When signing a mortgage, the instinct is to negotiate the interest rate. The insurance linked to the loan often takes a back seat, even though it can represent a significant part of the total cost of the loan. Understanding its guarantees, pitfalls, and recent market developments can help avoid extra costs and coverage gaps at the worst moment.
Continuity of coverage when changing insurers: what changes in 2026
Since the Lemoine law, any borrower can change their loan insurance at any time, without fees or penalties. In practice, a persistent issue remained: between the termination of the old contract and the activation of the new one, some borrowers found themselves without coverage for a few days.
An opinion from the Financial Sector Advisory Committee (CCSF), adopted on May 26, 2026, and published on June 24, 2026, aims to eliminate these “coverage gaps.” Insurers commit to ensuring continuity of coverage during a substitution. The rollout began on September 1, 2026, with full implementation expected by 2027 at the latest.
Note: this opinion is neither a law nor a decree. It is a professional commitment from the sector. In practice, each insurer applies this system at their own pace. Before terminating your current contract, check the general conditions of your new insurer to ensure that the effective date aligns with the end date of the old contract. If it does not, you alone bear the risk of an uncovered period.
To compare offers and follow these developments, insurance on Maestro Immo details the criteria to examine contract by contract.
Coverage share and compensation method: two adjustments that change everything
You are borrowing as a couple to buy your primary residence. The bank requires full coverage of the loan, but how should it be divided between the two co-borrowers? This is the question of borrower insurance share.
How the share works
The share sets the portion of the capital covered for each borrower. If each is covered at 50%, the death of one leads to the payment of half of the remaining monthly payments. The other half remains the responsibility of the survivor.
Opting for 100% coverage on each head is more expensive but fully protects the surviving co-borrower. The choice depends on each person’s income and their ability to handle repayment alone.
Fixed or indemnity compensation
Two modes coexist, and their difference is rarely explained clearly:
- Fixed mode: the insurer pays a fixed percentage of the monthly payment, regardless of your income level at the time of the claim. This mode is generally more protective.
- Indemnity mode: the insurer calculates the compensation based on your actual loss of income. If you receive daily allowances from Social Security or your employer, the coverage decreases accordingly.
- Concrete consequence: in indemnity mode, an employee on long-term sick leave with partial salary maintenance may receive only a minimal fraction of their monthly payment through insurance.
Check this point in your contract before signing. The compensation method is listed in the general conditions, often in small print.
Exclusions and waiting periods: clauses that block compensation
A borrower insurance contract never covers everything. Two mechanisms limit coverage, and ignoring them can be costly.
Waiting period and deductible period
The waiting period starts from the signing of the contract. During this period (often several months), no claims are compensated. The deductible period, on the other hand, applies after a claim occurs: the insurer only starts paying after a certain number of days of work stoppage, for example.
These two periods accumulate. A borrower who goes on sick leave shortly after subscribing may therefore wait a long time before receiving anything.
Common exclusions
High-risk sports, certain pre-existing conditions, or extended stays outside the national territory are among the classic exclusions. Since the professional commitments of 2026, disability criteria tend to be harmonized among insurers, with reference thresholds of 66% for total disability and 33% for partial disability. This harmonization facilitates comparison, but each contract may still have specific conditions.
Home insurance and borrower insurance: do not confuse obligations
Property insurance covers two distinct contracts that first-time buyers often mix up.
Borrower insurance covers the repayment of the loan in case of death, disability, or inability to work. Home insurance protects the property and its contents against disasters (fire, water damage, theft). The former is required by the bank, while the latter is mandatory for tenants and co-owners, and strongly recommended for owner-occupiers who are not co-owners.
A point often overlooked: home insurance regularly experiences premium increases, driven by rising climate-related claims.
- Review the compensation limits of your home insurance each year to ensure they match the actual value of your belongings.
- Compare the deductibles applied in case of water damage or natural disasters, as they vary significantly from one insurer to another.
- Check if your contract includes private life civil liability coverage, distinct from rental civil liability.
Borrower insurance and home insurance are two budget items to examine separately. Optimizing one without looking at the other means only addressing half the issue. When purchasing real estate, request quotes for both in parallel: the cumulative savings over the duration of the loan can amount to thousands of euros.
