1500 euro fine if you “lend” your car, the new 2024 release has a very unpleasant surprise in store

Beneficiaries of the “100 euro car” were not warned of the risk of fines they ran.

Will some beneficiaries of social leasing regret their choice? This new system, which came into effect from 1^er January 2024, allowing the most modest households to access low-cost electric car rentals. In order to be able to drive a Renault Twingo E-Tech for 40 euros per month (excluding insurance) or a Peugeot e-2008 for 149 euros per month (excluding insurance), in addition to the income criteria, two conditions were imposed on consumers: to avoid paying additional costs A minimum rental period of 36 months and a limit of 12,000 kilometers per year.

In addition to the fact that they can “afford” an electric car for a low rent, some lucky people may have told themselves that they can make some money paying for it. By renting their vehicle. Preliminary Decree published on 1^er January left the door open for such a practice as it is nowhere stipulated to be prohibited. However, on February 12, the date of its publication in the official journal, decree n°2024-102 saw a few additions, including one that could dampen the design of smart individuals.

Specifically, we can read that it “prohibits the subletting of vehicles benefiting from leasing assistance during the validity period of the rental agreement.” In other words, among the 50,000 beneficiaries of social leasing in France who want to scrape a few euros by subletting their cars for more than they are worth will not be complying with the law. And in the event that they try to ignore it, they will face a very heavy penalty.

The amount of this also appeared during the publication of the new version of the official decree: the subletting of Electric Victory to a third party within the framework of social leasing will be punished by a fine of 1,500 euros. Enough to give pause to those who imagined they could start a business. And what if the renter decides to give their car to a family member or friend? The decree does not mention this, suggesting that the government wants this support system for the most ordinary households – which costs the state 13,000 euros per leased vehicle – not to be abused for profit. .

It is still important to remember that they are authorized to lend your car to a third party if they have a valid driving license and use the vehicle under the conditions provided in the insurance contract. If you lend your car to a driver not mentioned in your contract, the insurance intervention will be limited and the excess applied to you may increase. Here too, the price to pay can be extremely high.