Mortgage protection insurance is compulsory in France to accompany all French Mortgages.

All French banks are now obliged to offer an external life assurance policy which French Mortgage Xpress will be happy to help set up for you.

In most cases the insurance must be approved prior to a French Mortgage loan offer being sent out , and certainly before any funds will be released. You should therefore begin the insurance process at the same time as the French Mortgage application in case any medical tests are required as these can take some time and in some instances might hold up the completion of your French Mortgage.

If medical tests are required the costs of these will be reimbursed up to a certain level. This level will be indicated prior to the tests being carried out. These can be carried out by your Doctor in the UK.

The rate of insurance premiums varies from person to person as factors such as gender, age, amount of the French Mortgage requested, type of mortgage requested and any health issues play a part.

Initially an applicant will be asked to fill out a health questionnaire. If the French Mortgage amount is less than €200,000 plus, the applicant is below a certain age and in good heath this may be all that is required. The insurance companies all operate a sliding scale linked to age and amount of the French Mortgage so that various blood tests etc will be required from some applicants.

Once all documents have been processed by the insurance company and the life insurance is approved there is usually a technical delay of  48 hours before the insurance can be attached to the new French Mortgage offer.

Below are a couple of examples of the amount per month payable for the life assurance:

• Non smoking male aged 30 years old requesting a loan of €150,000 and assuming that there are no outstanding medical issues the insurance would be around €20 per month
• Non-smoking client aged 55 years old requesting a loan of €150,000 and again assuming no outstanding medical issues the insurance could be around €80 per month.

Remember the French Mortgage offer cannot be issued without the insurance being in place – so do not delay in completing these application forms or in forwarding all test results promptly to the relevant insurance group. If you have an existing policy in the UK NOT already attached to a property in London or the UK – this could be used – if the amount of cover is adequate.