Getting Your French Home Loan Insured Once You Are Past 55

In France, borrower insurance (assurance emprunteur) is the policy that pays off some or all of the outstanding loan if you die or become disabled. Past 55 it can still be obtained in the vast majority of cases, but it has to be negotiated: the health questionnaire, the age at which each cover stops and any premium loading become the real battleground.

No statute makes this insurance compulsory for a home loan. In practice nearly every lender insists on it, yet none can force you to take its in-house group policy. Since the Lemoine law of 2022, you may pick your own insurer when you sign and switch at any time afterwards, which matters a great deal for someone borrowing at 58 or 62.

Which covers will a French lender require after 55?

The bank lists its minimum covers in the fiche standardisée d'information, a standard information sheet you receive with the loan proposal. For a borrower still in work, it nearly always asks for death and PTIA (total and irreversible loss of autonomy), often adds ITT (temporary incapacity to work) and IPT (permanent disability). Job-loss cover is rare and costly. Work-related covers usually end when you retire, while death cover can run much longer.

Age limits cover by cover

Every policy shows two ages: the latest age at which you can join and the age at which cover stops. Death is frequently insured up to 80, 85 or even 90 with independent insurers, against 75 in some bank group contracts. ITT and IPT tend to stop between 65 and 67, or when your pension starts. Set these ages against the birthday you will have reached at the final instalment before signing anything.

The Lemoine law for borrowers aged 50 and over

The Lemoine law removes the health questionnaire when the insured share is no more than 200,000 euros per person and the loan is fully repaid before your 60th birthday. A 50-year-old employee borrowing 150,000 euros over nine years therefore answers no medical questions at all. At 54 with a ten-year loan, the exemption no longer applies. The same law cut the right to be forgotten (droit à l'oubli) to five years after the end of treatment for cancer and hepatitis C.

Michel, 58: a worked example

Michel, a manager, buys a flat with a 180,000-euro loan over fifteen years, so the last instalment falls when he is 73. He has to fill in a health questionnaire and is being treated for high blood pressure. Over fifteen years he falls outside the AERAS convention, which requires the loan to end by his 71st birthday. Cut to twelve years, his file becomes eligible again for the three-level AERAS review.

The trade-off is real: on twelve years at an illustrative 3.5%, his instalment rises from about 1,287 to about 1,535 euros a month. If that is too much, a larger deposit taken from savings can keep the monthly figure close to the original while preserving AERAS eligibility.

The AERAS convention and pre-existing health conditions

AERAS (s'Assurer et Emprunter avec un Risque Aggravé de Santé) is an agreement signed in 2007 by the state, banks, insurers and patient associations to handle applicants with a serious health history. It covers home loans with an insured share up to 420,000 euros, provided the loan ends before the borrower turns 71. Files go through a standard first level, then a second with the insurer's medical department, and finally a third involving a pool of reinsurers.

The reference grid and capped loadings

The convention includes a reference grid listing conditions, such as certain cancers, HIV and some inflammatory diseases, for which the insurer must offer standard pricing or a capped loading once a set delay has passed. A separate mechanism can absorb part of the loading for lower-income households, subject to means and age criteria. These protections apply inside the AERAS framework only.

How do you build a medical file that goes through?

An incomplete file is the first cause of a loading. Attach a recent report from your GP or specialist, your latest test results and evidence that the condition is stable. If your history is held by a doctor in the UK, Ireland or the US, ask for a summary letter and have it translated into French; underwriters rarely chase records abroad and will price the uncertainty instead. Answer every question precisely: a deliberate misstatement voids the policy under article L113-8 of the Insurance Code, leaving your family uncovered when they most need it.

Insurers worth approaching first

Independent insurers and brokers specialised in health risks have in-house medical teams and reinsurers used to applicants over 60. Many price on the outstanding balance rather than the original amount, which lowers the overall bill. Delegation comparison tools return three or four quotes within days. Ask each one for the end age of death cover, and check whether it accepts borrowers who are not French tax residents if you live partly abroad.

Why insurance applications are turned down, and how to avoid it

Age alone rarely explains a refusal. More often the term pushes the last payment past the policy's limits, a condition is declared without supporting medical documents, a large amount triggers heavy medical tests, or the cover split between two co-borrowers is badly set. The costliest error of all is asking a single insurer, when acceptance policies vary enormously from one company to the next.

Cover split, term and alternative security

A couple aged 59 and 56 can insure 100% on the younger partner and 50% on the elder instead of 100% each: the premium falls and the risk remains covered. Shortening the term from fifteen to twelve years may bring the loan back within the grids. A pledged life insurance policy (nantissement) or a mortgage on another property can also replace part of the cover if the bank agrees.

Steps to secure cover at the best price

1. Request the bank's standard information sheet and note the covers it demands.
2. Work out the exact age you will be at the final instalment.
3. Obtain three or four delegated quotes using identical cover percentages.
4. Collect your medical reports, translated if needed, before filling in any questionnaire.
5. Submit the chosen policy to the bank, which has ten working days to confirm equivalence of cover.
6. After signing, compare the market again each year, since you may now cancel and switch at any time.

Frequently asked questions

Can the bank reject my outside insurer? Only if the covers do not match those on its information sheet. Any refusal must be in writing and must state the reasons, so you can fix the gap and resubmit.

Do I have to declare a cancer cured six years ago? No, provided treatment ended more than five years ago with no relapse: the right to be forgotten applies whatever your age at diagnosis.

At 63, can I still get incapacity cover? Some policies accept it up to 65, but it will stop when you retire. It is only worth paying for if you expect to keep working for several more years.

My bank's group policy is too expensive. Can I change it mid-loan? Yes, at any time and at no cost since the Lemoine law, as long as the new policy offers equivalent cover.

Practical fixes when insurance blocks the purchase

If every quote remains out of reach, several levers remain. A mortgage-backed loan secured on a property you already own lets some lenders settle for reduced death cover. Pledging a life insurance contract or a securities account gives the bank collateral it trusts. For a modest project, consumer credit with no compulsory insurance may be enough.

A specialist broker can present your file to several insurers and reinsurers at once. If the deadlock persists, the AERAS mediation committee can be asked to review a refusal. Keep that in mind before signing the preliminary sale agreement: the loan condition precedent (condition suspensive de prêt) protects your deposit while you look for cover.