French Insurance Code
In forceThe attached agreement between the French State and the guarantee fund and the French central office for compensation for accidents for which the French State is responsible in the countries referred to in article L. 211-4 (1st paragraph) is hereby approved.
AGREEMENT
BETWEEN :
-on the one hand, the French State, represented by Jean-Pierre Fourcade, Minister of the Economy and Finance ;
-on the other hand, the Fonds de garantie automobile, whose registered office is at 42, rue de Clichy, Paris, represented by Bernard Pagézy, its Chairman;
-the Bureau Central Français des Sociétés d'Assurances contre les Accidents d'Automobiles, headquartered at 118 rue de Tocqueville, Paris, represented by Henri Chatel, its Chairman.
IT WAS NOTED THAT :
a) Laws no. 72-1130 of 21 December 1972 and no. 74-909 of 30 October 1974 amended the legislation governing the Guarantee Fund and the compulsory insurance of land vehicles;
b) Decrees no. 73-587 of 29 June 1973 and no. 75-171 of 17 March 1975 adopted for their application provided that the Guarantee Fund shall reimburse to the French Central Bureau, on behalf of the State, the sums owed by the latter in respect of accidents for which it is liable in the countries referred to in articles 1 r ( second paragraph) and 1 bis of the law of 27 February 1958 as amended, and that an agreement shall lay down the conditions for the application of these provisions, and in particular the terms and conditions for the reimbursement of these sums to the Guarantee Fund;
c) the French Central Bureau has undertaken, in respect of the bureaux of the States referred to in Articles 1 and 1a of the Law of 27 February 1958, by the supplementary agreement of 12 December 1973, to guarantee claims caused by vehicles normally based in France and Monaco, with the sole exception of those for which the State has exercised the options provided for in Article 4 of Directive 72/166/EEC of 24 April 1972;
d) the State has exercised these powers only in respect of military vehicles which are subject, for the settlement of any damage caused by them, to the application of international conventions in force.
AND CONSEQUENTLY AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
Art. 1 - This agreement shall apply to damage caused by State vehicles exempted from compulsory insurance by Article 3 of the Law of 27 February 1958.
The present agreement does not apply to damage caused by military vehicles belonging to the State and subject, for the settlement of damage caused by them, to the application of special international conventions in force.
Art. 2 - The present agreement takes effect on 1st July 1973, for claims caused by the vehicles mentioned in article 1 of the present agreement, in the countries referred to in article 1 of the law of 27th February 1958.
However, it shall not enter into force, for claims caused in the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, until 15 May 1974.
It takes effect on 21 March 1975 for claims caused in the countries referred to in Article 1 bis of the Law of 27 February 1958.
Art. 3 - The French Central Bureau undertakes to assist the State in the investigation and settlement of the claims referred to in Articles 1 and 2 above and to reimburse the foreign national bureaux for the settlements made by them under the standard inter-bureaux agreement and the supplementary agreement signed on 12 December 1973.
In particular, and at the request of the State, it will intervene with each foreign national bureau to obtain, if that bureau agrees, the application of Article 7 of the standard inter-bureaux agreement in respect of claims likely to entail the payment of compensation of at least 10,000 F.
Art. 4 - For each claim assumed by the French Central Bureau, the Guarantee Fund shall reimburse the Bureau for all the outlays it has incurred, and in particular :
-compensation in principal and interest paid to victims ;
-legal or other costs and fees incurred in the investigation and amicable or legal settlement of the claim;
-the management fee as fixed or to be fixed by Article 5 of the Interbureaux Agreement on the date of the accident;
-the late payment interest provided for in the said Article when it is due as a result of a circumstance beyond the control of the French Central Bureau.
Art. 5 - The Guarantee Fund undertakes to reimburse to the French Central Bureau, file by file, the sums referred to in the preceding Article fifteen days at the latest after the French Central Bureau has sent it a file containing the following particulars:
-the date, place and circumstances of the accident ;
the date, place and circumstances of the accident; - the vehicle registration number or identification details
-if possible, the name of the driver;
-the identity of the victims and their dependants, together with :
-the receipt signed by the beneficiaries of the compensation or any document in lieu thereof;
-a certified statement of the expenses referred to in Article 4;
-where applicable, a copy of any court rulings.
If payment is not made within forty days of receipt of the complete file by the Guarantee Fund, interest of 12% per annum will automatically be added to the sums owed by the Fund.
Art. 6 - If the French Central Bureau provides proof that it is not in a position to make the payments which it would be required to make, either because of the number of claims caused by vehicles covered by this agreement or because of the amount of compensation resulting therefrom, the Guarantee Fund shall make the necessary advances to it.
Art. 7 - In the event of a dispute as to whether a claim is attributable to the State or to one of its departments, the Guarantee Fund shall remain obliged to make the reimbursements provided for in this agreement in favour of the French Central Bureau, unless it resolves the dispute directly with the State.
Art. 8 - In accordance with the provisions of the standard inter-bureaux agreement, the parties to the present agreement, subject to the provisions of Article 3 (second paragraph) above, expressly waive their right to contest, on any grounds whatsoever, the payments made by each foreign national bureau pursuant to the said standard agreement and the supplementary agreement of 12 December 1973.
Art. 9 - After payment to the French Central Bureau of the sums due to that Bureau pursuant to this Agreement, the Guarantee Fund shall send to the judicial agency of the Public Treasury the file which it has received from the French Central Bureau, indicating the date of payment. The judicial agency of the French Treasury, provided that the file sent by the Guarantee Fund includes the documents provided for in Article 5, shall have the sums paid by the Guarantee Fund on behalf of the State reimbursed. The sums will be increased by interest calculated from the date of payment by the Fund until the date of reimbursement by the State at the rate granted by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations on the funds deposited with this institution by the Fonds de garantie automobile.
Art. 10 - This agreement is concluded for an indefinite period. However, either party may terminate it by giving thirteen months' notice from the date of notification sent to the other parties.
Signed in Paris on 14 August 1975.
