In summary…
Since Law No. 2022-270 of February 28, 2022, known as the Lemoine Law, your mortgage insurance can be cancelled and replaced at any time, free of charge, without an anniversary date and without any seniority requirement. Only one condition: equivalent guarantees.
The bank cannot object if the equivalence is established. It responds within ten business days and must to justify a refusal explicitly and exhaustively. A vague refusal is not a refusal.
The majority of borrowers, however, remain on their bank's group contract, which is often two to three times more expensive than a delegation — and sometimes less protective on the two points that really determine a claim: the definition of disability and coverage outside of France.
Mortgage insurance is the only component of a home loan that no one renegotiates. People sign with the offer because they believe it's included. It isn't—and for a borrower in their forties, it represents between a quarter and a third of the total cost of the loan.
1. What the Lemoine law changed
The right to go out is no longer confined to a calendar
Before 2022, the substitution was limited: the first year, then at each annual renewal date, with prior notice. The borrower would discover the issue three weeks after the due date and wait eleven months. Since June 1, 2022 for new offers and September 1, 2022 for all current contracts, This calendar no longer exists.
Specifically. You don't need to ask anything before starting. You sign the new contract, send the file to the bank, and they have ten business days to respond. If they accept, they issue an amendment to the loan offer., free. If she refuses, she must state which criterion is not met, and which one exactly. "The proposed contract is not equivalent" is not a valid reason.
For the technician. Law No. 2022-270 of February 28, 2022, for fairer, simpler, and more transparent access to the mortgage insurance market. Cancellation at any time: Articles L. 313-30 et seq. of the Consumer Code, mirroring provisions in the Insurance Code. Effective June 1, 2022, for new offers, and September 1, 2022, for existing contracts.
The decision will be notified within ten business days; the refusal will be explicitly and comprehensively justified, specifying the unmet equivalence criterion or criteria (Article L. 313-31). No fees may be charged for the amendment, and increasing the loan rate in retaliation for a substitution is prohibited.
2. Equivalence of guarantees: the only area for discussion
A closed gate, which the bank itself filled in.
Equivalence is not an assessment by your branch advisor. It is based on a grid established by the Financial Sector Advisory Committee: criteria relating to death, incapacity and disability guarantees, from which each bank chooses in advance those it requires — eleven at most — plus, if it requires it, a job loss guarantee subject to its own list, four criteria at most.
This selection is public: it appears in the standardized information sheet provided during the first simulation. This is the document to request before anything else — it contains everything the bank is entitled to demand, and nothing more.
- One criterion from his own list, not met by the proposed contract — A criterion absent from its standardized information sheet
- A lower percentage than that of the initial contract — The cost of the contract, whether lower or higher, or the identity of the new insurer
- An incomplete file, provided you specify what's missing — Seniority, a period of time, an anniversary date
3. The medical questionnaire, which no longer exists
Two cumulative conditions, and the prior claim is removed from the file
The second contribution of the law is less well-known, and it changes more situations. Subject to conditions regarding the insured amount and the loan's maturity date, No information relating to health status can be collected. No questionnaire, no examination, no search for medical history. The right to be forgotten has also been reduced to five years for cancer and hepatitis C: beyond that, the condition is no longer declared and cannot justify either a surcharge or exclusion.
Specifically. Did you decide against switching insurers because you have "a problem with your medical file"? If your loan falls within the thresholds, the new insurer will never see this file. Those who believe they are uninsurable elsewhere are precisely those who pay the most at their bank.
4. Liberal professions and managers: the definition before the price
Disability "in your profession" or "in any activity"«
For an employee, the difference between two contracts is reflected in the price. For a dentist, a lawyer, or a manager, it's found in a single sentence of the general terms and conditions. A group contract often defines permanent disability as the inability to practice. any remunerative activity. A practitioner who loses the dexterity of their right hand can no longer operate, but they can teach, provide expert opinions, and manage: they are not disabled under this contract. They have lost their profession, and they continue to make payments.
The same logic applies to temporary disability: a return to work on a part-time basis for therapeutic reasons often terminates compensation under group contracts, even though income is reduced by half. A properly drafted delegation of authority provides for proportional coverage in the event of part-time work.
For the technician. To be checked before any substitution: definition of IPT and IPP by reference to the profession exercised on the day of the loss and not to any activity whatsoever; scale used and articulation of functional and professional rates; compensation for ITT in case of partial resumption; deductible; back and mental illnesses without hospitalization requirement; continuation after sale of the company.
These criteria are included in the equivalence grid: a delegation offering better terms regarding disability is, by construction, equivalent within the meaning of Article L. 313-30. Equivalence is a floor, not a ceiling.
5. The quota, and the borrower who lives outside of France
Two lines that void a warranty without any warning.
The coverage percentage divides the insured capital between co-borrowers. A couple with 50/50 ownership is covered for 100% of the loan: upon the death of one borrower, half of the remaining capital is paid off, and the other half remains the responsibility of the survivor. With 100/100 ownership, the entire amount is paid off. The distribution should follow each borrower's income, not symmetry.
The second blind spot is territorial. Many group contracts only fully cover residence in France, suspend coverage beyond a certain period of stay abroad, or exclude entire countries. The contract continues to be debited; it no longer guarantees the same coverage.
Specifically. You keep your Lyon apartment and its mortgage, you move to Dubai or Abidjan for work, you say nothing because the payments continue. In the event of a claim, the insurer can argue that the risk has changed without having been declared. The penalty can extend to the nullity of the contract. The declaration costs a letter; the omission costs the remaining capital due.
For the technician. Article L. 113-2 of the French Insurance Code: obligation to declare any new circumstances that increase the risks or create new ones during the term of the contract, within fifteen days of becoming aware of them. Penalties: nullity in the event of concealment or intentional misrepresentation (Article L. 113-8), proportional reduction of compensation in the event of an unintentional inaccurate declaration (Article L. 113-9). A change of residence outside of France is, depending on the contract, a declarable circumstance, a cause for suspension of coverage, or a case of exclusion—this is stated in the general terms and conditions, never in the table of benefits.
Three questions. If you have no answer to the second one, the matter is urgent.
Do you know how much you pay each year for your loan insurance, in euros and not as a percentage? Does your contract define disability in relation to your profession, or to any specific activity? And if you went to work abroad for eighteen months, would your coverage still apply?
Our position
The high price is the symptom; the inadequate definition is the disease.
The savings are real and amount to tens of thousands of euros. However, this is not the main reason for reopening the case: a group contract is priced and written for an average population, and an executive, a healthcare professional, a craftsman whose body is his tool of work, a family that goes away for three years outside of France are not part of it.
We also regularly say that there's nothing to be done: a 62-year-old borrower nearing the end of their loan with a significant credit history often benefits from leaving things as they are. This can be verified in an hour, before signing anything.
Are you repaying a mortgage taken out before 2023?
The initial consultation is for reviewing your contract, calculating the difference over the remaining term, and determining whether the substitution makes sense—sometimes it doesn't, and we'll say so too. Thirty minutes, no obligation.
Are you a notary, chartered accountant, credit broker or fellow consultant? These cases get lost in the drafting of guarantees, not in the pricing, and they involve expatriation one out of three times. We work in a joint venture: the client remains yours, and the file is returned to you fully documented.
Book an appointment
The initial consultation is to establish your exact situation and determine if there is anything that can be done—sometimes there is nothing, and we will say so as well. Thirty minutes, with no obligation.
