French Insurance Code
In forceThe guarantee fund set up by article L. 421-1 is responsible for compensating for personal injury caused by all acts of hunting or destruction of animals likely to cause damage in those parts of the territory where the insurance set up by article L. 423-16 of the Environment Code is compulsory, even if these acts are not covered by compulsory insurance, provided that they are committed by an unknown or uninsured perpetrator.
The expenses resulting from the application of the previous paragraph are covered by contributions from insurance companies, insured hunters and those responsible for hunting accidents not covered by insurance, as well as by a 50% increase in fines, including those that a pardon would have replaced imprisonment, imposed for an act of hunting carried out without a licence or in a place, at a time or using prohibited equipment.
The contributions to the guarantee fund are set as follows:
1° The contribution from insured parties is set at a lump sum per person covered for civil liability resulting from hunting accidents or the destruction of animals likely to cause damage;
2° The contribution from insurance companies is proportional to the sums recovered by them in respect of the contribution from policyholders referred to in 1°.
It is assessed and collected by insurance companies in accordance with the same rules and subject to the same guarantees and penalties as the tax on insurance contracts provided for in article 991 of the General Tax Code.
The rates and proportions of the contributions referred to in this same article are set by order of the Minister responsible for insurance, within the following limits:
a) For the contribution from policyholders, this amount is between €0 and a maximum lump sum of €0.38 per person covered ;
b) For the contribution from insurance companies, this rate is between 0% and 12% of the total cost of guarantee fund operations relating to hunting and the destruction of animals likely to cause damage.
