Chapter I: The obligation to insure.

Vehicles registered in a French overseas department or territory or in Mayotte, as well as vehicles not subject to registration whose usual place of parking is in one of these departments or territories or in Mayotte, are subject to the provisions of this section when driving in mainland France. However, as far as these vehicles are concerned, the documents provided for in articles R. 211-22 and R. 211-23 are also…

Any policyholder of an insurance contract provided for in Article L. 211-1 must affix to the insured motor vehicle, in accordance with the conditions laid down by an order of the Minister for the Economy, the insurance certificate described in Articles R. 211-21-2 and R. 211-21-3, paragraph 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 are applicable to motor vehicles with a total authorised laden weight of less than or equal to…

For the application of article R. 211-21-1, any insurance company operating in the territory of the French Republic must issue, free of charge, a certificate for each of the vehicles covered by the contract, with the exception of trailers. The certificate must state a) The name of the insurance company ; b) A number identifying the policyholder; c) The vehicle registration number; d) The engine number if the vehicle is…

The certificate referred to in article R. 211-21-2 is issued by the insurance undertaking within a maximum of fifteen days of taking out the contract and renewed when subsequent premiums or portions of premiums are paid. If this document cannot be issued immediately, the insurance undertaking will issue a provisional certificate free of charge when the policy is taken out or during the term of the policy. The validity dates…

The one-month extension of the presumption mentioned in article R. 211-16 applies to the certificate. The one-month extension of the presumption mentioned in article R. 211-16 does not apply to the provisional certificate.

Any policyholder of an insurance contract relating to a vehicle mentioned in article R. 211-21-1 who fails to affix to the vehicle concerned the certificate provided for in articles R. 211-21-2 and R. 211-21-3 or affixes an invalid certificate will be liable to the fine provided for second-class offences.

The provisions of articles R. 211-21-1 to R. 211-21-5 do not apply in the cases mentioned in the last paragraph of article R. 211-14 and to the persons mentioned in articles R. 211-22 and R. 211-23.

The vehicles referred to in the second paragraph of article R. 211-21-1 used by the State must be equipped with a specific insurance certificate, the characteristics of which are set by the Minister for the Economy, if they are not specially registered.