Advice

A first assignment in France: the insurance preparation sheet for a Quebec small business

By Stéphane BoulangerGuest authorPublished October 30, 20267 min read

Describe the work, separate the risks and handle staff travel in its own file — before asking for a single certificate.

A first French contract can start modestly: two people on site, a few days of work, then remote follow-up from Quebec. Yet those details change the questions you need to put to your insurer. Before asking for a certificate, a small business is better off describing its assignment precisely and having the commitments it is about to make reviewed.

The right first step is to send a coherent file to your insurance representative in Quebec, then have the applicable French requirements checked where the situation calls for it. An assignment in France does not automatically mean you must buy a new French policy. Nor does it prove that your existing coverage is enough. What follows is a preparation method, aimed mainly at service businesses; regulated activities, construction and industrial operations call for their own analysis.

Describe the actual work before talking about coverage

"IT consulting" or "sales support" are categories far too broad to present an assignment. Spell out what your teams will do, what they will deliver and what they will be able to modify. Who signs off on operations? Who holds the access credentials? Who brings in subcontractors?

Take a fictional example: a Montreal company is preparing a 12-day assignment in Lyon worth 35,000 euros. Two employees will train the client's staff, but they will also install a software module and have access to a database. After they return, they will provide three months of remote maintenance. These amounts and durations illustrate a scenario; they are neither regulatory thresholds nor a real client case.

The sheet has to mention all four components: training, installation, data access and maintenance. Describing only the training would leave out a significant part of the work. Attach the quote, the specifications and the client's terms, even if they have not been signed yet.

Identify the companies and the countries involved

Write down the exact legal name of the company that invoices, the one that signs and, where applicable, the one that employs the people on site. A French subsidiary, a Quebec company and a subcontractor are separate legal persons: their presence in the same project does not demonstrate that all of them are named insureds on a policy.

Then detail the locations: preparation in Quebec, work in France, where data is hosted, delivery of equipment, then remote after-sales service. Have the territory where the activity is carried out checked separately from the conditions that apply to a claim brought before a foreign court. A general mention of international coverage does not, on its own, answer all of those questions.

Ask for a written answer that points to the relevant clauses and to any endorsements. The goal is to identify what the policy provides for your scenario, with its conditions and its limits, rather than to obtain a verbal assurance that simply covers "France".

Examine the client's requirements before accepting them

The client may ask for insurance, a coverage amount or a certificate following its own template. Distinguish that commercial requirement from a legal obligation. The French Ministry of the Economy points out that mandatory insurance depends notably on the activity carried out; certain professions and certain risks are subject to specific rules [1]. The mere presence of a French client therefore does not determine all of your company's obligations.

In our fictional scenario, suppose the client requires two million euros of coverage. The owner needs to have the per-claim amount and the total amount available over the policy period spelled out, along with the currency used, the deductibles and the treatment of defence costs. A figure on a certificate does not describe the whole mechanism.

Also send the liability, penalty, confidentiality and remedy clauses to the professional responsible for their legal review, as well as to your insurance contact. Do not assume that a commitment accepted in the commercial contract will necessarily be covered. A requirement you cannot meet deserves to be discussed before signature or before work begins.

Separate the risks instead of looking for one single document

Equipment damaged at the client's site, an error in a service and a data breach do not describe the same event. Present those situations separately to your contact: they will be able to review which coverages may respond, their exclusions and any additional needs. That list is a discussion tool, not an automatic match between an incident and a policy.

Do the same for goods in transit. A laptop in someone's luggage and a machine shipped for installation call for different checks. If the assignment involves an international sale of goods, note the agreed Incoterm, its version and the named place. Export Development Canada explains that these rules allocate transport responsibilities and influence insurance needs; CIF and CIP carry specific requirements [2]. An Incoterm does not replace reading the policy.

For each risk, write down the document to consult, the question still open and the person responsible for getting an answer. This work keeps an apparently complete file from staying silent about part of the assignment.

Handle staff travel in its own file

A company's liability insurance is not enough to describe the personal protection of the employees sent to France. Prepare the dates, the locations, the status of the people involved and the nature of their work, then check the social security formalities and the travel coverages with the competent bodies and professionals.

France and Quebec have a social security agreement. CLEISS sets out the rules on which scheme applies and the exceptions tied notably to posting [3]. How they apply depends on the actual situation: a plane ticket or a short assignment does not demonstrate that an employee automatically benefits from the arrangement.

Check healthcare, work-related accidents, assistance and repatriation separately, without assuming that a single document covers all of them. Entry, work and professional practice formalities also remain to be examined: an insurance certificate does not stand in for them.

Build a sheet that lets you decide

The preparation sheet can fit on two pages, with the useful documents attached. It has to let an outside reader understand the project quickly. Gather the following:

The entities involved: signing company, employer, client and subcontractors.
The service: tasks, deliverables, access, equipment handled and sign-off responsibilities.
The schedule: preparation, stay, delivery, maintenance and any other planned work.
The geography: country of performance, destinations of goods and the places where data sits.
The commitments: draft contract, assignment value, insurance required and certificate template.
The existing policies: full contracts, endorsements, certificates and contact details.
The open items: the precise question, who is following it up, and when an answer is expected.

Add a version date. In the Lyon example, if the client eventually asks for deployment at a second site, have the assignment reviewed before that extension. Confirmation obtained for the original project should not be read as an answer covering everything it later becomes.

Get the file from the desk to the field

Before departure, give the assignment lead the contact details to use in case of an incident and the reporting instructions set out in the policies. Identify where to keep correspondence, client sign-offs and proof of delivery. If something goes wrong, those records will help reconstruct the facts without improvising an admission of liability or a promise of compensation.

A successful first assignment starts with a project described precisely enough to be reviewed. What this preparation is meant to produce is concrete: knowing the answers you obtained, the limits you identified and the questions still open before you commit. This sheet makes the conversation with the competent professionals easier; it is neither proof of coverage nor legal advice tailored to a particular company.

Looking for local businesses to work with? The Quebec business directory on BizzQuébec is a good place to start.