HWI France has specialised over the years in handling the insurances for foreign investors and foreign-owned commercial operations.

This role has developed as a response to enquiries from clients who are not necessarily familiar with - for example:

- the Napoleonic Code fire liabilities (particularly as they relate to tenancy ), which cannot normally be insured under a liability policy, but are usually insured under extensions to a fire policy;

- French employment legislation (there is no Employer's Liability as such, but a number of significant residual liability exposures to employees need to be insured under the general Third Party Liability policy)

- construction legislation (where both contractors and principals must by law give a non-cancellable 10-year insurance guarantee to successive owners of new buildings)

- liability issues such as "claims made" and "occurrence" basis policies (French liability insurers offer an unusual mixture of both; but they are difficult to understand and do not entirely reflect best international practice)

- and more generally, issues (such as valuation, cancellation, assignment of interest) which are unique to France and differ considerably from insurance practice elsewhere.

At the latest count, our company is handling the insurance of French risks for clients from no less than 17 different countries.

We are proud that all our staff speak English; several of our executives have formal qualifications from professional bodies located outside France. We have the experience and ability necessary to write reports in English and to contrast standard French practice with that of other European or North American countries. Our friendly relationship with a number of leading international and national law firms has also helped our company to develop the expertise necessary to provide "due diligence" reports on mergers and acquisitions. We have a privileged access to Lloyd’s and other international insurance markets through our colleagues in our group.

Our company was also the first French broker to make international "Freedom of Services" placements for French operations with insurance companies located elsewhere in the EEC (and we have been doing this regularly from the date of our creation in 1988!)

We therefore confidently believe we are able to bring a unique experience and competence to bear on the French insurances of foreign-owned clients.

Contacts
Merlin Haddon, Director
Peter Kennedy, Assistant Director, Incoming Business
Carole Choukroun, Assistant Director, International Business