Borrower’s Health Insurance Questionnaire: The Clear Guide
The borrower’s health insurance questionnaire may only be a few lines long, but it can tip a file between acceptance, surcharge, exclusion, or a smooth green light. And since the Lemoine law, it has even disappeared for some loans. The question remains when it applies, what to declare, and how to avoid costly mistakes.
The trap is not so much the illness itself as the misreading of the rules. Between the insured amount, the loan end age, the share in case of joint borrowing, and data confidentiality, it’s easy to get confused. In other words: it’s better to understand the mechanism before ticking anything.
Sommaire
In brief
🔎 Since June 1, 2022, the health questionnaire is no longer required for certain real estate loans if the insured capital per borrower remains ≤ €200,000 and if the repayment ends before age 60.
📝 When it is requested, the idea is not to recount your entire medical history, but to answer exactly the questions asked: medical history, treatments, hospitalizations, smoking, sick leaves, etc.
🛡️ In case of a more sensitive profile, the AERAS agreement and the right to be forgotten can open doors. The icing on the cake: your health data is not treated as mere administrative information.
When is the borrower’s health insurance questionnaire mandatory?
The health questionnaire is mandatory when the loan falls outside the framework provided by the Lemoine law: as soon as the insured capital per borrower exceeds €200,000 or the repayment ends after age 60. Below that, the insurer can often waive it for a standard real estate loan.
The rule seems simple on paper, but it is read per borrower, not just on the total credit. This is where many get it wrong. A couple borrowing €360,000 with a 50/50 share is not necessarily above the threshold, since each insured covers €180,000.
The Ministry of Economy recalls this rule in its fact sheet dedicated to the obligation of the health questionnaire in borrower’s insurance. It is the most useful source to verify the general framework, especially if you are comparing several offers or if your bank asks you for a form while your file seems to fly under the radar.
Cases where it really disappears
In practice, the exemption mainly concerns real estate loans intended for the primary residence, when the duration and insured capital conditions are met. This can be very concrete: in Lille, a €180,000 loan over 20 years that ends before age 60 can qualify for the exemption; in Bordeaux, a couple borrowing €360,000 with a 50/50 share remains below the individual threshold.
- If the insured capital per person is less than or equal to €200,000, exemption is possible.
- If the repayment ends before age 60, the questionnaire can also be waived.
- If one of the two criteria is missing, the insurer can revert to a more or less detailed questionnaire.
What information must be declared in the questionnaire?
You must declare what the form asks for, not your entire medical file. The answers often concern major medical history, ongoing treatments, hospitalizations, sick leaves, smoking, or certain chronic diseases. The goal is to be precise, dated, and consistent, not verbose for no reason.
The questionnaire is not a memory test nor a guilt trap. It is used to assess risk actuarially, that is, to link your health profile to a statistical probability of claim. In other words, the insurer seeks to know whether to apply the standard rate, a surcharge, exclusions, or, more rarely, a refusal.
| What often comes up | What to do | Why it’s important |
|---|---|---|
| Major medical history | Provide the dates, diagnosis, and current status | The insurer assesses the residual risk |
| Ongoing treatments | Specify the medication, duration, and indication | A long treatment does not carry the same weight as a one-time treatment |
| Hospitalizations / surgeries / work stoppages | Indicate the cause and the period | These elements tell the real evolution of the risk |
| Tobacco, vaping, alcohol | Answer honestly, especially if the contract asks the question | Pricing can change significantly depending on consumption |
| Blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, mental disorders | Declare the monitored pathologies and regular follow-ups | These are factors often reviewed by the medical advisor |
It should be noted that you do not have to overdeclare irrelevant details. A passing flu or a common cold generally interest no one if the form does not ask for significant episodes. However, hiding a hospitalization, a prolonged work stoppage, or a change in lifestyle habits, such as tobacco use, can backfire on you.
It is observed in the field that a file is less often blocked because of the illness itself than because of a vague chronology. A brokerage agent based in Nantes notes that the smoothest responses are those where the dates are clear, treatments named, and documents already gathered before sending.
How to fill out the health questionnaire without making mistakes?
The right reflex is to prepare your answers before starting, just as you prepare a rental file before submitting it. Gather your prescriptions, hospitalization reports, work stoppage dates, and, if necessary, a record of your treatments. The cleaner your answers, the fewer reasons the insurer has to come back to you.
The simple method, box by box
- Reread each question to the end: some cover the last 5 years, others the entire medical history.
- Answer with dates: month and year are sometimes enough, but more precise details avoid back-and-forth.
- Do not invent anything: if you don’t remember a medication name, say so and look for the prescription.
- Report changes: resuming tobacco use, stopping a treatment, new illness, all this counts.
- Keep a copy of the sent questionnaire and attachments, in case the insurer comes back to it later.
The most costly mistakes
The false good idea is to believe that a “minor” omission will go unnoticed. In borrower insurance, an omission can trigger a request for documents, a rate revision, or even a dispute in case of a claim. The real issue is not to say too much, but to be accurate in the right place.
In borrower insurance, the real danger is not the illness: it is approximation. A well-filled questionnaire often protects better than a “tidied” file to appear simpler.
What happens after sending the form?
Once the questionnaire is submitted, the insurer analyzes the answers and may decide without further formality, request additional information, require a medical examination, or adjust the contract. The study time varies depending on the complexity of the file: a standard profile can progress quickly, while a medicalized file sometimes requires several exchanges.
The reassuring point is that health data do not circulate like simple commercial information. They are processed in a separate circuit, often with an examination led by a medical service or a medical advisor. In practice, the bank mainly receives the insurance decision, not the details of your medical history.
If the insurer considers the risk to be higher, they may propose an additional premium, exclude a specific coverage, or request further monitoring. This is where you need to scrutinize the contract: an exclusion on the back or spine, for example, may seem trivial on paper but become problematic when you really need it.
- Simple acceptance: the file is accepted without a significant extra cost.
- Acceptance with additional premium: the rate increases to compensate for the risk.
- Acceptance with exclusion: certain coverages are omitted.
- Refusal: rarer, but possible for the most complex files.
Can the AERAS agreement help you if the risk is higher?
Yes, and it is even one of the most useful safety nets when the standard questionnaire is not enough. The AERAS agreement does not eliminate the medical evaluation, but it organizes a multi-level review of the file for people presenting or having presented an aggravated health risk.
The system is detailed on the official page of the AERAS convention health questionnaires. It notably includes the logic of the general questionnaire, the role of pathology-specific questions, and the framework of the right to be forgotten. Good to know: you are not asked the same questions depending on the severity, age, and evolution of the health issue.
Why AERAS changes the game
In sensitive cases, AERAS helps avoid decisions being made based on a single misread answer. The study can be re-examined at a finer level, with an approach better adapted to the actual risk. This does not guarantee automatic acceptance, but it limits “bulldozer” decisions that would penalize a profile stabilized for a long time.
The right to be forgotten is particularly important: it prevents endlessly revisiting certain medical histories once the legal deadlines have passed and no relapse has been observed. It is a real relief for borrowers who want to buy in Rennes, Montpellier, or Strasbourg without their medical past freezing the entire project.
FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions about the borrower insurance health questionnaire
Should I declare a long-healed old illness?
Yes, if the form explicitly asks for it or if the question concerns medical history. The logic is not “recent = important, old = useless,” but “question asked = accurate answer.” When a right to be forgotten applies, some histories no longer need to be mentioned.
What happens if I start smoking again after declaring myself a non-smoker?
You must inform the insurer if the contract is based on this declaration and the situation changes. Smoking can affect the rate, and sometimes the coverages. In case of doubt, it is better to report the change rather than wait for a claim to discover the problem.
Can the questionnaire be filled out jointly for a couple’s loan?
Yes, but each borrower generally answers for their own insured share. That is precisely why the insured portion is so important: it can tip a file below or above the threshold of €200,000 per person. A couple does not always receive the same treatment as a single borrower.
Who can see my medical answers?
The answers are processed in a dedicated medical circuit, not as a simple banking document. In practice, the bank does not receive your health details line by line. This segregation limits the risk of dissemination, which is rather reassuring when dealing with such sensitive data.
Can a questionnaire be replaced by medical examinations?
Yes, if the profile or insured amount justifies it. The insurer may request a blood test, an assessment, or an additional report to refine their analysis. This is not necessarily a bad sign: sometimes, a few results reassure the medical advisor and unlock the file faster than a poorly filled form.
How long should you keep a copy of the sent questionnaire?
Keep it at least for the entire duration of the contract, and ideally afterwards. In case of dispute or claim, having the exact version initially sent avoids endless discussions. It’s the kind of simple precaution that can save a lot of time.