When I'm in Paris

Planning a trip to Paris is a joyous time, filled with thoughts of excitement and anticipation of the beautiful sights, sounds and tastes to come.

In fact, the very process of planning tends to be so much fun, some of the graver questions often don’t come to mind. What if there’s a fire or theft while staying in the apartment? What if a visitor has a minor accident while on the property?

According to French Law, the renter of a holiday home is liable for any damage caused a fire, explosion or flood. Therefore, visitors renting an apartment in Paris must be covered by insurance, whether it be their own liability insurance extended to a holiday abroad, or by a temporary insurance that covers the period of the rental.

(While landlords and owners have insurance covering the actual building, this coverage does not include your personal effects, or liability for injuries occurring during your occupancy.)

And then there’s the most common occurrence: What if you have to cancel or delay your trip?

The difficult truth of the matter is, trip postponements and cancellations do occur. And in these instances, this generally means losing the deposit, unless the apartment agency is able to rebook the apartment for the same dates. (After all, the loss of the rental means income lost to the apartment owner, as well as to the agency.)

Fortunately, the process of becoming insured while in France is generally painless and quite affordable.

The first place to inquire is with your own liability insurance company. Often you can get a temporary “extension” for a trip abroad added to your existing policy. (In this case, proof of this extension will need to be shown on arrival at your French rental property.)

NOTE: Be aware, however, that while this extension may provide sufficient coverage to meet the requirement under French law, it may NOT cover a refund of the apartment price due to trip cancellation.

The single most comprehensive way to cover yourself is with a traveler’s insurance policy. Your agency can probably provide you with this, so be sure to inquire.

This policy will cover not only your liability for any accidents or damages while in the apartment, but will also typically refund your apartment price in the event of trip cancellations. In other words, in the event that you would need to cancel your holiday, you would be refunded for the total cost of the rental through the insurance policy.

And the good news is, this policy tends to be very affordable, and one of the smartest investments you can make before travel. Welcome2France, for example, offers a policy that is just 3.5% of the rental price.

Of course you want to save money. Of course you want to minimize costs.

But consider this: Insurance means you can pay and relax.

Beyond the obvious importance of adhering to French law (and the fact that you need to provide proof of some coverage on arrival anyway), with comprehensive insurance, if you have to postpone your trip, it’s as easy as rescheduling for another date. Without cancellation coverage, it may mean losing your deposit and delaying that trip to Paris for another year or more.