Credit and life insurance: surcharges, early repayment, refusals after death and group insurance

In short

For mortgage protection (outstanding balance) insurance, the insurer must notify a surcharge or refusal in writing with reasons and show the base premium and the surcharge separately (Insurance Act art. 213).

If the surcharge exceeds 75% of the base premium, or you are refused, you can apply free of charge to the Pricing Monitoring Bureau (Bureau du suivi de la tarification). For a lower surcharge, the route is the insurer’s complaints department and then the Insurance Ombudsman.

Mortgage protection insurance does not always end automatically when the loan is repaid. The intermediary must tell you your options.

In life insurance, once the contract has taken effect, the insurer can no longer rely on unintentional omissions in the declaration (art. 162). A refusal after death is only possible if intent is proven, and the insurer bears that burden.

In group insurance, the accumulated pension reserve belongs to the employee and is not lost on leaving. The death cover is a separate risk cover and can end on exit. That is why the exit notice and the choice deadlines matter (Supplementary Pensions Act, art. 31-32, 55).

This guide answers four common questions about mortgage protection insurance (assurance solde restant dû, schuldsaldoverzekering), individual life insurance and employer group insurance (assurance de groupe, groepsverzekering). The key texts are the Insurance Act of 4 April 2014 (the “Insurance Act”) and the Supplementary Pensions Act of 28 April 2003 (loi relative aux pensions complémentaires, LPC / WAP).

My mortgage protection insurer wants a very high surcharge because of my medical history: must it give reasons, and how do I challenge it?

Yes, it must give reasons. And the route for challenging it depends on the size of the surcharge.

The insurer’s obligations (Insurance Act art. 213-216):

It must split the premium into the base premium and the surcharge charged because of your health.
It must notify any refusal, postponement, exclusion or surcharge in a clear, explicit and reasoned letter. That letter must say that you can contact the insurer’s doctor in writing, directly or through a doctor of your choice, and must give the contact details of the Bureau and of the conciliation body.
If you dispute the surcharge, the file goes to the reinsurer, which decides on the file alone (art. 214). The decision period is 15 days (art. 216).

Depending on the surcharge:

Above 75%, or a refusal: you can apply to the Pricing Monitoring Bureau (art. 217; Royal Decree of 10.4.2014, art. 13). Within 15 working days the Bureau examines whether the surcharge or refusal is medically and actuarially justified. The insurer cannot be forced to conclude the contract after the Bureau’s proposal. But if it does conclude it, it cannot impose terms heavier than the proposal [Official, Insurance Commission C 2018/1].
75% or less: there is no access to the Bureau. You go first to the insurer’s complaints department, then to the Ombudsman. Between 2017 and 2023, the tariff was revised in about 43% of such files handled by the Ombudsman [Official, Insurance Commission C 2024/6].
Above 125%: a compensation fund (Caisse de compensation) pays the excess. The surcharge you pay is at most 125% of the base premium (Royal Decree of 10.4.2014, art. 28).
Above 200%: the insurer must offer a standardised cover of up to €200,000 for a sole borrower (art. 222).

These rules apply to a mortgage loan taken out to buy or renovate your own and only home (art. 224).

Psychological conditions, autism, burn-out, weight: in its 2025 report the Ombudsman notes more discrimination complaints about surcharges for mental health conditions and weight in mortgage protection insurance, and says it asked insurers to correct surcharges not backed by medical studies [Sector source]. Different treatment based on health status must be objectively justified by a legitimate aim, with appropriate and necessary means (General Anti-Discrimination Act of 10.5.2007, art. 7; Insurance Act art. 44). Ask the insurer for the medical studies and mortality data it relied on. If you suspect discrimination, you can also contact Unia.

Right to be forgotten and 2026: for cancer, once 5 years have passed since active treatment ended successfully with no relapse, the illness cannot be taken into account (the period was 8 years before 1.1.2025). Since 1.6.2026 you no longer even have to declare that cancer (art. 61/2, Act of 20.1.2025). Separate tables in a Royal Decree cover certain chronic illnesses. On 9.7.2026 the Chamber adopted the act transposing the Consumer Credit Directive (2023/2225). It adds consumer credit to art. 61/1: the right to be forgotten will also apply to insurance linked to consumer credit applied for from 20.11.2026. Credit applied for earlier remains under the former scope (adopted text, art. 83, 84 and 86) [Official, Chamber document DOC 56 1531/007]. The bill changing the Bureau’s funding is a draft; to be confirmed in Justel.

I repaid my loan early but the insurance premium kept being collected: can I get the extra premiums back?

Sometimes, but not automatically. It depends on whether the policy says what happens when the loan is repaid, and on who should have informed you.

Why did it continue? Mortgage protection insurance is a life insurance contract separate from the loan. The Insurance Ombudsman’s 2025 report notes that such a policy “does not always stop automatically” on early repayment, and that on repayment or change of the loan the intermediary must inform the client of the options [Sector source]. The options are usually: ending the contract, taking the surrender value (rachat, especially for a single-premium contract) or keeping it as an ordinary death insurance.

Depending on the situation:

The policy says cover ends when the loan is repaid: premiums collected after that were not owed. You can claim them back as an undue payment (répétition de l’indu). According to the Ombudsman, such a claim may fall under the general 10-year period rather than the 3-year insurance limitation period [Sector source, Ombudsman 2024].
The policy says nothing: the contract continued and the death risk stayed covered. As a rule the premiums cannot then be reclaimed from the insurer. But if the intermediary or bank failed to inform you, you can claim damages from it. Distributors must act in the client’s best interest and offer products consistent with the client’s needs (Insurance Act art. 279 §1, art. 284). If the lending bank was also the intermediary, it knew directly about the early repayment.
Credit law: on early repayment of a mortgage loan you are entitled to a reduction of the total cost of credit equal to the interest and costs for the remaining term (Code of Economic Law art. VII.147/11). No court decision or official guidance was found on whether this reduction also covers the mortgage protection premium. If the bank made the insurance a condition of the loan, you can ask the bank in writing for a reduction for the premium relating to the remaining term too.

Practical steps:

Ask the insurer in writing for the current status of the policy, the beneficiary and any surrender value.
If you do not want to keep the contract, end it in writing. You can terminate a life insurance policy every year, on its anniversary or on the annual premium due date (art. 85 §1, last paragraph).
Send the intermediary and the insurer a reasoned letter asking for repayment of the premiums collected after the early repayment date. If there is no answer, contact the Ombudsman.

After my relative’s death, the life insurer says the health declaration was incomplete and refuses to pay: is the signed form decisive on its own?

No. In life insurance, once the contract has taken effect, the insurer can no longer rely on unintentional omissions (Insurance Act art. 162, incontestability, incontestabilité). This also applies to mortgage protection insurance. The 2-year rule for health insurance (art. 205) does not apply here. Only one defence remains: an intentional misstatement (art. 59). And the insurer must prove it.

What the insurer must prove: that the insured knew of the illness, concealed it on purpose and that this misled the insurer. According to the Court of Cassation, intent must be separately justified in the light of all the circumstances (Cass. 17.5.2024, C.23.0497.F).

If the illnesses were described orally to the intermediary: that is strong evidence that there was no intent. The Liège Court of Appeal ordered the insurer to pay where the intermediary had not passed on the documents and intent was proven neither for the insured nor for the intermediary (CA Liège 20.12.2016, 2015/RG/1032). By contrast, intent was accepted where the insured knew of the condition and signed an “I am in good health” statement despite a clear warning (CA Liège 8.1.2013, 2012/RG/58). The Ombudsman reports files where illnesses described by relatives did not appear in the declaration signed electronically on a tablet. The insurer treats the signed form as decisive and proof is difficult [Sector source, Ombudsman 2025].

Gathering evidence:

Ask for a copy of the signed declaration (art. 64 §3), the e-signature logs, which screens were shown and who filled in the form.
Collect written statements from people present at the meeting, and emails and messages with the intermediary. Written traces matter: between the parties, the Insurance Act in principle does not admit witness or presumptive evidence against the content of the contract; it does where there is a beginning of written proof (an email, a message, the intermediary’s note) (art. 64 §1). But that rule concerns proof of the contract. Whether the insured acted intentionally is a question of fact that the judge weighs in the light of all the circumstances (Cass. 17.5.2024). Statements by relatives can be used in that assessment.
Ask which medical information the insurer relied on. A certificate stating the cause of death may only go to the medical adviser if the insurer proves the insured’s prior consent (art. 61). Courts have excluded post-mortem doctors’ reports that went beyond the authorisation given by the insured (Hof van beroep Antwerpen 16.2.2005, 2001/AR/2854; 25.3.2009, 2007/AR/1653).

Who is liable for the intermediary’s mistake? Check the intermediary’s status in the FSMA register. The insurer bears full and unconditional liability for breaches of the conduct rules by a tied agent (art. 293 §1, as worded by the IDD Act of 6.12.2018). This rule has been in force since 28.12.2018. A broker, by contrast, is in principle your agent and is liable in its own name; it must have professional liability insurance. A broker filling in the form incompletely does not in itself stop the insurer relying on the incomplete declaration; a separate claim against the broker is then needed (Hof van beroep Antwerpen 22.6.2011, 2009/AR/2983). The general limitation period for a contractual damages claim against the intermediary is 10 years (former Civil Code art. 2262bis §1).

Time limit: a beneficiary’s claim against the insurer is time-barred after 3 years, running from the day the beneficiary learns of the contract, of being a beneficiary and of the death (art. 88). See Deadlines and Intermediaries and policy records.

My spouse died after leaving a previous job, and the group insurer says the death cover had ended: what can the beneficiaries claim?

First separate two things: the accumulated reserve and the death cover. The reserve is the pension capital built up from years of premiums and is not lost on leaving. The death cover is a risk cover that applies while the employee is an active member. On exit it can end if the employee made no choice.

The exit procedure in the law (Supplementary Pensions Act of 28.4.2003):

The employer notifies the insurer of the exit within 30 days. Within 30 days the insurer tells the employer the reserve amount, the options and whether the death cover is maintained. The employer passes this on to the employee immediately, in writing or electronically (art. 31 §1).
The employee has 30 days to choose. Without a choice, the employee is deemed to have left the reserves with the insurer with no change to the pension commitment (art. 32 §3).
One option is to leave the reserves and take a death cover equal to the reserves (art. 32 §1, 3° c). This option can also be chosen within 11 months after the 30-day period ends. It has existed since 1.1.2016, when the duty to state whether the death cover is maintained was also added (Act of 18.12.2015). Earlier exits fall under the former text.

What beneficiaries can claim:

What happens to the reserve: if the reserve is still with the insurer, check whether the pension rules (règlement de pension) provide for payment of the reserve to the beneficiaries on death before retirement. Ask the insurer for the rules and the reserve amount.
Failure to inform: if it cannot be proven that the exit notice was sent, the employee may have lost the chance to keep a death cover. As a rule, the party required to inform must prove that it did so (Civil Code art. 8.4). In a published first-instance judgment, the employer was held at fault because it could not prove it had sent the exit form. But damages were refused because it was not shown that the employee, properly informed, would have chosen death cover. Commentators note that, since the option of death cover equal to the reserves has existed from 1.1.2016, such damage may now be accepted more easily [Sector source, Lydian / HR Square, 10.12.2018]. For exits before 1.1.2016 the option did not exist, and damage is harder to show. In group insurance the employer, as the group’s representative, must also give members the information required by law (Insurance Act art. 279 §2).
Ombudsman recommendation: in 2025 the Ombudsman highlighted files where the employee never received the choice document. It recommended that, if there is no reply, a registered reminder with acknowledgment of receipt be sent to the official address [Sector source].

Practical steps: ask the insurer for the date of the exit letter, the address it was sent to and proof of sending; ask the employer for the date of its exit notification. Also check whether the new employer’s group insurance includes death cover. Time limit: all claims by beneficiaries against the employer or the insurer relating to a supplementary pension are time-barred after 5 years. The period starts on the day after you learned, or should reasonably have learned, of the existence of the supplementary pension, your status as beneficiary and the death (for a damages claim: the damage and the person liable). This rule is mandatory (Supplementary Pensions Act art. 55, since 29.6.2014).

Checklist

Does the mortgage protection offer show the base premium and surcharge separately, with written reasons (art. 213)?
I calculated the surcharge percentage: above 75% or a refusal means the Bureau; below that, the complaints department and the Ombudsman.
I checked whether the right to be forgotten and the chronic illness tables apply to me.
If the loan was repaid, I asked about the policy status, surrender value and beneficiary, and ended it in writing if no longer needed.
For a refusal after death, I asked for the signed declaration, e-signature logs and correspondence with the intermediary, and checked the intermediary’s FSMA status.
I assessed whether the insurer has concretely proven intent (art. 59, 162).
For group insurance, I asked for the exit date, the exit notice, the pension rules and the reserve amount.
I have complained to the Ombudsman and am tracking the limitation periods.

For the general route after a refusal: If your insurer refuses to pay and Insurance Ombudsman. For health and income protection: Hospital and income protection insurance.

Sources

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Current as of 05.10.2026.