I Think There's a Grudge Here Somewhere

Hubster and I were pretty excited a few months back when we found a really good rate for car insurance on the bateau de route. We filled out the online forms and got provisional approval immediately. All that needed to be done for the final contract was send in the signed forms and photo copies of our drivers licences. Not a problem.

It dawned on me after the fun little breakdown experience on the way home from England, that I should make sure everything was as it should be with the final contract, which we still hadn't received.  I called the company and was told that everything was in order, all the documents were there and I could expect our status to be updated on their web site. Fine. Sounded great.

I checked the site yesterday, just for kicks, only to see that we were still lingering in provisional insurance land. According to them, they still hadn't received the copies of the drivers licences. Funny, that's not what that guy had told me almost two weeks ago.

A phone call later and I was speaking to a very nice young woman who informed me that, yes, all the documents had been received but that there was a problem with our licenses.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Dig, but your licences aren't valid in France."

"Excuse me?" I said.

"Yes, it seems that you do not have French drivers licenses so therefore we can not insure you."

"But wait. This is like the 5 or 6 car we've owned in France and we've never had an issue with our licenses before. Why is this a problem now?"

"Can you hold, please?"

Two minutes later, the lovely young lady comes back.

"Mrs. Dig, I'm sorry but your English drivers licences aren't valid in France."

"I'm sorry nice young lady, but I beg to differ."

"Well, Mrs Dig, English driving licenses don't work for us because they aren't European."

"Excuse me? EXCUSE ME? Since when isn't England part of Europe?"

At this point, the conversation with the lovely young lady became pretty much useless and our provisional contract with her company expired right there and then. Which, I'm thinking is a good thing.

Hubster's all up in arms about discrimination and the fact the he, as a red blooded Englishman, has the same rights as any other European and this is all just nonsense.

NONSENSE.

Fortunately for us, we were able to get a contract for the bateau de route with our original insurance company. This being the one that actually likes Europeans even if they come from England.