People who have recovered from certain cancers, hepatitis C or HIV will no longer face automatic insurance penalties when applying for a loan in Monaco, under new rules implementing the Principality’s ‘right to be forgotten’ law.
Two texts published in the Journal de Monaco set out how the law, passed in July 2024, will work in practice. A Sovereign Ordinance lays down the general framework, while an accompanying Ministerial Order sets out a reference grid of specific conditions and the waiting periods attached to each one.
A five-year default, but often much sooner
Under the general rule, anyone whose cancer treatment or hepatitis C treatment ended more than five years ago, and whose loan matures before their 71st birthday, is entitled to insurance without a surcharge or exclusion of cover. But the reference grid sets shorter waits for many specific conditions: pure in-situ breast cancer, skin melanoma in situ and early-stage cervical cancer all qualify after just one year, while testicular seminoma, thyroid cancer and acute promyelocytic leukaemia qualify after three years. Hepatitis C, where the fibrosis score and viral response criteria are met, qualifies after only 24 weeks. Well-controlled HIV also qualifies after a year, subject to stricter medical criteria and capped loan terms.
New safeguards for loan applicants
The rules also introduce a structured review process for anyone declined cover on health grounds. A rejected application is now automatically passed to a ‘second level’ insurance review, and, if refused again, to a ‘third level’ review. Insurers must process complete applications within five weeks, keep any offer valid for four months, and give written, clearly explained reasons for any refusal, including details of how to contact the insurer’s medical adviser or the right to be forgotten and mediation commission.
Borrowers are also entitled to a more tailored search for disability cover where standard terms cannot be offered, with insurers required to look first at adapting the standard guarantee before falling back to cover limited to total and irreversible loss of autonomy.
Caps on loan size for full protection
Full protection without surcharge or exclusion applies to mortgages on a main residence where the insured portion does not exceed €420,000, and to other property and professional loans up to the same cumulative threshold. Smaller consumer loans of up to €17,000, repayable within four years, are exempt from health questionnaires altogether for borrowers aged 50 or under, while property and professional loans up to €200,000 carry the same exemption for borrowers whose loan matures before age 60.
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Photo by Cassandra Tanti