Consumer credit: what is the purpose of the Aeras Convention?

You can benefit from the agreement Aeras: titleContent if your current or past health condition makes it difficult to obtain insurance for a credit.

This is the case when the insurer considers that your risk of death or disability is higher than that of the majority of insured persons, for example due to a serious illness, disability or significant medical history.

To assess this risk, the insurer takes into account only medical elements, such as your health history or disability.

However, the insurer does not take into account the following:

• Your age
• Your profession
• Your lifestyle or leisure activities (sport, risky activities,...).

When this risk is considered high, the insurer may refuse to insure you under the usual conditions.

The Aeras agreement exists precisely to avoid an immediate refusal and to allow the examination of your application to seek an insurance solution.

The Aeras Convention prevents an application for consumer credit insurance from being refused without a thorough examination because of the borrower's health.

Thanks to this system, your request is studied according to specific rules, adapted to specific health situations. Depending on your situation and credit characteristics, you can get insurance:

• either without having to fill out a medical questionnaire,
• either with a medical questionnaire and a framed medical examination.

The Aeras agreement also allows, under certain conditions, not to declare a former cancer or hepatitis C when applying for insurance. This mechanism, called right to be forgotten, facilitates access to insurance after a serious illness.

You can obtain insurance without completing a medical questionnaire if all of the following conditions are met:

• The amount of the loan, or the total of your loans, does not exceed €17,000
• The duration of the credit is 4 years maximum
• You have less than 50 years at the time of application.

You must provide a declaration on honor indicating that you are not exceeding the loan limit.

A medical questionnaire is requested if at least one of the following conditions is met:

• The amount of the loan, or the accumulated amount of your loans, exceeds €17,000
• The duration of the credit is greater than 4 years
• You have 50 years or older at the time of application.

Your file is then examined by the insurer's medical department. If it cannot be accepted under the usual conditions, it is automatically forwarded to a specialized medical service for a new examination.

At the end of this procedure, the insurer may:

• agree to insure yourself
• or offer insurance with surcharge or exclusions of guarantees
• or refuse the application after full examination.

The right to be forgotten allows some people who have had a cancer or hepatitis C not to declare this illness when applying for insurance.

To benefit from it, the following 3 conditions must be met;

• The treatment has been completed for at least 5 years
• No relapse was observed
• The insurance contract ends before your 71 years.

If a medical questionnaire is requested, you do not have to report these diseases, but you must report any other diseases or risk factors mentioned in the questionnaire.

If your insurance application is refused or if you feel that the Aeras agreement has not been correctly applied, you can enter the Aeras Mediation Commission.

The role of this commission is to promote an amicable settlement and facilitate exchanges between your doctor and the insurer's medical advisor.

However, the Mediation Commission is not not competent for:

• change the amount of the insurance premium or surcharge,
• remove or modify warranty exclusions,
• decide on the granting of credit, which is the responsibility of the lender,
• intervene on the conditions of a credit already in place.