Parliament adopts borrower insurance reform

Led by MP Patricia Lemoine (Agir) and supported by the government, the bill "for fairer, simpler and more transparent access to the borrower insurance market" initially aimed to introduce more competition in the banking sector. , in a position of strength in this area (88% market share), and in insurance, in order to lower costs for the consumer.

It opens up the possibility of changing borrower insurance free of charge at any time, and no longer just on the anniversary date. This provision will come into force on June 1 for new contracts, and from September 1 for others.

In accordance with the wish of the Senate, which was initially opposed to this measure, insurers will have to inform borrowers each year of their right and its terms of implementation.

“This bill represents a real gain in purchasing power for our compatriots”, assured the Minister in charge of Public Accounts Olivier Dussopt, quantifying this gain at “around 550 million euros per year”. A figure, however, disputed by the president of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Senate Sophie Primas (LR).

At the initiative of senators, the health component of the bill has also been beefed up.

The medical questionnaire is removed for mortgages below 200.000 euros per person (or 400.000 euros for a couple) and whose term occurs before the 60th birthday of the borrower. These thresholds can be modulated by decree, only in a direction favorable to the borrower, specified the rapporteur of the text in the Senate Daniel Gremillet (LR).

The period of the "right to be forgotten" for cancers and hepatitis C is reduced from ten to five years. “It was a measure demanded by patient associations for several years,” recalled Ms. Lemoine during the last vote in the National Assembly on Tuesday. The "right to be forgotten" now allows former cancer patients to no longer have to declare their illness to their insurer ten years after the end of their therapeutic protocol.

The signatories of the AERAS agreement (Insuring and Borrowing with an Aggravated Health Risk) will also be required to initiate negotiations by July 31, 2022 on pathologies other than cancer.

"It's a law that will change the lives of many owners," said Ms. Lemoine. "We have done useful work and we can be proud of it," added Mr. Gremillet.

The borrower's insurance market is valued at nearly 10 billion euros in premiums per year, and concerns nearly seven million homeowners with outstanding credit.