified (in case of vandalism, for example).
The insurance “all risks” is therefore a better compensation insurance that “third parties”.

The auto insurance, home insurance, are the two major insurance “father”. Anyone who uses a motor vehicle may effect: incur liability in causing injury to others, damaging the vehicle, suffered an injury.
Guarantees
A contract includes auto, almost always guarantees against any damage that may be caused by the use of a motor vehicle. These guarantees are of two kinds:

one mandatory, the security liability, the other optional warranty damage.

The owner of several vehicles must ensure for each. The auto insurance is linked to the vehicle and not the underwriter. The guarantee does not play if the driver was travelling without valid driving licence.

Thus, while motor insurance contract contains there a minimum guarantee liability. Most often, it also includes a property insurance on the automobile itself. The contract may also include a “guarantee of the driver.”

Guarantee RC mandatory
Any person (or entity other than the State), whose civil liability (RC) may be incurred as a result of damage suffered by third parties and resulting damage to persons or property in the achievement of which a motor vehicle is involved, must therefore, to move the vehicle, be covered by insurance guaranteeing that responsibility.

For the purposes of this provision, under the Insurance Code, members of the family of the driver or the insured are treated as third.

The security RC covers damage to third parties and passengers (but not the driver).

Guarantee damage optional
The vehicle itself can be assured. This insurance is optional, but essential especially for newer vehicles.

The collateral damage covers only damage to the vehicle. It is more or less scope:

“third collision”: playing only in the event of a collision with a third identified (vehicle, pedestrian, animal) and covering the damage directly caused by the collision and secondary damage, “all risks”: covering all the damage (collision or not) .

It may be supplemented by guarantees accessories covering various risks (fire, theft, broken windows, attacks, natural disasters, defense appeal, “individual incident” to the driver and passengers, assistance, etc.)..

Prime and bonus-malus
Insurers can freely determine their prices.

Generally speaking, the premium (in other words, the price of insurance) is calculated according to:

risks covered, vehicle (type and brand), its use (professional and / or private), area of residence and normal movement, the driver (age, sex, length of driving licences, the social group .. .).
According to the history of the driver, applies a “multiplier” of the premium, coefficient:

Reduction ( “bonus”) of 5% for each year without an accident (0.5 minimum) or increase ( “penalty”), 25% for each accident for which the insured is responsible (3.5 maximum ).

This system of no-claims bonus is, for several years been challenged by the European Commission.

Accident and Indemnity
Any victim (except the driver at fault) is compensation:

by the insurer of the vehicle responsible or by the Guarantee Fund damages if the perpetrator of the accident is unknown or poorly known or not insured.

NOTE – Whatever the nature of the damage, the insurer must therefore ensure that civil liability, submit to the victim, within 3 months from the claim, an offer of compensation reasoned.

In addition, to accelerate the regulations of traffic accidents, interline agreements were introduced:

IRSA Convention: Convention direct compensation from the insured and appeal among auto insurance companies which applies to property damage and Convention IRCA Convention, compensation and redress automobile body which applies to damage tangible and allows, under certain conditions, to directly compensate the occupants of a vehicle, including the driver.

Length of contract
The contract auto insurance:

concludes for 1 year, is renewable by tacit agreement.
For sale, the contract is suspended as of right from the day after. It may be terminated by giving 10 days:

the insured must inform the insurer, by registered letter, the date of sale and attach supporting documents relating, the insurer reimburses the share premium after the termination and assured him back green card and certificate of insurance.

Auto insurance market is a highly coveted by a wide variety of actors: limited liability companies or mutual groups, but also banks, some without intermediary dealing with their customers while others use the services of general agents or brokers. Decided required by law, motor insurance is often not collected from consumers who have a great sensitivity tariffs. The market is therefore delivers a fierce price war. To preserve their margins, insurers must compete inventiveness.

Axa and Macif compete for first place
Six players exceed, in 2005, one billion euros turnover in auto insurance. The international group Axa dominates the market with 2 billion euros of premiums collected, even though it was only second in terms of number of contracts sold (about 4.2 million out fleets of companies and motorcycles). A difference is explained by its economic model: sales are conducted by a network of 3,800 general agents who receive a margin on each contract, even increasing its price.

On the contrary, Macif, mutual group without an intermediary, a practice lower prices and ranks first in terms of sales volume with about 4.7 million contracts, for a turnover of 1.7 billion euros . So qu’Axa has managed to preserve its market share, Macif has suffered from price wars on his heart activity (40% of its turnover is done on the car).

The approximation of three mutual threat leaders
The group Groupama-GAN, born of the merger of two insurers in 1998, ranks third in both value and volume. But this place is also coveted by all trained by Maaf Assurances and MMA. Distinctes commercially, these brands have decided to pool their resources since 2000, under the structure Covéa. Additionnés, the results of Maaf and MMA and exceed those of Groupama.

In 2006, another player of the World mutual Covéa has also joined the group Azur-GMF. The synergies should begin to read in the results of 2007. The consolidated turnover of these three actors then exceed that of leader Axa.

The mutual Maif, originally reserved for officials of National Education since 1988 but opened to the rest of the population, ranks fifth with nearly 3 million contracts sold. Overdue for tariff purposes, Maif benefits instead of one of the lowest rates of termination of the contract. AGF, limited liability company acquired by German giant Allianz of insurance in 1997, came sixth with 2.5 million vehicles insured.

A price war which slows
In recent years, the market for auto insurance was hit by a phenomenon of deflation, fuelled by the government, concerned that declining mortality on the roads would result in a reduction in insurance premiums for motorists. But the price war that has been delivered insurers french steam. “The rates reported for 2007 are down only 2%, against 5 to 10% in 2005 and 2006, and they are often ad marketing,” says Cyril Chartier-Kastler, vice-president of Solving International, consulting firm which conducts an annual study on the insurance sector.

Indeed, if it is justified by the fall in the number of claims, falling prices pose problems for insurers profitability. “The number of fatalities on the road is reduced but not that serious injuries which are more expensive to the insurer,” says Cyril Chartier-Kastler. Not counting the rising costs of repair material and medical care, and the increase in payments for damages decided by the courts. Given this inflation of claims, reinsurers, which are turning to insurers to cover a portion of their risks, are also increasing their premiums. An extra cost which reduces the margins of insurance companies.

The escalation marketing to preserve margins
To solve this equation raised against them, insurers are required to compete innovation in marketing. Everyone will guarantee its exclusive option, mainly geared towards improving the service provided to the insured: guarantee for mechanical breakdowns immobilizing the vehicle, assistance “kilometer zero”, a car loan replacement … Most insurers are now backed by an expert assistance, either with its subsidiary AGF Mondial Assistance, Generali with Europ Assistance or mutual Maif, Maaf, Macif and Matmut, allies in the GIE Ima. “The objective is to provide services whose value is difficult to calculate by consumers and generate strong margins and” analysis Cyrille Chartier-Kastler. But this innovation strategy has its limits: in this highly competitive market, an insurer does not in fact a long-standing exclusivity and counters recover easily from scratch.

Insurance companies such as Axa and AGF have adopted, however, a strategy of differentiation of the offer: they segment their customer file, searching for profiles overbilled (couples, young drivers, drivers of vans …) And break the market prices. A strategy that is no more sustainable than others but which allows timely boost subscriptions.

Streamline the expenditure incurred by claims
To preserve their sustainable margins, insurers are moving mainly to an optimization of their expenditure, namely repair costs. “Most insurers now have an industrial management of claims, allowing them to make gains on their cost price,” says Cyril Chartier-Kastler. The aim is to concentrate a maximum of repairs at a limited number of repairers with whom hourly rates and the number of hours of labor are negotiated. The wholesale prices are also discussed with suppliers, while focusing on repairing damage to the replacement of parts.

Alliances between insurers become particularly strategic in this industrialization strategy for the management of claims. The group formed by Maaf, MMA and Azur-GMF should be able to generate significant synergies in this area and improve both the ratio of premiums / cost of claims. Spending on health and damages, however, are much more difficult to rationalize. They, however, weigh heavily on the results of insurers.

A competitor of size: bancassurance
To complete this competition between actors historic automobile insurance, new entrants are emerging, though determined to steal their market share. The first is direct insurers, which operate on the Internet in particular, like Direct Insurance. But their success remains limited: “Unlike countries like the United Kingdom, French law provides for the automatic renewal of insurance contracts, analysis Cyrille Chartier-Kastler. It is therefore very difficult for new entrants to take shares market to others. ”

However, competition from banks is seen as a far greater threat. If for the moment only two players can be compared to the major insurers, Credit Mutuel (ACM) and Credit Agricole (Pacifica), the margin of increase of all bancassureurs is very strong. “In 2020, an operator as Credit Agricole will be before the Macif,” predicts the vice-president of Solving International. To their credit, banks have dense distribution networks and close to customers and a powerful computer system, allowing them to offer insurance products tailor-made. But they rely primarily on their customer databases, rich in lessons on the risk profile of each insured potential. They can make a selection of the risks before the contract. A key competitive advantage that traditional insurers, even throwing offers banking, will find it difficult to counter.