who “Wish to change region to go isolate” can “Do it during this Easter weekend”. The precision of Emmanuel Macron did not go unnoticed in his national reconfinement allocation of March 31, and many inhabitants of large cities are preparing to leave their homes for several weeks. If it is necessary, before leaving, to convince a Good Samaritan to come and water the yucca, several other precautions are necessary to avoid unpleasant surprises.
- Check your home insurance
It’s time to take out your home insurance policy. First reflex: see if there is a vacancy clause, and if so, how long. Because it is common that insurers do not plan to cover you if you leave your home for a long time. “According to the companies, the period in question varies between 30 and 90 days”, emphasizes Antoine Fruchard, founder of the online broker Reassure me. If you are leaving for longer, it is better to contact the insurer to find a solution.
In your absence, a neighbor will come to telework at your place to take advantage of the calm? Friends whose apartment is under construction will take over the place? If it is a loan, a priori the situation does not pose an insurance problem: “Whether you are an owner or a tenant, your comprehensive home insurance extends to people occupying your home free of charge., specifies Mr. Fruchard. If the period is a bit long, we still recommend that you notify the insurer, but you should not see your premium increase. “
Notifying the insurer can also be useful if you rent your apartment in your absence, or if the accommodation in which you will be confined is itself a rental – “Check in the latter case that you have a holiday guarantee, and what it covers”, advises Mr. Fruchard.
In all cases, “The rule is that you must inform the insurer of new circumstances which aggravate the risks or create new ones and thus render inaccurate or obsolete your answers or your original statements”, he insists.
Over the next few weeks, mail is sure to pile up. Some envelopes may wait for your return without causing any concern, but not all … There are several options. The most practical is to operate a temporary mail forwarding to your place of stay. Your ordinary letters, registered letters, Colissimo parcels, press titles, etc. will thus be sent daily to this address, in priority letters, explains La Poste. The price: 29 euros for two weeks to a month.
If you think that you do not need your mail before your return but you want to secure it, it is possible to ask that it be kept at the post office instead of being delivered. Price: 24.50 euros (from one day to two months).
A free solution, but which supposes having a trusted neighbor: give him the keys to your mailbox and make him, in addition, a permanent postal power of attorney. With the transit advice notes that he will collect, he will be able to collect your registered letters and parcels at the post office by presenting his identity card. All these operations can be carried out online on the La Poste website, or in post offices.
“It is important that the letterbox does not overflow. It is a sign of unoccupied housing for burglars ”, recalls Léa Joussaume, spokesperson for the neo-home insurance Luko (which has as investor Xavier Niel, individual shareholder of the World), which suggests at least using a “Stop Pub” sticker to limit unsolicited folds.
- Carry your numbers and access codes
During confinement, you will probably have to carry out administrative procedures, pay bills, etc. If you plan to do it via the Internet, it will still be necessary to have your identifiers and access codes to the various online services. If necessary, it is therefore necessary to remember to recopy or to bring the documents on which they appear.
For example, you might take care of filling out your income tax return. This online process will require your tax number in particular. You have until the end of May or the beginning of June to declare – the deadlines are set this year from May 20 to June 8, depending on the territories and the reporting methods.
Also to be kept in mind, if you are concerned with employee savings: in the coming weeks, profit-sharing and profit-sharing will be paid by most companies.
“Unlike 2020, the payment deadline has not been postponed to December 31, so it is set as usual for May 31”, states Xavier Collot, director of employee savings and retirement savings at Amundi. If you do not want these bonuses to be automatically placed in an employee or retirement savings plan, and therefore blocked for a certain number of years, you have, as always, fifteen days to come forward once they are notified to you. . Very often you will be able to do this online, but again, you must have taken the necessary codes.
Please note, sometimes these notifications are sent by mail, for example if the manager does not have your email or mobile number. “We always advise employees to properly update this information in their personal space”, underlines Mr. Collot, who specifies that “For contracts managed by Amundi, 80% of notifications are now sent electronically”.
- Close, unplug, lock …
Last reflexes before leaving: close, unplug, secure everything that can be. “The idea is to avoid worries in your absence, but also to save energy and secure the place against an intrusion., summarizes Mme Joussaume. Of course, you have to lock the door, check your alarm, your fire detector. And close the shutters, if you have any. Also remember to check the level of security of the door and windows imposed by your insurance contract, especially if your accommodation is on the ground floor. “
To avoid serious damage, the most important thing is to shut off the water supply: leaks often cause serious damage when they are not quickly detected and “Many insurance contracts indicate that to remain covered, you have to turn off the water when you leave your home for a long time”, recalls Mme Joussaume. But also to see if it is wise, according to your installation, to cut off the gas and the electricity (to be avoided, of course, if you have a connected freezer or an alarm).
“It is better in all cases to unplug your devices to avoid electrical damage in the event of a short circuit. Disconnect the chargers, the Internet box, the hot water tank, etc. will also allow energy savings ”, adds Léa Joussaume.