SAS / SASU insurance: which policies are really mandatory?

No insurance is ever mandatory for a French SAS or SASU simply because of its legal form: the Commercial Code imposes no policy on simplified joint-stock companies. Obligations arise from your actual situation: an employee triggers group health insurance (and group protection if they are an executive), a vehicle triggers third-party motor liability, a commercial lease almost always requires premises insurance, and a regulated activity requires professional liability cover. Everything else is a management decision, which does not mean it is optional in practice.

Is any insurance mandatory for an SAS or SASU?

The SAS and its single-shareholder version, the SASU, are governed by articles L227-1 and following of the French Commercial Code, which say nothing about insurance. The obligations are scattered across the Social Security Code, the Insurance Code, the Highway Code and the texts specific to each regulated profession.

The right question is therefore not "which insurance for my SASU?" but "which situation am I in?". Four situations create a legal or contractual obligation: employing, driving, renting, practising a regulated activity. A fifth, signing an enterprise contract or raising funds, creates obligations imposed by your counterparties, described in our article on insurance clauses in enterprise contracts.

What must you insure from the first employee?

Since 1 January 2016, article L911-7 of the Social Security Code has required every private-sector employer to provide group health insurance for all its employees, funded at least 50% by the company, with a minimum benefits basket. A single employee on a permanent contract is enough. The president of a SASU with no employees is not concerned: as a corporate officer, they are not an employee within the meaning of this text.

If that employee is a cadre (executive-grade), group protection insurance is added: the national interprofessional agreement of 17 November 2017, which carries over article 7 of the 1947 executives' collective agreement, requires the employer to pay a contribution of at least 1.50% of bracket 1 (up to the social security ceiling, €4,005 per month in 2026), allocated primarily to death cover. Failing that, if the executive dies, the employer must itself pay the beneficiaries a lump sum equal to three annual ceilings, €144,180 in 2026. Your collective agreement, Syntec for example, may extend the obligation to non-executives. Group protection is the policy most often forgotten by fast-hiring SAS companies.

Which insurance is mandatory for company vehicles?

Every motor vehicle registered in the company's name, or used on its behalf, must be covered at least for third-party liability (article L211-1 of the Insurance Code). Driving without insurance is an offence punishable by a €3,750 fine under article L324-2 of the Highway Code, with possible licence suspension, immobilisation or confiscation of the vehicle; in practice a €500 fixed penalty is offered on a first offence.

The trap lies elsewhere: an employee's personal car used for a business trip. Their private policy may exclude professional use, and the company remains liable for its employee. "Auto-mission" cover, built into a motor fleet policy, covers exactly these journeys.

Do you have to insure an SAS's premises?

No statute requires a company to insure its premises, unlike a residential tenant. But two mechanisms make it all but mandatory. First, article 1733 of the Civil Code: the tenant is liable for fire unless it proves an accident, force majeure or a construction defect. Second, the commercial lease itself, whose "insurance clause" almost always requires a multi-risk policy covering fire, water damage and neighbours' claims, with an annual certificate.

Commercial multi-risk insurance is the policy that bundles, in one contract, tenant's liability (damage caused to the building), protection of your contents (equipment, stock, fit-out) and, optionally, business interruption, meaning the margin lost while the premises are unusable (our multi-risk offer).

Which regulated activities require professional liability insurance?

Professional liability insurance is mandatory only for professions where a statute requires it. It covers damage caused to third parties, clients included, by a fault, error or omission in the course of your activity, including financial loss.

An SAS in consulting, software, retail or marketing has no legal obligation to carry professional liability insurance. It does, however, have a contractual one as soon as its first serious client asks for a certificate, and a real exposure: a code error that costs a client a day of revenue is otherwise settled out of your own pocket (professional liability).

The SAS status obliges you to nothing; your employees, your vehicles, your lease and your clients are what oblige you.

Which policies remain optional but indispensable in practice?

General liability, often confused with professional liability, covers damage to third parties outside the service itself: a visitor who falls in your offices, damage at a client's site during an installation. Cyber insurance, which neither NIS2 nor DORA makes mandatory, funds crisis management, system rebuilding and business interruption after an attack. Directors' and officers' liability protects the president's personal assets, which can be pursued for mismanagement. Key person insurance, finally, is often required by investors.

These ranges, drawn from market observations published in 2026, vary widely with activity, turnover and claims history.

How do you build your SAS insurance checklist?

Start from your situations, not from products. You employ? Health insurance, group protection, collective agreement. You drive? Motor liability and auto-mission. You rent? Align the lease's insurance clause with your multi-risk policy. You practise a regulated activity? Check the text, the minimum amounts and the financial guarantee. You sell to enterprise accounts or have raised funds? Compare the insurance clauses of your contracts and shareholders' agreement with your policies. Repeat the exercise at each milestone: first employee, first lease, first vehicle, first funding round.

Frequently asked questions

Does a SASU with no employees need group health insurance?

No. The obligation under article L911-7 of the Social Security Code applies to employees. The president of a SASU, a corporate officer, is not an employee even though they contribute to the general scheme. They can cover themselves with an individual policy.

Is professional liability insurance mandatory for a consulting or software SAS?

No statute requires it. It does, however, become a condition of access to tenders and enterprise contracts, and it remains the only way to have an insurer bear the financial consequences of a service error.

What does an SAS risk if it has not set up mandatory health insurance?

A URSSAF reassessment over three years of contributions, since employer contributions lose their exemption, and claims from employees for reimbursements not received.

Is an insurance certificate required to register a SASU?

No, except for regulated activities whose registration requires a professional liability certificate or a financial guarantee (real estate, brokerage, travel). For the others, the registry asks for nothing.

At Lesto, we start from these concrete situations to read your existing policies, spot uncovered obligations and duplicates, then consult nine insurers on average to realign the programme with your real risk. Want to know where your SAS stands? Have your insurance analysed and receive a diagnosis within 72 hours.