Agence Eaton called back this morning and have now come up with an explanation.

They originally went via an intermediary based in Paris called Solly Azar. Solly Azar deals with Generali Belgium because their prices are cheaper. However, Generali Belgium are fussier when it comes to documentation. Also, in France, insurance companies give themselves three months to decide whether or not they will actually insure you. (So be warned, if you have taken out a new French insurance policy you may not actually be covered!)

So the outcome is that Agence Eaton will handle the insurance policy themselves, and the actual insurance company involved will be Generali France which works slightly differently. Because Agence Eaton will handle the insurance themselves instead of going through an intermediary, they keep all the paperwork; and were thus able to confirm that they are indeed happy with the English documentation.

The only down side is that Generali France is one-third more expensive than Generali Belgium; but the positive news is that insurance against theft is once again included in the policy. This is because they do not require every part of the motorcycle to be French security-marked. The other good news is that the excess is between €400 to €800, and not €1500 as they mentioned yesterday.

Documentation will apparently be sent for signature later today. But I’m not holding my breath.

Right, it seems the insurance saga which has been the subject of the last few blog entries has not quite finished.

Yesterday (8th January) I received a recorded letter, dated 31 December 2012. It should have been collected last week, but the local post office was closed for a week, so I was only able to get it yesterday.

It was from the insurance company, Generali Belgium.

Basically it says I have until the 11th January to provide the “Relevant Information”.

I had no idea what relevant information they require, so my wife called the broker, Agence Eaton. It seems that the problem lies with the proof of my previous no claims bonus, issued by my previous insurance company in the UK, Motorcycle Direct.

Shock, horror. It’s in English. And Generali Belgium cannot speak English; so they have decided that they are no longer going to insure me. This is three months after they received all the documentation, mind you.

The broker has now found another insurance company, Generali Belgium, which will insure me. It’s slightly more expensive, €460 this time. Although the insurance policy does include theft. With a hefty excess of €1500.

And no, I didn’t make a mistake typing the name of the company. Generali Belgium. The name of the previous company which has decided it doesn’t want to insure me? Generali Belgium.

No, I don’t understand it either.

To quote Gerard Depardieu:
"Minable, vous avez dit minable? Comme c’est minable!"

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!