Home insurance: from one region to another, the prices go from the simple to the double

Everyone knows that there are strong culinary, cultural, economic, meteorological and transport disparities between French regions. We know less, but the magazine UFC-Que Choisir revealed in 2020 that tenants and owners of their homes do not pay the same amounts for their home insurance depending on their place of residence.

As an example, Que Choisir compares the insurance of an equivalent 5-room apartment. To do this, 25 organisms representing 95% of the market were tested. Result, on average, home insurance will cost € 381 in Nantes, € 500 in Île-de-France, and € 570 in Montpellier. According to the magazine’s study, an apartment costs on average 230 € in Île-de-France, the most expensive region, not far from Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, and it is in the West that you pay the least (€ 139 in Brittany). It takes a little more for houses: € 300 on average in Île-de-France, € 209 in Brittany. House or apartment, the regional hierarchy remains respected.

Grégory Caret, Director of the UFC-Que Choisir Consumption Observatory, regrets, in the program “Jean-Pierre et vous” on LCI, the opacity of insurers. “Each insurance has its own law, there is no real risk pooling.” In short, the most cited claims by insurers relate to climatic risks (floods, storms, strong winds) and burglaries. However, the damage is not reflected in the same way depending on the region. The Mediterranean, very touristy and prone to major natural disasters, is sanctioned by insurers. The magazine did not find viable figures for Corsica, but the island region would continue to explode prices: insurers pass on an attack risk, even if there has been no more for many years.

To determine the price of home insurance, certain criteria remain the same for everyone: surface area, location, outbuildings (cellars, garages), number of people living in the home, etc. Others can help you reduce the bill: insurance takes into account the installation of a remote monitoring or alarm system. Grégory Caret advises to compare the options: civil liability, guarantee of reimbursement of valuables in the event of a disaster, protection of digital and IT tools, etc. Sometimes you can pay a little more and have better guarantees.

In 2020, we spent most of our life confined to our home. As a result, claims have plunged: according to a study by the broker Reassure me, burglaries fell by 75% in France during the first confinement and water damage by 30%. For insurers, the cost of claims has fallen by 25%. To see if insurers will benefit their customers from lower premiums.

Every Saturday from 1:30 p.m. on LCI (Canal 26), Jean-Pierre Pernaut answers questions from the French about money and consumption: spending, scams, public money, taxes, gambling or dream money, are so many subjects in which Jean-Pierre Pernaut and the journalists specializing in the economy at LCI are interested.

This week, focus on local currencies, the very expensive sea trips on yachts or these new large regions which ultimately cost more money than the old ones. A show to see in its entirety in the video at the top of this article.