French Insurance Code
In forceI.-A guarantee fund for damage resulting from preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic acts performed by self-employed healthcare professionals and mentioned in article L. 1142-1 of the Public Health Code, when such damage involves their professional civil liability, is responsible for paying, without the possibility of recourse against the healthcare professionals concerned, the portion of the amount exceeding the minimum ceiling set by the decree mentioned in the third paragraph of article L. 1142-2 of the same code or, if higher, the guarantee ceiling provided for by the insurance contract, the compensation set for the damage suffered by the victims and, if higher, the guarantee ceiling provided for by the insurance contract. 1142-2 of the same code or, if higher, the guarantee ceiling provided for in the insurance contract, the compensation set for the losses suffered by the victims and, in the event of death, by their beneficiaries. The guarantee fund will also pay all such compensation if the period of validity of the insurance cover referred to in article L. 251-2 of this code expires. In the latter case, the healthcare professional must then reimburse the fund a sum equal to the amount of the excess that may have been provided for in the said insurance contract.
II - The fund is also responsible for compensating the beneficiaries of contracts taken out by self-employed healthcare professionals in accordance with article L. 1142-2 of the Public Health Code, in the event of the withdrawal of authorisation by insurance companies operating in France.
The fund only covers claims arising in France and relating to damage of the serious nature set out in II of article L. 1142-1 of the Public Health Code and covered by the contract, where the harmful event occurred during the period of validity of the contract or prior to this period and no later than noon on the fortieth day following the decision to withdraw the insurer's authorisation, and where the claim is made within the time limits set out in article L. 251-2 up to a maximum of ten years after the fortieth day following the decision to withdraw authorisation. Insurance contracts mentioned in 1° to 4° of II of article L. 421-9 are excluded from any compensation.
Assistance from the fund is suspended when the company is subject to a resolution measure under the conditions set out in section 6 of chapter II of title I of book III. The fund compensates claims for which the harmful event occurs at the latest at noon on the fortieth day following the end of the resolution measure if authorisation is not restored and for which the claim is made within the time limits set out in article L. 251-2 up to a maximum of ten years after the fortieth day following the end of the measure if authorisation is not restored.
Under the terms of article L. 421-9-4, the fund is subrogated to the rights of policyholders, contract holders, members, beneficiaries of benefits and the company whose authorisation has been withdrawn, and may bring any liability action.
III-Agreements may be concluded for the application of I and II to this effect by the fund with the insurance companies concerned and the office instituted by article L. 1142-22 of the public health code.
IV - The fund's accounting, financial and administrative management is carried out by the Caisse Centrale de Réassurance, referred to in Chapter I of Title III of this Book IV, in an account separate from those recording its other operations. The costs it incurs for this management are charged to the fund. This decree specifies in particular the deductible applicable and the percentage of compensation paid by the fund of the sums that the defaulting insurance company would have had to pay if it had fulfilled its undertaking.
V.-An annual flat-rate contribution payable by the healthcare professionals referred to in I and II covers all the costs incurred by the fund as a result of I and II. The amount is set by order of the ministers responsible for health and the economy at between €15 and €25 per year. This amount may be adjusted according to the profession practised.
This contribution is collected by the insurance companies and paid into the fund under conditions laid down by decree in the Conseil d'Etat.
It is collected in accordance with the same rules, subject to the same guarantees and the same penalties as the tax on insurance contracts provided for in articles 991 et seq. of the General Tax Code.
VI - Settlements concluded by insurance organisations to which the fund is not a party are not enforceable against it.
VII -A decree of the Conseil d'Etat shall set the conditions for the application of this article.
