conduite à l'insu

English translation: without your knowledge

11:30 Dec 19, 2022

French to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Insurance / Vehicle leasing insurance

French term or phrase: conduite à l'insu

This is one of the insurer's exclusions:

Votre Dommage Corporel (ou décès) si, au moment de l'Accident, vous n'êtes pas le Conducteur autorisé du Véhicule garanti, exception faite pour votre enfant mineur non émancipé en cas de conduite à l'insu

It basically means "driving unwittingly/without knowledge" - but is this referring to the child? - i.e. you are covered however if your minor dependent child drives the vehicle without your knowledge?

AllegroTrans KudoZ activity Questions: 471 (none open) (78 closed without grading) Answers: 7446 United Kingdom
Local time: 16:49

English translation:without your knowledge

Explanation:
The rest of the sentence uses 'you', so there's no reason to switch to the third person.

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Note added at 12 hrs (2022-12-20 00:28:43 GMT)
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Here's an example showing that "du propriétaire" or "des parents" or whatever is taken as read, and the omission of this information is not a mistake:

La portée d'une extension de garantie « conduite à l'insu » comprise dans la garantie « responsabilité civile vie privée »

...la garantie serait acquise si l’enfant avait conduit la moto à l'insu de sa mère, de son propriétaire ou gardien et qu'il n'en ait eu ni la propriété ni la garde, et retenu qu'il en était le gardien.
http://www.labase-lextenso.fr/revue-generale-du-droit-des-as...

Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +5

without your knowledge

philgoddard

Without the knowledge of

Armelle Sandra

3 -2

driven unknowingly

Adrian MM.

Discussion entries: 5

Answers

58 mins confidence:

Without the knowledge of

Explanation:
Driving without the approval of the parents or without them knowing.

Example sentence(s):

The insurance does not cover driving accidents without knowledge of the parents.

Armelle Sandra
Cameroon
Local time: 16:49
Native speaker of: French

7 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): -2

driven unknowingly

Explanation:
It doesn't say 'à votre insu' and the expression is so ambiguous, it could - laughably - refer to the under-age driver him- or herself if and when deranged (no private jokes pleas), under the influence of drugs or alcohol or even somnambuilsm:

'Sleepwalk-driving, or more commonly known as sleep-driving, is a rare phenomenon where the person drives a motor vehicle while they are sleepwalking. If stopped by police, sleepwalk-drivers are totally incapable of having any interaction with the police, if they are still sleepwalking during the event.' (The criminal defence of automatism and French 'equivalents' need not be canvassed here, but I know it has been successfully run in England & Wales courts).

The doctrine of 'contra proferentem' is well-established in international insurance: the terms of the policy, in the event of ambiguity, will be construed against the profferor, routinely nine times out a ten against the insurance company and in favo(u)r of the policyholder or insured(s).

'So let the French or UK court decide'.

Example sentence(s):

How often has someone you love driven under the influence unknowingly?
The contra proferentem rule is a legal doctrine in contract law which states that any clause considered to be ambiguous should be interpreted against the interests of the party that created, introduced, or requested that a clause be included.

Reference: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french-to-english/general-conversa...
Reference: http://www.barandbench.com/law-firms/view-point/contra-profe...

Adrian MM.
Austria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

Notes to answerer

Asker: Very abstruse monolgue on sleepwalking and automatism but do you REALLY think it's referring to that??

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

disagree

Eliza Hall: Nothing to do with under the influence or sleepwalking. In the car insurance context "conduite à l'insu" means à l'insu du propriétaire. Ex.: https://www.argusdelassurance.com/reglementation/jurispruden...

18 mins

-> that construction cannot be ruled out. It would be legally dodgy if in fact the under-age driver were under the influence or sleep-driving.That's why lawyers & translators need to carry prof. indemnity insurance.

disagree

Bourth: I didn't know it either, but 'à l'insu' (alone) has a defined meaning in insurance, it seems.

6 hrs

-> So does 'contra proferentem' have a defined meaning - namely an ambiguity in an insurance policy is construed against the insurer if such an 'abstruse' case ever did come to court. That's why lawyers & translators need to carry prof. indemnity insurance.

3 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

without your knowledge

philgoddard
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 129

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you, confirms my initial idea

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