If you are involved in a car – or other vehicle – accident in France, the process follows set rules, usually involving what is known as the constat amiable – a form filled in by both parties.
As with many things in daily life, this is increasingly done using an app, as we explain further below.
However, in the immediate aftermath, there are several key steps for safety.
They include, if possible, turning on your hazard lights and parking by the side of the road, if you can, or on the emergency stopping lane on the right of an autoroute or dual carriageway.
If you have passengers, make sure they are safe: if on an autoroute or dual carriageway, they need to get behind the crash barriers. If needed, there are emergency phones every kilometre on an autoroute, and often on dual carriageways.
You should also place your emergency triangle at least 30m behind the vehicle.
Police and gendarmes do not usually attend minor accidents where no one is hurt but should always be called when someone has been injured.
They also attend when no one has been hurt but the accident has resulted in the road being blocked, or significant damage.
When they are called out, they fill out their own form setting out the circumstances.
If you are injured, you should obtain a medical certificate from a hospital or doctor and send this to your insurer.
Filling out the constat amiable
The constat amiable (European accident statement) contains standardised information and is designed to be accepted by insurance companies across the European Economic Area and several other countries, including the UK. It is used when there is an accident involving two or more vehicles.
If using the paper form, it usually comes with a carbon copy underneath, and you and the other driver should fill it out with a ballpoint, so that the second copy is legible.
Regardless of the language of the document, the questions and information slots are comparable, meaning you can use an English language version to help you understand what is required to complete a French form.
It needs to be signed by you both, however you are not obliged to agree with the version of the facts as recorded by the other person on their side of the form.
It is acceptable not to agree, so you should not feel pressured as to how you complete your part (if the other party is threatening towards you, call the police on 17).
However, it is advisable in this case to note your disagreement in the ‘observations’ box. Do not write you are ‘at fault’ or ‘responsible’ or not; let the facts speak for themselves.
You can send an English version to a French insurance company – other nationalities can use their respective languages.
Read more: What must drivers carry in their cars in France? Are photocopies OK?
Step-by-step process of recording an accident
You are not legally required to keep a constat amiable in your vehicle, but the government advises doing so. You can download and print a version here.
There is a phone app called e-constat auto, which was developed by the insurance industry in France. It has equal validity to the paper forms but should not be used in accidents involving injury or more than two vehicles.
The paper constat amiable is in two parts. The recto (the front) should be filled in on the spot.
It has two sides, for ‘vehicle A’ and ‘vehicle B’; the choice of who is which is not important.
The top is for key details such as date, time and place. Then, you and the other driver fill out one side each.
Also, cross any relevant boxes under the column headed ‘circonstances’ (circumstances), to indicate what was happening when the accident occurred – fill out sections related to your own manoeuvres.
If none is relevant explain in the observations box, instead.
With an arrow, indicate where the initial impact occurred on your vehicle on the little image.
There is also a box for a drawing helping indicate positioning in the road of the vehicles at the impact time; a cross can be used to show the place on the road where the collision occurred.
This should be as accurate as possible, but is taken as being of secondary importance to the circumstances boxes.
The verso is used by each person, individually, to provide additional details later on and to make their formal claim declaration to their respective insurance company, usually within five working days (by letter, email or in person).
Note that you should not use this to contradict something you stated on the other side.
There is no legal obligation to fill out or sign a constat amiable but not doing so can complicate your claim.
Read more: Drivers face tougher penalties for road infractions in south of France
If you are in a multi-vehicle accident, fill out forms with both the car in front of you and the car behind you.
Once a digital version of the constat amiable is signed by a finger on the screen, it is sent automatically (check mobile data is on and you have a signal).
You will receive a confirmation text message and a link to a PDF version of the constat.
The PDF will also be sent by email along with copies of any photos. Your insurer will receive the same PDF of the form and the photos to treat the claim.
If a driver involved refuses to fill out the constat or to sign it, stay calm.
Fill out the form yourself, and note the number plate of the other vehicle. Note in the ‘observations’ box that the other driver refused to fill out/sign the form.
In this case, it is permissible to call the police or gendarmes if you are able to do so, and ask them to make their own report, called a procès-verbal.
If the other driver leaves giving no details, note the number plate. It is possible to lodge a police complaint for délit de fuite. Also note this in the observations.
If the other driver is uninsured and you have only third-party insurance, your insurer will not be able to pay out for your losses if the other driver was at fault, but you may be able to claim from a fund called Fonds de garantie des assurances obligatoires de dommages.
Read more: Too many drivers in France do not have insurance
Back up claims with photos
It is recommended to take photos of accidents to support the constat – and the app version has a built-in feature for this. If there are witnesses, obtain contact details from them.
There is no one fixed legal layout for a constat amiable – each insurance company has its own, though they often look similar.
If neither you nor the other driver has a form and you are not able to use the app, you can use blank sheets of paper, noting the details you would find on the form including identity and driving licence details of the drivers, number plates and insurance certificate numbers, and details of the accident, and get both drivers to sign two copies of this.
