Crans-Montana, the worst-case scenario for Axa
The fire at Le Constellation bar on New Year's Eve in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, raises not only the issue of human tragedy, but also the question of liability and financial responsibility on the part of the insurance companies involved. However, Axa is both the bar's and the municipality's insurer. This is a double exposure that the group could have done without, even if it remains minimal in terms of its finances.
Riots in New Caledonia : Allianz condemned, the State attempts to withdraw from the situation
As highlighted by the riots in May and June 2024 in New Caledonia, insurers only have recourse against the State once they have compensated their policyholders. The creation of a “Riots” scheme, introduced into the 2026 Finance Bill by the Senate and rejected by the National Assembly, could reshuffle the deck.
Companies too often neglect their business interruption insurance policies
At a time when Getlink is set to receive €55 million from insurers for the suspension of its high-voltage electricity connection business, experience shows that business interruption coverage is often poorly calibrated. Ancillary costs or estimates below value—there are many pitfalls to avoid.
Annual renewal of insurance contracts: risky practices in business insurance
The tightening that has been experienced by the insurance market since 2017 is bringing some contractual practices back to the forefront to seal interim agreements. Each of them has its benefits…and its dangers !
Third-party litigation funding and insurance: why should you care?
According to the INRS (French National Research and Safety Institute), 70% of companies that suffer a major disaster disappear within months, demonstrating the scale of the economic consequences. This means that compensation for a company by its insurer is therefore a vital and often urgent necessity for the company's survival.
Distinction – Best Lawyers 2026 Insurance Law
I am honored to have been recognized in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers for my work in Insurance Law.
This distinction reflects the trust placed in me by clients, peers and partners. 🤝
Thank you all !
The penalty system for conflicts of interest in third-party litigation funding
On April 30, 2025, France adopted a law, which for the first time regulates third-party litigation funding (currently limited to class actions, though without prohibiting funding in other types of disputes). This legislative framework is accompanied by procedural rules, in particular with respect to conflicts of interest, which are sanctioned through the inadmissibility regime.
« Directors & Officers Liability » insurance: an AIG clause favourable to policyholders
THE FACTS
A company takes out « Directors & Officers Liability » insurance with an insurer. The debate continues as to whether it is possible to insure criminal and administrative fines (1), but there is nothing to prevent the insurer from covering defence costs in criminal and civil proceedings.
Third-party funding of litigation, class actions & insurance: at last (some) news
The DDADUE Act of 30 April 2025 recognises, for the first time in French law, the existence of third-party financing of legal proceedings (1)
Insurance tender 2025
Since 2019, the price of insurance has been on the rise in Europe: premiums have increased, insurance companies have limited cover and multiplied exclusions. With the insurance market seemingly erratic over the last one or two years, your company needs to make a decision.
Business interruption: new interpretation of the concept of‘impossibility of access’ by the Cour de cassation (French SupremeCourt)
In two new rulings handed down by its Second Civil Division (28 May 2025, no. 23-20.093 and no. 24-11.006), the Cour de cassation has settled two disputes concerning the interpretation of business interruption cover. The high court gave a new interpretation of the condition of impossibility of access contained in this cover, in line with two decisions handed down a year earlier.
Directors’ and officers’ insurance: an AIG clause favourable to policyholders enforced by the Paris Judicial Court
In a final decision handed down on 16 January 2025, the Vice-President of the Paris Judicial Court confirmed the application, in favour of insured directors, of a frequent contractual clause relating to compensation for their defence costs. Thanks to this clause, the insured executive benefits from the compensation awarded under article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure, even though the insurer financed the lawsuit.
Litigation funding : insurance in focus
It's a far cry from the American nuclear verdicts, but it's still a heavy price to pay on France's modest scale. The two lockdowns following the Covid-19 pandemic brought the French economy to a standstill. By decree, places open to the public, including the retail and catering sectors, were forced to close store.
Please note! You may be unaware that your insurance contracts are subject to the French Public Procurement Code !
In principle, companies, as legal entities under private law, are exempt from the provisions of the French Public Procurement Code (Code de la commande publique), which stipulates that insurance contracts must be put out to tender. However, you could be one of the exceptions... European legislation has extended the scope of application of the aforementioned code by laying down certain conditions.
Insurance against losses linked to Covid and clauses concerning the administrative closure of businesses. The Court de Cassation settles the debate in favour of policyholders
Clearly, in unprecedented situations unforeseen by risk professionals, doubt has benefited insurers... until recent rulings by the Cour de cassation. During the Covid crisis, although some restaurants and shops were able to call on their cover, insurance companies refused to consider the Covid decrees as constituting ‘closures’ within the meaning of the insurance contracts that provided for them, thereby depriving these businesses of compensation.
MGA’s Global Study #2
We continue our study of MGA’s, which began in June 2024, in the Americas and Africa.
MGA’s (Managing General Agents) are a fast-growing category of insurance intermediaries in Europe. However, this model originated in Anglo-Saxon countries, particularly the United States, where the legal framework and practice are far more developed.
Arbitration clauses in brokerage agreements : the art of writing to do nothing
Arbitration clauses are becoming increasingly common in brokerage agreements between policyholders and brokers, and between brokers and insurers, yet they are not always applicable in practice.
New Caledonia: The Minister of the Economy to meet insurers next week
The New Caledonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry already puts the cost of riots in the archipelago at 200 million euros. The problem is that insurers have reduced their levels of cover for this type of risk, and some may invoke “civil war” as a reason not to compensate their clients.
Business interruption: MMA insurer ordered to compensate for Covid-related loss of business
The French Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the Angers Court of Appeal, and ordered MMA to compensate an insured for damage to his clientele during the health crisis. The policy in question provided “all risks except” coverage.
Ordering insurance for public authorities : an often overlooked pitfall
Beware of the insurer's right to terminate a claim during the term of the contract...
The MGA (Managing General Agent), a hyper-intermediated insurance marketing method
We begin with an overview of this fast-growing insurance player.
Cyber insurance: insurance and criminal law practice
My article with Armand Feste-Guidon, criminal lawer.
The challenge for local authorities to obtain insurance
Insurance coverage has become a real challenge for local authorities. Integrating and mastering the rules of public procurement is crucial.
Jérôme Goy & ENTHEMIS among the 8 5-star firms in the Statista Le Point ranking of the best ‘Insurance Law’ law firms 2024.
The “Insurance Law” practice led by Jérôme Goy once again distinguished in the list of the best law firms 2024 by Statista LE POINT.
Managing General Agent (MGA)
An insurance distributor in full expansion facing the limits of the law After Anglo-Saxon insurance, the distribution model of the Managing General Agent (MGA) is booming in the French market. Let's review the advantages as well as the limitations of these new types of distributors, which until now have the status of brokers under regulation.
The MGAs, these unidentified intermediaries
Coming from across the Channel, Managing General Agents (MGAs) are becoming increasingly prevalent in France. An insurance intermediation practice that is not recognized, but claimed by certain insurtech companies.
MGAs, Affinity Brokers : Why More Bankruptcies?
To those familiar with the economic model of insurance brokerage, bankruptcy and judicial liquidation seem hard to imagine. However, the notable cases of SFAM and Luko, among others, have left a significant impression on the insurance industry microcosm.
Insurance distribution: The regulatory net tightens further around the status of regulated intermediaries
Commentary on the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, of September 29, 2022, no. C-633/20
Insurtech and MGA’s
The application of 1935 brokerage practices to MGAs and international adhesion contracts: the Paris Commercial Court ruling of October 2, 2023
Covid Losses and Insurance
The Court of Cassation Opens Two Additional Doors for Insured Businesses
Does the presence of a “rider broker” in the insurance policy work to the insured’s disadvantage ?
A number of recent court rulings have held that the presence of an "rider broker" means that the insurance policy is no longer a contract of adhesion but a contract of mutual agreement... to the detriment of the policyholder. My article with Elodie Le Prado in the Tribune de l'Assurance
Batteries put risk under tension
Fires in electric vehicles are a cause for concern for sea carriers and logisticians. The reason is that lithium-ion batteries are likely to self-combust in circumstances that are difficult to determine. Insurers and brokers are urging companies to combine prevention, training and good practice during transport and storage.
Business interruption: AXA XL sentenced
The Commercial Court of Lille has ordered Axa XL to compensate a major clothing retailer for business interruption. The judges validated an extended warranty clause, which is particularly common in the retail sector.
Energy shortages : which insurance coverage for companies?
Power outages, gas or other sources of energy shortages, have become a probable occurrence. This can have a major impact on some company businesses. What insurance coverage can be expected?
Interview on captive insurers
Repoussée l’année dernière, la réforme de la fiscalité afin de favoriser l’implantation des captives d’assurance en France a été votée le 16 décembre par le Parlement : quel intérêt pour les entreprises ?
2022 renewals: risky practices
The hard market experienced by the insurance industry since 2017/2019 has brought back into the picture some contractual practices that risk detractors should fear.
Covid losses: After restaurants, pharmacists. The closing of borders constitutes a case of denial of access cover by the insurance policy.
Enthémis obtains the conviction of AXA on the basis of a ¨Difficult access to premises¨ clause.
Companies hit by the sanctions due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: it is unlikely that the exclusion of insurance policies is valid. Which claim to declare?
Insurance policies covering business interruption sometimes include coverage for loss due to political sanctions.
Insurance policies termination update: a greater flexibility for the insured
A proposition recently made by the ¨Comité consultatif du secteur financier¨ (CCSF), a French consultative body tasked with submitting measures to improve the relations between banks and insurers and their clients, could lead to new ramifications on the French insurance sphere.
Business interruption: embarrassing rulings for insurers
Nearly two years after the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis, insurers are still struggling with claims for business interruption suffered by companies due to the pandemic. Judges keep ruling in favor of insured companies, considering that they were covered against "business interruption" suffered as a result of the lockdowns.
Business interruption: towards the multiplication of insured companies. Jérôme Goy’s tribune
Insurers won’t talk about it, but companies should be aware that there is only one month left before the statute of limitation expires for insurance claims related to business interruption.
Business interruption: insurers under pressure!
A few weeks before the expiration of the two-year statute of limitation on business interruption coverage, this sensitive issue is coming back into the legal arena. The consequences for the insurers concerned could be massive.
Insurance contract renewals from January 1, 2022: limitations are already underway
Since the first semester of 2019, the insurance market started an upward trend in Europe: prices have increased, and covers have been more limited. In this context, insurance companies have been reviewing their contracts and programs to the detriment of policyholders, who experienced broader limitations and poorer covers since 2020. We published a synthetic study on this subject in May 2020; here is an update.
“Pandemic insurance: the embalmer, the abbot and the gravedigger”. A column from Jérôme Goy.
Why should we not believe the fable that is told to us, or how the insurance of companies against the pandemic can only be a mutualised and generalised guarantee, and not an additional tax loophole ?
The termination of an insurance contract: a fresh air within formalism
The insurance market has been growing steadily, as you know, for more than two years now. The trend will continue to intensify at the end of 2021 for the January 1st contract renewal season.
In order not to suffer from such important increases, which are often presented as inevitable, insured companies wishing to do so, must prepare before the summer the competition from their intermediaries (brokers and managers), before (or sometimes at the same time) that of insurers.
The MGA, a trendy (but not so new) beast Why?
On February 3rd, 2021, the underwriting agency Centrix announced its decision to join the Managing General Agents Association (MGAA) – the only association in the UK that represents and promotes the Managing General Agents (MGA) industry and its members. “A natural choice,” according to the newly created MGA (2019) fancying to expand its presence in the London market.
Paris fantasizes the return of captive insurance companies
Le ministère de l’Economie aimerait que les grands groupes qui choisissent de s’assurer eux-mêmes – en
créant une captive d’assurance – le fassent en France plutôt qu’au Luxembourg
Why the consequences of a pandemic are not uninsurable (and should be insured)
Article published in Les Echos by Julien Aubert, Jérôme Goy and Olivier Marleix
Second lockdown and business interruption insurance : companies must persist in the face of insurers
The second lockdown has stopped or considerably slowed down the activity of many economic sectors that had already been severely affected since the beginning of the covid-19 crisis. Many companies in most countries have already declared a claim to their insurer about the business interruption coverage provided in their insurance contracts.
Business interruption insurance and coronavirus : insurers sentenced to cover companies’ losses in various countries
All over the world, the economic crisis unleashed by the outbreak of covid-19 is hurting economies, regardless of income level. According to World Bank forecasts, the global economy will shrink by 5.2% this year.
Coronavirus and business interruption: hotels, restaurants, is there a loophole in your insurance policy? (Free translated synthesis)
Insurance companies are insuring that business losses related to the pandemic are not insurable. However, the contracts are ambiguous, particularly concerning coverage during administrative closures, and the article proposes the contracts of five French insurance companies.
Crédit Mutuel has opened Pandora’s box for insurers (Free translated synthesis)
Jane Grandin de l’Eprevier – 05/05/2020
After Covid-19: Business interruption insurance for companies (Free translation)
The Covid-19 crisis has forced many sectors to shut down, while other companies are suffering considerable losses in turnover.
Intervention of Jérôme Goy on Sud Radio (Free translation)
With Philippe David
“Businesses: insurance companies and the state must take responsibility”. The opinion column of J. Aubert, O. Marleix and J. Goy. (Free translation)
The three signatories call for the “creation of a simple mechanism to guarantee business interruption losses in the event of a pandemic, based on the natural disasters one”.
