InsuoraHow does life insurance work in France?
France has a notoriously confusing naming convention. Assurance-vie — despite the name — is primarily a savings product, not a death benefit. It is a tax-advantaged investment envelope holding euros funds (capital-guaranteed) and/or unit-linked assets (equities, bonds, real estate funds). You can withdraw from it during your lifetime. If you die, the accumulated capital goes to your named beneficiary outside the inheritance process, up to €152,500 per beneficiary free of tax.
The actual death protection product is called assurance décès or prévoyance. This is pure term life insurance: a fixed premium for a fixed term, a lump sum paid to beneficiaries if you die, nothing back if you survive. This is what the calculator above helps you size.
France's three built-in safety nets
Before buying individual death cover, identify what you already have:
- 1. Employer group prévoyance (garantie décès)
- For cadres (executives classified under the AGIRC system), a death benefit of at least one year's gross salary is mandatory under the 1947 collective agreement. Many company agreements provide 2–4× salary. Check your employee benefits booklet (notice d'information prévoyance) or look for a “prévoyance” deduction on your pay slip.
- 2. Pension de réversion
- Your surviving spouse receives a monthly pension for life equal to 54% of the state pension you had accrued (CARSAT, means-tested) plus 60% of your complementary pension (AGIRC-ARRCO, no means test since 2023). For a median salary, this is typically €400–700/month — equivalent to €100,000–200,000 capitalised over 20 years.
- 3. Capital décès Sécurité Sociale
- Your Assurance Maladie pays your priority beneficiaries (spouse, dependent children) a one-time grant equal to 90 days of your gross salary (capped at approximately €10,000). It covers immediate costs but is not a substitute for proper death cover.
The mortgage insurance angle: assurance emprunteur (ADI)
If you have a French mortgage, your bank required you to take out an assurance emprunteur (borrower's insurance, or ADI). On death, it repays the outstanding loan balance directly to the bank. Since the Loi Lemoine (2022), you can cancel and switch ADI at any time without fees — worth shopping around, as bank-sold ADI is often 30–50% more expensive than specialist insurers.
Important: the ADI only repays the bank. It pays nothing to your family beyond the debt clearance. If your outstanding mortgage is your main liability, ADI may cover it — but income replacement, education costs, and other debts still require separate death cover.
Tax-efficient inheritance: how the numbers work
France has significant inheritance taxes (droits de succession) for non-spouse heirs. A surviving spouse or PACS partner is fully exempt since 2007 — no tax on any amount. Children get a €100,000 each allowance, then pay 5–45% in progressive bands.
Life insurance contracts (both assurance-vie savings and assurance décès) with a named beneficiary bypass the estate entirely and are taxed under a separate, more favourable regime: €152,500 per beneficiary is completely tax-free (for premiums paid before age 70), then 20% up to €700,000, then 31.25% beyond. This makes properly structured life insurance one of the most powerful inheritance planning tools available in France.
Types of death cover available in France
- Assurance décès temporaire (term life)
- Fixed term (10, 15, 20, or 25 years), fixed premium, fixed sum insured. Cheapest option per euro of coverage. The right choice for covering a mortgage and protecting children during their dependent years. Premiums are non-refundable if you outlive the term.
- Assurance décès vie entière (whole life)
- Covers your entire life with no expiry date. More expensive than term — premiums can be paid for a fixed period (e.g., 20 years) or for life. Useful for estate planning when the need for cover is permanent (e.g., equalising inheritance between children, covering a business buy-sell agreement).
- Prévoyance collective (employer-provided)
- Group plan negotiated by your employer. Typically cheaper per unit of cover than individual market because the insurer takes on a pool of employees. The downside: it stops when your employment ends. Portability is limited to 12 months under French law.
- Assurance-vie avec garantie plancher
- A savings assurance-vie contract with a minimum death benefit guarantee. If the fund value falls below your total premiums paid (due to market losses), the insurer tops up the death benefit to at least the premium amount. This protects beneficiaries from market risk in unit-linked contracts.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this calculator free?
- Yes — completely free, no account needed. It runs in your browser and nothing you enter is saved or transmitted anywhere.
- I already have assurance-vie savings. Does that replace life insurance?
- Partly. Your assurance-vie savings balance will be paid to your named beneficiaries on death, bypassing inheritance tax up to €152,500 per beneficiary — enter this amount in the calculator and it reduces your coverage need. However, assurance-vie is a savings product, not insurance: if you die early with a small balance, it covers very little. A dedicated assurance décès policy provides full coverage from day one, regardless of how long you've held it.
- Can I get life cover if I have health issues?
- Yes — the convention AERAS (s'Assurer et Emprunter avec un Risque Aggravé de Santé) guarantees access to life insurance for people with aggravated health risks, including cancer survivors, diabetics, and others. Insurers cannot systematically refuse — they must study each application and propose conditions. Some conditions may attract premium loadings or exclusions, but cover must be offered if medically possible.
- Do I need separate cover for my spouse?
- If your spouse also earns income and your family depends on both incomes, yes — each working adult should have their own coverage. The calculator above calculates the need for one person. Run it separately for your spouse by swapping the income fields.
- When should I review my coverage?
- Review whenever your situation changes: marriage, PACS, divorce, birth of a child, mortgage, significant income change, or approaching retirement. The need for death cover typically peaks when children are young and the mortgage is large, then decreases as both shrink. A 5-year review is a good baseline even if nothing obvious has changed.