Little by little, the borrower’s insurance market is shrinking. The National Assembly has just voted to abolish the medical questionnaire, hitherto compulsory to obtain a mortgage.
Borrower insurance: end of the medical questionnaire for loans of less than 200,000 euros | Photo credit: Getty images
Last November, Crédit Mutuel caused a small earthquake in the opaque world of borrower insurance by announcing the elimination of health questionnaires for its loyal customers (for at least 7 years in the network). It seems that this initiative has inspired the legislator. Deputies and senators have just agreed, in a joint committee, on the abolition of this questionnaire for some borrowers, whatever their bank! This is a major step forward, as the responses may give rise to additional premiums and therefore increase the debt ratio. Age alone influences the rate of insurance: the older the borrower, the more likely he is to suffer from illness or disability.
Half of the borrowers concerned
It will still be necessary to fulfill two conditions to be exempted from this famous questionnaire: the mortgage must be less than 200,000 euros – the Senate had voted 350,000 euros, but this would have concerned almost all of the credits, too certainly in the eyes of the deputies – and its term must intervene before the 60and birthday of the borrower. ” This measure concerns a majority of borrowers at Vousfinancer [et chez les concurrents]welcomes the credit broker. 52% of the files granted in 2021 relate to loan amounts of less than 200,000 euros. The average amount of financed credit is 196,870 euros (for an average age of 37 years), but it drops to 173,630 euros among first-time buyers, whose average age is 33 years old. “.
Right to be forgotten reduced to 5 years
At the same time, the right to be forgotten has been halved and reduced to 5 years. It allows people who have been affected by a cancerous or hepatic pathology not to mention it in the health questionnaire, and therefore not to be penalized by additional premiums or exclusions from cover. Introduced in 2015 by the Aeras convention (Insuring and borrowing with an aggravated health risk), the right to be forgotten was until now 10 years.
Candidates for the loan will therefore benefit from it if the therapeutic protocol has been completed for more than five years. ” Advances for the benefit of policyholders, and more particularly people who have suffered from pathologies or are still fighting their fight against the disease, are historic and come to put an end to a large number of very unfair situations. We can be proud of the work accomplished, which will benefit millions of borrowers “, welcomed Senator Sophie Primas (LR), President of the Economic Affairs Committee. The text will be discussed again in the Assembly and the Senate next week, but it should be adopted as it stands, the law being supported by the government.
Termination “at any time” also adopted
Another key point, which was eagerly awaited and which will really benefit everyone: the right to terminate borrower insurance at any time is finally consecrated by the National Assembly. It will no longer be necessary, for those who borrow after the publication of the law, to renegotiate their loan insurance within 12 months of obtaining their credit, or on its anniversary date. From now on, the option of termination is aligned with that of other everyday insurance (car, home, etc.).
” The competition between traditional banking players, who charge prices two to three times more expensive, with external insurers, can only be favorable to the consumer. As a result, borrowers can expect savings of several tens of thousands of euros depending on their profile commented Olivier Moustacakis, co-founder of Assurland.com. According to the examples provided by the comparator, a couple of 50 years old, civil servants and wanting to borrow 300,000 euros, can save nearly 17,500 euros in total with the delegation of insurance.