A particularly little-known French law allows millions of French people to be reimbursed hundreds of euros they have unfairly paid.
A misunderstanding that is expensive. By failing to know their own rights, millions of French people miss out on large sums of money every year. These are hundreds or even thousands of euros in some cases, which many households are not required by their insurance. A situation that benefits companies, who thus keep funds that they would normally have back.
The injured are those who have taken out or still have a mortgage. This corresponds to more than every third household. These unclaimed amounts correspond to part of the borrower’s insurance, which is paid by all people who take out a loan. In fact, borrowers insurance is mandatory as part of a home loan. In summary: without it, no loan.
As a reminder, insurance allows you to cover a borrower and their dependents throughout the repayment of the loan. It is clear that if a borrower suffers a life accident (loss of job, temporary incapacity, disability, long-term illness, death, etc.) that prevents him from repaying his loan, then the insurance covers the rest of the loan.
But since life is unpredictable, borrower insurance contracts tend to overestimate the risks. The amounts that the borrower pays for insurance are therefore particularly high. But in most cases not all the guarantees in the contract are used, and therefore part of the money paid is of no use.
However, the law stipulates that insurance companies must repay part of the sums received under borrower insurance to their policyholders at the end of the credit, if all guarantees in the contract have not been used. This obligation is contained in Article L331-3 of the Insurance Act. The repayment of these amounts is therefore a right for former or current holders of credit insurance. However, one condition must be met: the total cost of borrower insurance must be greater than the total amount of losses that have been compensated over the entire term of the loan.
To get your loaner insurance premiums refunded, simply send a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to your insurance company or bank asking to “receive the profit sharing in accordance with Article L 331-3 of the Insurance Code. If there is no response, it is advisable to contact the customer service and then possibly the broker. The borrower has a period of 2 years after the expiry of his insurance contract. Too few policyholders are aware of this right, although it was confirmed by the courts in 2007 by UFC-Que Choisir.
