The borrower insurance delegation is no longer just about comparing rates. Since the strengthening of banking practices around the equivalence of guarantees, successfully substituting requires a careful reading of the general conditions of the delegated contract and a mastery of the levers for contestation in case of refusal. This guide details the technical points to secure your mortgage without being subjected to the group contract.
Equivalence of guarantees: the real technical lock of delegation
The Standardized Information Sheet (SIS) provided by the bank lists the guarantees required for the loan. In theory, any external contract covering these guarantees must be accepted. In practice, since 2024, we have observed a clear tightening of the equivalence criteria imposed by banks.
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The issue is no longer at the level of major guarantees (death, PTIA) but in the restrictive conditions of ITT and IPT guarantees. A double waiting period on ITT, an exclusion related to a sport or profession, a slightly different definition of disability is enough to justify a legally valid refusal.
To address this, it is not enough to tick the lines of the SIS. We recommend comparing criterion by criterion the general conditions of the delegated contract with those of the proposed group contract. Three points deserve particular attention:
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- The definition of ITT retained by the delegated insurer (inability to perform “one’s” job or “any” job) – the second formulation significantly reduces the actual coverage.
- The waiting periods applied in IPT and ITT, which can vary from simple to double between two contracts showing the same level of guarantee.
- Sport or professional exclusions, often broader in low-cost individual contracts than in group contracts.
When you want to know everything about borrower insurance delegation, this granular reading of the general conditions is the starting point, not the final step.
Refusal of delegation by the bank: concrete contestation and recourse
An unmotivated refusal of substitution or based on criteria absent from the SIS is illegal. The Lemoine law has strengthened this protection, but abusive refusals remain common in practice. Some banks invoke vague reasons or delay responses beyond the ten working days deadline.
The contestation procedure now follows a standardized scheme that we systematically apply.
Formal follow-up and formal notice
First step: send a registered letter demanding a written and detailed motivation for the refusal, criterion by criterion, referencing the guarantees listed in the SIS. The bank must demonstrate that the delegated contract does not cover a specific criterion listed on its own sheet.
If the response remains vague or absent, the formal notice explicitly mentions the referral to the banking mediator. This signal is sufficient in most cases to unlock the file.
Referral to the mediator and workaround strategy
When the formal notice has no effect, referring to the bank mediator is the next recourse. The mediator generally rules in favor of the borrower when the refusal concerns criteria not mentioned in the SIS.
An alternative strategy is to sign with the group contract to avoid delaying the release of the loan, then immediately exercise the substitution via the Lemoine law. This approach neutralizes the pre-signature power dynamics while preserving the economic benefit of the delegation.
TAEA and the real cost of the contract: comparing what is comparable
The TAEA (effective annual rate of insurance) remains the only standardized indicator for comparing two borrower insurance offers. We find that many borrowers compare monthly premiums without considering the calculation basis.
A contract on the remaining capital may seem cheaper at first but can cost more over the total duration than a contract on the initial capital, depending on the loan amortization profile. The TAEA incorporates these differences and allows for reliable comparison over the actual duration of the mortgage.
Another often overlooked parameter: the insurance share in case of co-borrowing. A 50/50 coverage reduces the premium but exposes each borrower to repay half of the capital in case of a claim affecting the other. The choice of the share modifies both the cost and the level of protection and should be arbitrated based on respective incomes.
Health questionnaire and right to be forgotten: what has changed for the borrower file
The Lemoine law has eliminated the health questionnaire for loans where the insured portion does not exceed a certain threshold and where the term occurs before the borrower’s sixtieth birthday. For files that remain subject to the questionnaire, the right to be forgotten reduces the declaration periods for certain pathologies.
In practice, these provisions change the delegation strategy. A borrower with an aggravated health risk now has an interest in systematically comparing individual contracts, whose segmented pricing may prove more favorable than the mutualization of the group contract.
The AERAS convention continues to apply for profiles excluded from the simplified questionnaire. The preparation of the file then requires providing additional medical documents to the delegated insurer, which lengthens the timelines. Anticipating this step before signing the loan offer avoids being forced to accept the group contract by default.
The borrower insurance delegation is won on the details: reading the general conditions criterion by criterion, formal contestation of unmotivated refusals, comparison based on the TAEA rather than the gross monthly payment. A well-prepared file before signing the mortgage remains the best lever to secure both the cost and coverage of your loan.