Déchéance de garantie (forfeiture of cover)

Déchéance de garantie is a sanction under French insurance law that deprives the policyholder of indemnification for one specific claim, in response to a breach of contractual obligations: late notification, fraudulent exaggeration, failure to apply required prevention measures. Unlike nullity, it does not call the contract itself into question, but it blocks the payout on the claim concerned. It is a French law concept that other jurisdictions address through different mechanisms. It is one of the insurer's responses to fraudulent behaviour.