A property insurance encompasses two distinct realities: home insurance, which covers the dwelling and its contents, and borrower insurance, which guarantees the repayment of the loan in case of life accidents. Choosing between market offers requires understanding what each contract actually protects, and especially what it excludes.
Increase in home insurance premiums: the price factor changes the game in 2026
The choice of property insurance is no longer made in a stable pricing context. Since 2024, home insurance premiums have seen a rise of over 10% year-on-year according to several barometers (Assurland, Meilleurtaux, France Assureurs). The average cost is around 310 euros per year in 2026, compared to 274 euros the previous year.
This inflation is not uniform. Regional disparities are significant: Corsica, Occitanie, and Nouvelle-Aquitaine show rates that are significantly higher than Brittany or Pays de la Loire. The main reason is the increasing climate-related claims (storms, hail, floods, drought), which directly impacts the financial burden on insurers.
Comparing offers solely based on the annual premium is insufficient. A cheaper contract with high deductibles or low compensation limits will cost more at the time of a claim. To assess the relevance of a contract, one must cross-reference the price with the insurances offered by Immobserver, which allow for a comparison of several offers based on the property’s profile and its location.
Home insurance guarantees: read what the contract really covers
All home insurance is based on a core of basic guarantees: liability, water damage, fire, theft. This core is not enough to distinguish a good contract from a bad one.
Deductibles and compensation limits
The deductible is the amount that remains the responsibility of the insured after a claim. Two contracts can display the same monthly premium while applying very different deductibles. A contract at 15 euros per month with a 300-euro deductible for water damage costs less than a contract at 12 euros with an 800-euro deductible, from the first claim.
Compensation limits deserve the same attention. A too-low personal property limit will not cover the replacement of an expensive item. These amounts should be checked item by item, not just the overall limit.
Exclusions of coverage and climate events
Since 2024, the burden of climate-related claims has increased significantly. This evolution is pushing some insurers to restrict their natural disaster guarantees or to raise deductibles for this type of claim. A contract signed five years ago may no longer offer the same coverage after an annual review of the general conditions.
Exclusions of coverage are listed in the information notice, a document that is often lengthy and technical. The points to check as a priority include:
- The waiting periods, which delay the activation of certain guarantees after subscription (sometimes several months for theft)
- Exclusions related to the condition of the property (lack of maintenance, undisclosed wear and tear, non-compliant work)
- The conditions for coverage in case of drought or shrink-swell of clays, a risk that is on the rise
Borrower insurance: the most underestimated financial lever of real estate credit
Borrower insurance can represent more than a third of the total cost of a mortgage. The Lemoine law, which came into effect in 2022, allows for changing borrower insurance at any time, without fees or penalties. Four years later, however, the market remains largely dominated by group contracts offered by banks.
Group contract or insurance delegation
The group contract is mutualized: all borrowers from the same bank pay a rate calculated on an average profile. The insurance delegation, on the other hand, is based on a personalized rate according to the borrower’s profile (age, health status, profession, sports practices).
For a young, healthy borrower, the insurance delegation often generates significant savings over the total duration of the loan. For an older borrower or one with an aggravated health risk, the group contract may prove more protective due to mutualization.
Equivalence of guarantees: the rule to know
The bank cannot refuse an insurance delegation if the alternative contract presents an equivalent level of guarantee. To verify this equivalence, two documents are provided to the borrower:
- The Standardized Information Sheet (FSI), which lists the guarantees required by the lender and allows for direct comparison
- The personalized sheet, which details the equivalence criteria item by item (death, disability, incapacity to work, job loss)
A refusal of delegation must be justified in writing by the bank, specifying the unmet guarantee criteria. Without this written justification, the refusal is not valid.
Health coverage and medical questionnaire: what has changed
The Lemoine law has eliminated the medical questionnaire for loans where the insured amount does not exceed 200,000 euros per person and where repayment ends before the borrower turns 60. This elimination concerns a large portion of first-time buyers.
For borrowers who are still subject to the questionnaire, the AERAS convention regulates access to insurance in case of aggravated health risk (medical history, chronic illness, disability). The right to forget, extended by the Lemoine law, allows certain cancer pathologies not to be declared five years after the end of the therapeutic protocol.
These regulatory changes significantly alter the cost and accessibility of borrower insurance. A borrower who subscribed before 2022 may potentially benefit from renegotiating their contract to take advantage of these new conditions.
The choice of property insurance is as much about reading the exclusions as it is about comparing premiums. Contracts evolve each year due to climate-related claims and legislative reforms. Checking the general conditions of one’s contract every two to three years remains the most reliable way to avoid unpleasant surprises during a claim.
