“I would like to terminate the borrower insurance taken out with my bank when I renegotiated my mortgage last summer. My banker asked me for a copy of my new insurance - half the cost of the one I currently pay - to verify that the guarantees are exactly the same and to give the green light. After accepting my change of contract, my bank requires me to pay 564 euros in termination fees, the equivalent of a monthly payment on my credit, insurance included… I don't see any trace of it in my contract… Am I forced to pay this amount? " Asks Cécile, a reader from Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée).
The answer from Astrid Cousin, spokesperson for the borrower insurance comparator Magnolia.fr.
“The law allows you to change borrower insurance every year, on the anniversary of the contract, but also at any time during the first year of this contract, which is your case. You are therefore fully entitled to terminate your contract in favor of a delegation of insurance. Banks may then request termination or endorsement fees. Whether written into your contract or not, these practices are illegal. Article L.312-9 of the Consumer Code protects you.
I quote it to you so that you can put it forward in your reply letter to your bank: The lender may not, in return for his acceptance as a guarantee of an insurance contract other than the insurance contract he proposes, including in the event of the exercise of the right of termination in application of the first paragraph of article L. 113-12-2 of the insurance code or the second paragraph of article L. 221-10 of the code of neither modify the rate, whether fixed or variable, or the conditions for granting credit, provided for in the offer defined in article L. 312-7, nor require the payment of additional costs, including costs related to the analysis work of this other insurance contract.
If the bank shows bad faith by pretending that these costs are endorsement costs, again article L.312-9 protects you: In case of acceptance, the lender modifies by agreement the contract of credit in accordance with article L. 312-14-1, […]. The lender cannot charge additional fees from the borrower for the issuance of this endorsement.
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In these two cases, send your bank a registered letter (or an email to keep) specifying your refusal and the adapted law text. They will hardly be able to continue their ride ... When you change borrower insurance, the savings are substantial. We must not give up. "