Termination at any time, removal under conditions of the health questionnaire, time limit for the right to be forgotten reduced: Parliament definitively adopted, Thursday, February 17, by a final unanimous vote of the Senate, a reform of borrower insurance for loans real estate.

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 strong position 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 Senate's Economic Affairs Committee, Sophie Primas (LR).

The "right to be forgotten" for cancers and hepatitis C reduced to five years

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

The medical questionnaire is removed for home loans of less than 200,000 euros per person (ie 400,000 euros for a couple) and whose term occurs before the borrower's 60th birthday.

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 Patricia Lemoine during the last vote in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The "right to be forgotten" currently allows former cancer patients to no longer have to declare their disease to their insurer ten years after the end of their therapeutic protocol.

>> To read - Cancer: towards a less discriminating "right to be forgotten" in France

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

"This is a law that will change the lives of many owners," said Patricia Lemoine.

"We have done useful work and we can be proud of it," added Daniel 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.

With AFP

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