Faxing a landline in France

France: who still receives faxes?

Notaries and property

Notaries’ offices, property managers and estate agents still accept powers of attorney, preliminary sale agreements and signed documents by fax, especially from signatories abroad.

Healthcare

Pharmacies, labs, clinics and practices exchange prescriptions, results and cover requests by fax, alongside the MSSanté secure messaging network.

Courts

Lawyers communicate with the courts through RPVA; for everyone else, court registries state on their letters which transmission methods they accept.

Insurers and banks

Insurers, supplementary health funds and banks sometimes accept claims, mandates or signed forms by fax; the procedure is set out in the contract.

We never publish an organisation’s fax number: use the one printed on a recent letter or on the recipient’s official website.

The official digital alternative

Qualified electronic registered mail is treated by law like postal registered mail; MSSanté connects healthcare professionals; RPVA (e-barreau) handles exchanges between lawyers and courts; online professional accounts with public bodies replace most paper submissions.

France: frequently asked questions

How do I enter a French number from abroad?

Type the 10 digits with the leading 0, for example 01 48 81 76 45, without +33. If you paste +33 1 48 81 76 45, the form restores the 0 for you.

Is a number starting with 09 really a fax?

09 marks a non-geographic line, often a broadband box: nothing in the number says whether it is a fax. Rely on the “Fax” or “Télécopie” label on a recent letter from the recipient.

Is a company’s fax the same as its switchboard number?

Rarely. Many French companies have a fax that shares the switchboard’s root but ends differently (…45 instead of …40, say). A fax sent to the switchboard rings a telephone and fails: copy the number marked “Fax” or “Télécopie”.