Regroupement de Crédits in France: A Guide for Expats
Managing finances in a foreign country can be challenging – especially when multiple loans start piling up. For expats living in France, one financial solution worth exploring is the regroupement de crédits, also known as loan consolidation or debt restructuring. If you’re juggling several monthly payments and want more breathing room in your budget, this guide is for you.
What Is a Regroupement de Crédits?
A regroupement de crédits is a financial service that allows you to combine multiple existing loans – personal loans, auto loans, credit cards, or sometimes even mortgages – into one single loan with a unified monthly payment. The goal is to simplify your finances and often reduce your monthly payments by extending the repayment term.
This service is widely used in France and can be particularly helpful for expats who may have accumulated loans during their time in France and want to bring structure to their finances.
Why Expats in France Should Consider It
Lower Monthly Payments by extending the loan term
By consolidating your loans, the new lender will usually offer a longer repayment period, which often reduces your monthly payment. This gives you more breathing space to save, invest, or enjoy life in France. This is the generally the main reason why people consolidate their loans. However, the total amount repaid by the end of the loan may be higher, due to the longer repayment period.
Reduce your interest payments
Consolidating high interest loans such as credit card debt, into a single long-term loan often reduces the interest rate that you pay on your loans. The interest rates can also be lower than for personal loans, known as crédits à la consommation, if the new consolidated loan is secured on your property. However, the interest rates are higher than rates for traditional mortgages.
Improve Your Debt (payments) to Income Ratio in order to finance a property
In France, your taux d’endettement (debt payments to income ratio) is crucial when applying for a new loan or French mortgage. A regroupement de crédits can increase the amount you can obtain in a mortgage for a property purchase if the loan consolidation reduces the monthly cost of your existing loans.
Obtain extra cash for a variety of projects, especially if you are an older borrower.
In France, you can be up to 95 years old for a regroupement de crédit at the end of the loan term, therefore it is often one of the only options available for retirees to obtain long-term finance as you can often borrow more than your existing debt balances. However, if you simply want more cash for retirement, you should also consider a French lifetime equity release mortgage (which has no monthly repayment).
What Types of Loans Can Be Consolidated?
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Personal loans (crédit à la consommation)
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Auto loans (another type of crédit à la consolidation)
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Credit card and store card loans (often called crédit renouvelable in French)
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Mortgage (in some cases, especially if the outstanding mortgage amount is small)
Some lenders also offer to include unpaid tax debts in the consolidation under specific conditions.
Who Can Apply?
As an expat in France, you are typically eligible for a regroupement de crédits if you:
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Are a resident of France (with proof of address and right of residency, especially if you have a permanent residency card)
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Have a stable income (employment contract, self-employment, pension, etc.) that is sufficient to cover the costs of the new loan and your living expenses.
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Are not under a court-ordered debt restructuring or listed on the Banque de France’s Fichier des Incidents de remboursement des Crédits aux Particuliers (FICP)
Key Points to Consider
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You may pay more interest over time. Lower monthly payments often mean a longer loan term, which could result in higher total cost over the life of the loan.
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Foreign debts are often excluded. Most lenders prefer the existing loans and debts to be of French origin.
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Choose the right lender. We can help you with this (support@aisainternational.fr).
Final Thoughts
Living in France should be an enriching and fulfilling experience – not a financial headache. If you’re an expat dealing with multiple loans, a regroupement de crédits can offer simplicity, relief, and a clearer financial path forward.
Before making a decision, feel free to contact us at support@aisainternational.fr and we can guide you throughout the full process. For regroupements de crédits, we are remunerated entirely by the product provider, therefore there are no upfront fees to pay.
The views expressed in this article are not to be construed as personal advice. Therefore, you should contact a qualified, and ideally, regulated adviser in order to obtain up-to-date personal advice with regard to your own personal circumstances. Consequently, if you do not, then you are acting under your own authority and deemed “execution only”. Additionally, the author does not accept any liability for people acting without personalised advice, who base a decision on views expressed in this generic article. Importantly, this article is dated and is based on legislation as of the date. It should be noted that legislation changes, but articles are rarely updated. Sometimes a new article is written; so, please check for later articles. Additionally, check for changes in legislation on official government websites. Finally, this article should not be relied on in isolation.
