Media agence Home ownership open to all: as of today, medical selection will no longer be part [...]

Home ownership open to all: as of today, medical selection will no longer be part of our process for loyal customers of Crédit Mutuel. 91,000 customers benefiting already

  4min
thumbnail

Convinced that health status should never be a discriminating factor when buying a home, Crédit Mutuel1 has announced2 it is removing the requirement to complete a health questionnaire for loyal customers when taking out creditor insurance for the purchase of their main residence.
As of today, December 1st, this measure comes into force for 91,000 customers. Up until now, 21,000 customers had been subject to additional premiums, 66,000 customers were subject to exclusions, and 4,000 customers had been subject to both additional premiums and exclusions. These additional premiums and exclusions no longer apply as of today. Bear in mind that we already began to apply this measure on November 8th for all loyal customers taking out a new policy.

By removing the need to complete the health questionnaire, which means the end of medical selection and discrimination based on health status: i) policies will no longer be priced according to the customer's pathology or BMI3; ii) specific risks related to the aforementioned will no longer be excluded, and iii) borrowers will not be refused insurance because of their health status.

Among the 91,000 customers benefiting as of today:

Catherine, age 34, borrowed €191,000 over 25 years

She paid an additional premium of €19 per month because she has severe asthma.
The effects of her asthma were also excluded from her cover.
As of now, she will no longer pay the additional premium and the effects and consequences of her asthma will be covered.

Amel, age 36, borrowed €143,000 over 23 years

She paid an additional premium of €24 per month because she recently suffered a heart attack; she will no longer pay this additional amount.
In addition, heart and vascular diseases were excluded from her cover. She will now be covered for these disorders.

Patrick, age 60, borrowed €125,000 over 15 years

He paid an additional premium of €52 per month because of his diabetes.
He will no longer pay this additional amount.

Jean-Marc, age 59, and Christine, age 55, borrowed €168,000 over 25 years

The couple paid an additional premium of €45 per month based on Christine's high BMI3.
They will no longer pay this amount. In addition, Jean-Marc was subject to an exclusion of esophageal, gastric and duodenal disorders after suffering from an ulcer.
These disorders are now covered.

Renaud, age 31, borrowed €198,000 over 20 years

He paid an additional premium of €34 per month because of his diabetes.
He will no longer pay this additional amount.

Juliette, age 37, borrowed €290,000 over 20 years

She was subject to an exclusion of the effects and consequences of an accident she suffered in 2018. Any sick leave linked to this accident will now be covered.

Dimitri, age 32, borrowed €156,000 over 16 years

He was subject to an exclusion relating to the effects of osteoarthritis in the shoulder. These disorders are now covered.
Bear in mind that this measure applies based on the following conditions:

  •  It is reserved for customers whose main income has been credited directly to Crédit Mutuel1 for seven years;
  • An insured amount of up to €500,000 per borrower;
  •  The policyholder is under 62 when taking out the policy.

With this pioneering decision in favor of universal access to homeownership, Crédit Mutuel is espousing a universal banking and insurance model of shared risks by eschewing undue medical selection, which can cause discrimination and additional inequality for so many citizens.

"The acquisition of a main residence is a life-long project for our customers. While the health questionnaire may not have posed a major problem in the past, it is highly discriminatory today, when life expectancy is longer and people are entering the labor market later. The solutions to remedy it have become outmoded. By removing the increasingly discriminatory health questionnaire, Crédit Mutuel is championing a fairer society in which illness or BMI are not an obstacle to becoming a homeowner," says Nicolas Théry, Chairman of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale.

Daniel Baal, CEO of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, says: "As a universal and mutual banking and insurance group, Crédit Mutuel has always worked to support all of its customers, whether skilled workers or managers, from the countryside or the city, in good or poor health. With this pioneering decision to remove the medical questionnaire and allow 91,000 customers to benefit as of today, we are taking a step further towards an inclusive society."

 

1 Participating networks: Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, comprising the following federations: Centre Est Europe (Strasbourg), Sud-Est (Lyon), Île-de-France (Paris), Savoie-Mont Blanc (Annecy), Midi-Atlantique (Toulouse), Loire-Atlantique et Centre-Ouest (Nantes), Centre (Orléans), Normandie (Caen), Dauphiné-Vivarais (Valence), Méditerranéen (Marseille), Anjou (Angers), Massif Central (Clermont-Ferrand) and Antilles-Guyane (Fort-de-France), as well as Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe (Lille), Crédit Mutuel Maine-Anjou, Basse Normandie (Laval) and Crédit Mutuel Océan (La Roche-sur-Yon), and CIC.

2 See our press release of November 9, 2021("Equal treatment for all in terms of health and home ownership: Crédit Mutuel is removing the need for loyal customers to complete its health questionnaire") here.

3 Body mass index

 

Download

About Crédit Mutuel

One of France's leading banking groups, Crédit Mutuel offers a diversified range of services to private individuals, professionals and companies of all sizes. Renowned for its financial soundness and the quality of its ratios, the mutualist banking group is resolutely focused on its core business of retail banking and its cooperative and mutualist values.

Crédit Mutuel draws on its values of community, solidarity and responsibility in fulfilling its role as a socially engaged enterprise.

Participating networks: Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, comprising the following federations: Centre Est Europe (Strasbourg), Sud-Est (Lyon), Île-de-France (Paris), Savoie-Mont Blanc (Annecy), Midi-Atlantique (Toulouse), Loire-Atlantique et Centre-Ouest (Nantes), Centre (Orléans), Normandie (Caen), Dauphiné-Vivarais (Valence), Méditerranéen (Marseille), Anjou (Angers), Massif Central (Clermont-Ferrand) and Antilles-Guyane (Fort-de-France), as well as Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe (Lille), Crédit Mutuel Maine-Anjou, Basse Normandie (Laval) and Crédit Mutuel Océan (La Roche-sur-Yon) and CIC.

About Assurances du Crédit Mutuel

Assurances du Crédit Mutuel has been operating in the property, personal and life insurance markets since 1971. As a major player in insurance and social protection in France, Assurances du Crédit Mutuel proposes innovative solutions for its 12.8 million policyholders (individuals, professionals, corporates and non-profits) nationwide and internationally, primarily through the Crédit Mutuel and CIC networks.

Assurances du Crédit Mutuel made revenue of €10.4 billion in 2020.

In 2020, given the urgency around the health crisis, Assurances du Crédit Mutuel introduced a non-contractual mutual stimulus bonus (relance mutualiste) to help French companies recover.

Assurances du Crédit Mutuel's products are mainly distributed by the banking networks of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale (Crédit Mutuel Centre Est Europe, Sud-Est, Ile-de-France, Savoie-Mont Blanc, Midi-Atlantique, Loire-Atlantique et Centre-Ouest, Centre, Normandie, Dauphiné-Vivarais, Méditerranéen, Anjou, Antilles-Guyane and Massif Central), Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe, Crédit Mutuel Maine-Anjou, Basse-Normandie, Crédit Mutuel Océan and CIC.

Press contact

Aziz Ridouan, Crédit Mutuel: +33 (0)6 01 10 31 69, aziz.ridouan@creditmutuel.fr

This news may interest you