French Insurance Code

The internal regulations referred to in article R. 421-25 specify the obligations of insurance undertakings for the application of articles R. 421-4 to R. 421-9.

Any settlement aimed at fixing or settling compensation owed by uninsured persons liable for personal injury resulting from an accident mentioned in article L. 421-1 must be notified to the guarantee fund by the person liable for compensation within one month by registered letter or by electronic registered letter, with acknowledgement of receipt, subject to the penalty of a third class fine.

Where the person responsible for the loss or damage is unknown, claims by victims or their rightful claimants for compensation for the loss or damage caused to them must be submitted to the guarantee fund within three years of the date of the accident. Where the person responsible for the damage is known, the claim for compensation must be submitted to the guarantee fund within one year of either the…

Accident victims or their rightful claimants must send their claims for compensation to the guarantee fund by registered letter or by electronic registered mail, return receipt requested. In support of their claim, they are required to prove : 1° Either that they are French ; -Or that they have their main residence in the territory of the French Republic; -Or that they are nationals of a State which has concluded…

Claims for compensation must be accompanied by a copy of the court decision or a certified copy of the deed of settlement for the final determination of the compensation. If the guarantee fund is unable to reach an agreement with the victim or those entitled under him/her, either on the settlement reached, or on the determination of the compensation when the person responsible for the damage is unknown or when…

The guarantee fund may intervene, even before the criminal courts and even for the first time on appeal, with a view, in particular, to contesting the principle or the amount of the compensation claimed, in all proceedings brought between the victims of personal injury accidents or their beneficiaries, on the one hand, and the liable parties or their insurers, on the other. In such cases, the Insurer acts as the…

Without prejudice to the exercise resulting from the legal subrogation of the guarantee fund in the rights which the creditor of the compensation has against the tortfeasor or the insurer, the guarantee fund shall also be entitled to claim from the debtor of the compensation : on the one hand, interest calculated at the legal rate from the date of payment of the compensation where this has been fixed by…

Agreements by which intermediaries, in return for fees agreed in advance, arrange for victims of personal injury accidents or their beneficiaries to receive compensation from the guarantee fund are prohibited. In the event of non-compliance with this prohibition, the provisions of the law of 3 April 1942 prohibiting pacts for the settlement of compensation due to accident victims under the conditions provided for by law will be applied, where appropriate.