Which documents to copy
| Category | Documents |
|---|---|
| Identity | ID card, passport, driving licence, vehicle registration, family record book. |
| Health | Health insurance card, vaccination record, current prescriptions, blood type card if you have one. |
| Housing | Lease or property title, latest rent receipt or property tax notice. |
| Insurance and bank | Home insurance contract, bank details, your branch's contact info. |
| Work | Employment contract, latest payslips. |
Paper or digital
The two complement each other, they don't replace each other:
- Paper: photocopies in a waterproof pouch, tucked into your emergency kit. They work without a battery or network.
- Digital: photos or scans, sent to an online space separate from your phone (email to yourself, cloud storage). Useful if you need to present them remotely, but useless if the network is down.
Loss or theft: two different steps
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the procedure changes depending on the case:
| Situation | Procedure |
|---|---|
| Loss | Report it directly when applying for renewal, at the town hall or by online pre-application on the ANTS (France Titres) website. No report needed. |
| Theft | First file a police report with the police or gendarmerie, before any renewal steps. |
For a lost or stolen driving licence, the proof of filing serves as a temporary licence in case of a check.
After a recognised disaster
If your municipality is officially recognised as being in a state of natural disaster (flooding, for example), renewing your lost or destroyed administrative documents becomes free. You need to:
Contact your insurer within 5 days
To report the incident and obtain a certificate.
Present this certificate
When applying for a duplicate or renewal, to benefit from the free process.
Mistakes to avoid
- Keeping everything in one place. A pouch in a drawer doesn't help if the home becomes inaccessible.
- Relying only on digital copies. A dead phone or a network outage makes a cloud copy inaccessible at the exact moment it would be useful.
- Confusing loss and theft. A police report is mandatory for theft, not for a loss.
- Waiting more than 5 days to contact your insurer after a recognised disaster, risking loss of the free renewal.
Your documents, ready to print or share
LASTLINE can help you prepare the documents that need to survive an emergency:
- an evacuation plan and a family pocket card generated as PDF;
- the household's emergency contacts, in one place.
LASTLINE doesn't store copies of your identity papers: keep them in a physical waterproof pouch and, if you wish, in your usual online personal space.
Prepare my documents with LASTLINEFrequently asked questions
What should I do if I lose my identity papers?
Report the loss directly when applying for renewal, at the town hall or via a pre-application on the ANTS (France Titres) website. No police report is needed for a simple loss.
What should I do if my papers are stolen?
First file a report with the police or gendarmerie, before any renewal steps: that's the key difference from a simple loss.
Is document renewal free after a natural disaster?
Yes, for people affected in a municipality officially recognised as a natural disaster area. You need to present the loss declaration certificate obtained from your insurer, contacted within 5 days of the event.
Sources
- Ma Sécurité (Ministry of the Interior), Loss or theft of official identity documents.
- Service-Public.fr and ANTS (France Titres) for renewal procedures.