Mortgage loan: How to borrow if you are sick or in remission?

When you have been sick, getting a loan can quickly become an obstacle course and lead to a loan refusal and / or very high premiums. So, is it possible to borrow if you are ill or in remission? Update with Artémis Courtage.

When you want to borrow to buy a property, banks generally require that you take out borrower insurance to guarantee your loan (death, disability or incapacity). If you are sick or have been sick a few years ago, getting a loan can quickly become an obstacle course that leads to a loan refusal and / or very high surcharges. It is therefore necessary to anticipate it when putting together your file.

What is the Aeras convention?

Concretely, if the borrower ticks certain boxes of the health questionnaire submitted by his bank, his file is sent to a specialized medical service, which may result in an additional premium or certain exclusions. Since 2007, the Aeras agreement (Insure and Borrow with an Aggravated Health Risk) aims to facilitate access to insurance and loans for people who have, or have had, a serious health problem. Concretely, the files of those who face a refusal of insurance (under standard or individualized conditions) are transmitted to medical experts (insurers and reinsurers). The latter can offer them coverage at an increased premium and / or certain exclusions. This system concerns real estate loans for the main residence, the amount of which is less than 320,000 euros (excluding bridging loan) and the repayment of which takes place before the age of 70.

What does the right to be forgotten allow?

Since 2017, the Aeras agreement has also included a right to be forgotten. When a borrower applies for loan insurance, he no longer has to report a former cancer if his treatment protocol has been completed for more than 10 years and no relapse has been observed. This period is reduced to 5 years for cancers diagnosed before the age of 21. A recent bill aims to apply the right to be forgotten at 5 years for all people cured of cancer.

In practice, the legislator has adopted a reference grid which determines, pathology by pathology, the period after which former patients can take out insurance under the same conditions as people who have not been sick, without paying any additional premium or suffering a disclaimer of warranty. If it is a chronic disease, a grid determines the period after which patients can take out insurance with capped surcharges. The latter is revised regularly and evolves according to medical advances.

How to go about it in case of refusal or extra premium?

If these devices improve the conditions of access to insurance for sick people, they remain very complex and unfortunately do not prevent mortgage loan refusals. Insurers can also impose high premiums or an exclusion for the disease from which one suffers. Moreover, the risk of invalidity is not always covered. It is therefore recommended to carefully read the guarantees covered and the exclusions notified in the contract. As some illnesses are more or less well covered depending on the company, it is also essential to have competition between insurers. Opting for individual insurance (other than that offered by the bank making the loan) is often the most effective. Some structures have also developed with patient associations (diabetes, chronic inflammatory diseases, breast cancer, etc.) dedicated contracts for their members allowing patients to obtain more extensive guarantees with capped premiums, including on risks related to their own pathologies. To find the right contract, the help of a broker is very useful.

Case n ° 1: A couple in their thirties was able to obtain a mortgage of € 463,000 at the rate of 1.15% over 25 years. Mister had cancer before he turned 18 but he benefited from the right to be forgotten. Her average annual insurance rate is 0.126% of the initial capital (0.119% for Madame).

Case n ° 2: To buy their main residence, a couple in their fifties was able to borrow € 280,000 at the rate of 1.20% over 25 years. Madam is covered by the group insurance of the bank which makes the loan and Mister, whose disability up to 20% recognized, was refused by three insurance companies after a complete medical course each time. He was able to be insured for death and PITA, thanks to an individual contract in delegation with exclusions. Its average annual insurance rate is 1.43% of the initial capital (0.84% ​​for Madame). The lending bank would not have given its consent without Madam’s cover.