Private domiciliation is defined as having a postal address. It is compulsory for companies, but not for private individuals. However, not having a postal address makes it impossible to carry out the most basic tasks, from administrative procedures to finding a job.
That's why article D264-1 of the French Social Action and Family Code sets up a system for electing domicile, for a period of one year, with the CCAS (Centre Communal d'Action Sociale) or other approved bodies.
Nevertheless, these schemes are primarily aimed at the homeless in the primary sense of the term. In other words, those in a very precarious situation. For the others, domiciliation companies have mobilized to offer them a service that is not only of higher quality, but also long-term.
A domiciliation company enables any individual or company to receive mail, wherever they may be in the world, and to send it to them by digitizing their envelopes if they so wish.
Having a personal postal addressdedicated to receiving administrative mail is essential when you own several homes, change address regularly, or simply have no address at all.
Many jobs, whether in the financial or digital world, require or allow you to travel the world to fulfill fixed-term contracts. Changing your address with every new government agency is not only time-consuming, it can also lead to you forgetting to change your address.
Many of us have had the experience of not transferring a vehicle registration document, which then resulted in one or more fine surcharges on a parking ticket. To avoid making such mistakes in the future, the solution lies in private domiciliation.
All you need to do is contact a number of different service providers:
- A domiciliation company,
- A coworking space,
- A business incubator.
Once you've chosen the domiciliary that's right for you, their team will help you obtain a domiciliation box. A contract will be drawn up to guarantee you the use of the service for an unlimited period, unlike the CCAS, for example.
Legislation does not directly require individuals to register with a local authority. Nevertheless, the provisions of article L264-1 of the French Social Action and Family Code highlight the indispensable nature of private domiciliation:
"In order to be entitled to legal, regulatory and contractual social benefits, to exercise the civil rights granted to them by law, to obtain a national identity document, to be registered on electoral rolls or to receive legal aid, people without a stable address must elect domicile either with a communal or inter-communal social action center, or with an organization approved for this purpose.
The private domiciliation address is so essential that a real right to domiciliation has developed, protected by the administrative judge in the case of CCASs, and by the judicial judge for disputes arising from contractual relationships with domiciliation companies, coworking spaces or other business incubators.
It's no coincidence that domiciliation companies are approved by the prefectural authorities.
Written by our expert Cyril SCHWASTIAK
July 8, 2022
