---
title: "How insurance works in Morocco"
description: "Who sells and supervises insurance in Morocco, how a premium is built (14% tax), unpaid premiums, cancelling a contract and every time limit to know."
url: https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/how-insurance-works/
language: en
translations:
  fr: https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/fr/comprendre-assurance/
  ar: https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/ar/how-insurance-works/
last_checked: 2026-10
publisher: "Assurlik"
---
# How insurance works in Morocco

The same rules sit behind every contract: who may sell it, what you must be told, what happens if you stop paying, and how long you have to act.

## Key facts

- **Legal basis:** Insurance Code (law 17-99), in force since 2002 and amended several times
- **Who runs it:** ACAPS licenses and supervises insurers, agents and brokers
- **Key deadline:** 5 days to declare a claim. 2 years to take legal action, 5 years in personal insurance
- **Where to get it:** 2,462 agents and brokers at 31 March 2026, plus banks and insurers' own offices

## Who does what

| Who | Role |
|---|---|
| Insurers | Carry the risk and pay the claims. Each one is licensed by ACAPS for defined classes of insurance |
| Agents | Represent one insurer and sell its contracts. The insurer answers for what its agent does |
| Brokers | Work for the customer and can place a contract with several insurers |
| Banks | Sell life, savings, loan, health and assistance contracts, and some home policies, on behalf of an insurer |
| ACAPS | The regulator. It licenses and inspects insurers and intermediaries, and receives complaints |
| Insurance Mediator | Settles disputes between policyholders and insurers free of charge |
| CNSS and CNOPS | Public funds that run compulsory health cover and pensions. They are not commercial insurers |

At 31 March 2026 Morocco had 1,859 agents, 603 brokers and 1,036 offices run directly by insurers. Some cash-transfer agencies also sell a few simple, low-cost contracts.

**Diagram: Who you deal with, and who watches over them**

- You (the policyholder) → premium → Agent, broker or bank (sells and advises) → premium → Insurer (carries the risk and pays claims)
- Insurer → payout → Agent, broker or bank → contract, payout → You
- ACAPS licenses and inspects insurers and sellers, and receives your complaints
- Insurance Mediator settles disputes between you and the insurer, free of charge

*An agent works for one insurer; a broker works for you and can compare several. Either way, the contract binds you to the insurer.*

## Where to buy

| Channel | Good for | Keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Agent | Advice in person, help at claim time | Offers only the contracts of one insurer |
| Broker | Comparing several insurers, business and unusual risks | Ask which insurers were consulted |
| Bank | Cover tied to a loan, savings, life insurance | The bank works with one insurer. You may propose another for loan cover |
| Insurer's website or app | Simple contracts such as travel assistance, car quotes | You read the conditions on your own |

Before you pay, check that the seller is licensed. ACAPS publishes the list of insurers and a map of agents and brokers: see [how to check a company or an intermediary](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/insurance-companies/#how-to-check-a-company-or-an-intermediary). Always get a receipt, and never pay an individual's personal account.

→ [Get and compare quotes](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/insurance-quotes/)

## How a premium is built

The price you pay has four layers.

1. **The cost of the risk.** What claims like yours cost on average, given your profile.
2. **The insurer's costs and the seller's commission.** With the first layer they form the net premium.
3. **Policy fees.** A fixed amount for issuing the contract.
4. **Taxes and levies.** Collected by the insurer for the State.

| Type of contract | Tax on the premium |
|---|---|
| Motor, home, fire, liability, accident, health, assistance | 14% |
| Death cover tied to a loan | 10% |
| Marine | 7% |
| Life insurance and capitalisation | Exempt |
| Work-accident insurance | Exempt |

Non-life contracts also bear a solidarity levy of 1.5% that funds help for uninsured disaster victims, and motor and property contracts include the premium of the catastrophic-events guarantee: see [what it adds to your premium](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/earthquake-flood-insurance/#what-it-adds-to-your-premium).

**Diagram: What a premium is made of**

- Cost of the risk: what claims like yours cost on average
- Insurer's costs and commission: varies from one insurer to another
- Policy fees: a fixed amount
- Insurance tax: 14% on car and home contracts
- Solidarity levy: 1.5% on non-life contracts
- Net premium = Cost of the risk + Insurer's costs and commission

*Drawn to scale for a car or home contract with a net premium of 100: fees and taxes add about a fifth. Car and property contracts also include the catastrophic-events guarantee.*

Two people rarely pay the same price. The insurer weighs what you declare: the vehicle or the property, its use and location, your age, your claims record, the sums insured and the deductibles you choose.

## Before you sign

The law puts duties on both sides before the contract starts.

- **The insurer must inform you.** Before you commit, it must give you a notice with the price, the guarantees and the exclusions.
- **The contract must be written and readable.** Clauses that exclude a risk, void the contract or strip you of a payout count only if they are printed in very apparent characters.
- **You must answer truthfully.** The insurer prices the risk from your answers. A false statement made in bad faith voids the contract and the insurer keeps the premiums. An honest mistake reduces the payout in proportion to the premium you should have paid.
- **Arbitration cannot be imposed on you.** A clause sending disputes to arbitration is void unless you expressly accepted it when you signed.

### Check these seven points

- [ ] The special conditions describe you, your property and your use correctly
- [ ] You have found and read the page of exclusions
- [ ] You know the deductible and the ceiling for each guarantee
- [ ] You know the start date and the renewal date
- [ ] You know how, and to whom, a claim must be declared
- [ ] You know the notice period to end the contract
- [ ] You have a copy of the contract and a receipt for your payment

## During the contract

### Pay on time

A premium is due on the date written in the contract. The law sets what happens when it is not paid. These steps do not apply to life insurance: see [your rights in a life contract](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/life-insurance/#your-rights-in-a-life-contract).

1. The premium is still unpaid 10 days after the due date.
2. The insurer may send you a formal notice by registered letter.
3. Twenty days after that letter, cover is suspended: a claim that happens now is not paid.
4. Ten days after the suspension begins, the insurer may cancel the contract.
5. If you pay what is owed before cancellation, cover starts again at noon on the day after payment.

**Diagram: When a premium is not paid**

- Day 0: Premium due
- Day 10: Still unpaid: the insurer may send a formal notice by registered letter
- Day 30: Cover suspended, 20 days after the notice
- Day 40: The insurer may cancel, 10 days into the suspension
- Pay what you owe before cancellation and cover restarts at noon the next day.

*Earliest dates, when the notice is sent on day 10, drawn to scale. A later notice moves every later step. Life insurance follows other rules.*

### Tell the insurer what changes

Your answers at the start must stay true. Report any change that makes a loss more likely: a private car now used for deliveries, a home turned into a shop, building work, a new occupation. The insurer may propose a new premium or end the contract. If the risk goes down, you can ask for a lower premium.

If the same property is insured with several insurers against the same risk, tell each of them. Together they never pay more than the loss.

Any change to the contract is made by a written endorsement, called an *avenant*. Until it is issued, nothing has changed.

### Renewal

Most contracts renew themselves each year unless one side cancels in time. The law limits each automatic renewal to one year.

## Ending a contract

At the end of each year of cover you can leave, provided you give the notice written in your contract. The law requires that notice to be between 30 and 90 days.

You may notify the insurer in any of these ways, and you should keep the proof:

- a declaration handed in at the insurer's head office, against a receipt;
- a registered letter;
- a document served by a bailiff;
- any other means your contract allows.

A contract can also end outside the yearly date:

- **You sell the insured property.** For a vehicle, the contract ends when it is registered in the buyer's name, and the unused premium is refunded.
- **The risk disappears or changes.** A move, a change of occupation, retirement or the total loss of the property can justify ending the contract.
- **After a claim.** The insurer may cancel if the contract allows it. You may then cancel your other contracts with that insurer. This does not apply to compulsory motor liability, which cannot be cancelled because of a claim.
- **The insurer loses its licence.** Its contracts end at noon on the twentieth day after the decision is published, and you can claim back the premium for the unused period.

→ [Model letters for cancelling and complaining](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/claims-complaints/#letters-that-work)

## Time limits

| What you must do | Time limit |
|---|---|
| Declare a claim to the insurer | 5 days from the day you learn of it, unless the contract gives more |
| Declare a theft | As written in the contract, often 24 to 48 hours, with a police complaint |
| Declare the death of insured livestock | 48 hours |
| Declare hail damage to crops | 5 days |
| Declare damage from a catastrophic event | 60 days |
| Take legal action under an insurance contract | 2 years from the event |
| Take legal action in personal insurance: accident, illness, disability | 5 years |
| Claim as beneficiary of a life contract taken out by someone else | 10 years |
| Claim as a road-accident victim | 5 years |

The clock starts again from zero when an adjuster is appointed, when you send the insurer a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt about your payout, or when you go to court. Rights under a Takaful contract are not subject to a time limit.

> **Watch out.** Declare in writing and keep proof of the date. A contract may provide that a late declaration costs you the payout, unless something beyond your control prevented you.

## Words that decide what you are paid

- **Deductible** (*franchise*). The part of every loss that stays with you. With a deductible of 2,000 MAD, a loss of 1,500 MAD is not paid at all.
- **Ceiling** (*plafond*). The most the insurer pays for one claim or one year.
- **Sum insured** (*capital assuré*). The value you declared. If it is below the real value, every payout shrinks in the same proportion.
- **Wear and tear** (*vétusté*). The loss of value through age, deducted from the payout unless you bought replacement-value cover.
- **Exclusion.** A situation the contract does not cover at all.
- **Forfeiture** (*déchéance*). Losing the payout for one claim because you did not respect a duty after the loss.
- **Waiting period** (*délai de carence*). Time at the start of the contract during which a guarantee does not yet apply.

**Diagram: One contract, three losses**

- Deductible 2,000 MAD · ceiling 50,000 MAD
- Loss of 1,500 MAD: Insurer pays 0 MAD · you keep 1,500 MAD
- Loss of 20,000 MAD: Insurer pays 18,000 MAD · you keep 2,000 MAD
- Loss of 70,000 MAD: Insurer pays 50,000 MAD · you keep 20,000 MAD

*Drawn to scale. The deductible comes off every loss, so a small loss may not be paid at all; the ceiling caps what the insurer pays.*

> **Example.** Your furniture is worth 200,000 MAD but you insured it for 120,000 MAD, which is 60%. A fire destroys 50,000 MAD of it. The insurer pays 60% of the loss, 30,000 MAD, minus the deductible.

**Diagram: Under-insured by 40%**

- Real value of the furniture: 200,000 MAD
- Sum insured: 60% of the value: 120,000 MAD
- Fire damage: 50,000 MAD → 30,000 MAD paid, 20,000 MAD stays with you

*Drawn to scale. The insurer pays the same share of the loss as the share of the value you insured, here 60%, then takes off the deductible.*

→ [Test the proportional rule with your own figures](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/calculators/#under-insurance)

→ [All terms in English, French and Arabic](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/glossary/)

## Official sources

- [ACAPS](https://www.acaps.ma): The insurance regulator: licensed companies and rules
- [ACAPS · Intermédiaires](https://echangeear.acaps.ma/sig-public): Map of licensed agents and brokers
- [Médiateur de l'Assurance](https://www.mediateurassurance.ma): Free mediation between you and your insurer
- [Educaps](https://www.educaps.ma): Plain-language guides from ACAPS

## Related guides

- [Claims and complaints](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/claims-complaints/)
- [Insurers and contacts](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/insurance-companies/)
- [Glossary](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/glossary/)
- [Questions](https://dashboard.cr43dv6zq7.com/morocco-insurance-guide/en/faq/)