Whether you are a child, student, or adult, the certificate of civil liability is always essential! Indeed, you are never safe from causing involuntary damage to a third party, whether in a professional or private context and therefore you must always protect yourself against the costs that would be incurred by treatment or compensation for material property or the body of a third party. For all these reasons, it is now vital to take out civil liability insurance. Civil liability will protect you in the hypothetical event that a careless action on your part, or the action of a person, animal, or thing for which you are responsible, causes damage to someone else. On the other hand, if your action is deliberate, you will not be covered! As an insurance expert blog, we wanted to come back to you on the different roles induced by civil liability, on the means of obtaining one, as well as on the different types of civil liability insurance existing on the market. So how do you go about choosing the best contract? We tell you everything!
What is the role of a certificate of civil liability?
According to the legislation of the civil code, the certificate of civil liability covers you in two specific cases:
- It covers you if you cause involuntary bodily, material, or immaterial damage, by your fault or by the fault of a person for whom you are responsible as the insured;
- It also covers you if your pet or your material property (randomly a car) causes damage to a third party.
The civil liability certificate thus covers you in all cases where you cause, directly or indirectly, damage to a neighbor, friend, relative, or any other third party.
Obtain your civil liability certificate
To obtain a certificate of civil liability, nothing very complicated! Fortunately, moreover, the certificate of civil liability is requested in many cases. Thus, if you are a student, a company or a school is very likely to ask you for a certificate of civil liability to publish an internship agreement. This certificate is usually included in your home insurance contract. The latter is included in this type of contract to ensure you against involuntary accidents that could occur in the place of life you occupy.
But the certificate of civil liability provided in the home insurance contract may itself be improved. All you have to do is contact your insurer so that he can present you with the different options for civil liability insurance. There are such things for students, for heads of families, and much more. To return to our example of a student looking for an internship, a certificate of civil liability covering university activities can cover you for one academic year. This will therefore cover you as a student, but if you are no longer, be aware that there are certificates of private civil liability for the year 2016/2017.
What are the prerequisites for obtaining a civil liability certificate?
To obtain a certificate of civil liability, you must take out home insurance. To take out home insurance, you must contact a bank or insurer and communicate the number of rooms in your home, as well as the surface area of it. The insurer will then offer you different quotes, some including packs. It will then be necessary to choose home insurance including a certificate of civil liability. You will then have the choice: either claim it from the insurance company, which will provide you with a paper certificate, or download the civil liability certificate directly to your insured area. This can be an interesting solution if you still want to have a PDF version of your certificate on your computer!
What is the role of the civil liability certificate?
As you will have understood, the certificate of civil liability is essential in several aspects of your personal and professional life. It allows you to be covered for different types of damage. Here is an exhaustive list:
- Damage caused by your fault but because you were negligent, reckless, or distracted
- Damage caused by your children, from the moment you are still responsible for them (if they live under your roof and are under 18 years old)
- Damage caused by anyone residing under your roof
- Damage caused by anyone hired by you to carry out an activity under your roof (housekeeper, gardener, babysitter, private tutor, etc.)
- Damage caused by any animal in your charge (those that belong to you as well as those that have been entrusted to you)
- Damage caused by objects that you own or for which you are responsible, even temporarily (a rental wheelbarrow for example)
- Damage caused by real estate in your possession (for example, a water leak in an apartment whose damage would extend to neighbors, even if you do not live there or if you rent it)
What are the limits of target liability insurance?
But the principle of the certificate of civil liability is that it only concerns situations involving a third party. If you injure yourself, if you deliberately attack others, or even if a dog for which you are responsible is considered dangerous and was not wearing the regulation muzzle at the time of the facts, you can say goodbye to your insurance. The important thing to remember: anything involving a motor vehicle is not covered by the insurer!
Which liability insurance to choose?
As said earlier in this article, there are several types of civil liability insurance and if your home insurance offers you one by default, do not hesitate to claim a specific one if you perceive the need. Here is a presentation of the different civil liability insurance available!
Rental civil liability
This insurance is necessary to take out if you are renting because you could cause damage to the property of the owner. Thus, your civil liability certificate will play in your favor if a fire, water damage, or an explosion were to occur.
Building civil liability
If you are an owner or co-owner, you are required by law to take out this insurance. Thus, any damage caused by the building or apartment building owned, or by the furniture contained in the property, will be covered. You will therefore not be required to fully compensate the third party who has suffered the damage.
Head of household civil liability
If you live in a house, sign a contract for multi-risk house insurance. The latter will allow you to obtain a certificate of civil liability for any damage included in the list drawn up above.
Finally, if you want to obtain liability insurance for a motor vehicle that you own or rent, you can do so, but you will then have to obtain a specific contract for this type of situation. Think about it, because it is completely independent of conventional insurance!
