Life insurance and savings
"Life insurance" covers two different products. One pays your family if you die or can no longer work. The other is a savings plan with tax advantages after eight years. Know which one you are being sold.
Optional
At a glance
- Who needs it
- Anyone whose income supports other people, and anyone saving for the medium or long term
- What it pays
- A capital sum or an annuity on death or disability. For savings: your contributions plus returns, less fees
- Key deadline
- Tax advantages apply once the contract is at least 8 years old
- Legal basis
- Insurance Code (law 17-99), rules on personal insurance; General Tax Code
- Where to get it
- Banks, agents, brokers. Most life insurance in Morocco is sold in bank branches
Protection or savings: two different products
| Protection (prévoyance) | Savings (épargne, capitalisation) | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Replace your income for your family | Build a capital for a project or for retirement |
| What you pay | A premium that buys cover for a period | Contributions that are invested for you |
| If nothing happens | Nothing is paid back, as with car insurance | You get your contributions plus returns, less fees |
| What to compare | The capital, the events covered, the exclusions | The fees, the returns credited, the guarantee |
Protection and savings work differently
Protection
- premiums, year after year
- capital paid if the event happens
If nothing happens, nothing comes back, as with car insurance.
Savings
- your contributions
- returns credited
You get your contributions back with their returns, less fees.
Life insurance took in 29.5 billion MAD of premiums in 2025, about 46% of the market, and most of it is savings sold through banks. Protection is the part households most often lack.
Death and disability cover
The main contracts
- Term death cover (temporaire décès). Pays the capital if you die during the period chosen: 1, 10 or 20 years. It is the cheapest way to protect a family, because nothing is paid if you are alive at the end.
- Death and disability (décès-invalidité). Adds a capital or an annuity if an illness or accident leaves you unable to work for good. Read the definition of disability: it decides everything.
- Education annuity (rente éducation). If the parent dies, each child receives an income until the end of their studies.
- Whole-life and funeral cover (vie entière, obsèques). Pays whenever death occurs, usually a smaller sum meant for funeral costs.
- Group cover through an employer. Many companies insure their staff for a capital equal to one or several years of salary. Ask your human-resources department what you already have.
How much cover
Add what your family would need without you: the debts that insurance would not repay, plus the household's yearly needs multiplied by the number of years until your youngest child is independent. Subtract your savings and the cover your employer already provides. The result is the capital to look for.
The price depends on your age, the capital, the duration and your health. Cover bought young is cheap: compare at least two quotes for the same capital and duration.
Savings and capitalisation
A savings contract takes regular payments or a lump sum. The insurer invests them and credits returns each year.
- Dirham funds. The insurer guarantees the capital and a minimum rate, then adds a share of its investment gains. The law requires this profit sharing.
- Unit-linked contracts (unités de compte). Your money follows investment funds. The return can be higher and the capital is not guaranteed.
- Education savings. A savings contract in a child's interest, often combined with cover that keeps the payments going if the parent dies.
- Retirement savings. Contributions are tax-deductible under conditions: see retirement savings with an insurer.
Fees make the difference over time. There are usually entry fees taken from each payment and management fees taken each year from the savings.
Before you choose a savings contract
- The entry fees and yearly management fees, in writing
- The minimum rate guaranteed, if any
- The rates actually credited over the last five years
- The surrender value at the end of each of the first eight years
- The charges and the tax if you withdraw before eight years
- Whether the contract includes death cover, and what it costs
Your rights in a life contract
- Information every year. The insurer must send you a statement of your contract: capital, savings reached, surrender value.
- Getting your money back. You can surrender a savings contract, in full or in part, and the insurer must pay. A term death contract has no surrender value.
- Advances. The insurer may lend you part of your savings without ending the contract.
- If you stop paying. The insurer cannot take you to court for life premiums. Once three yearly premiums have been paid, a contract with savings is not cancelled: it continues with a reduced capital.
- Withdrawal. If the contract was sold to you at home or at your workplace, you have 15 days to withdraw.
- Insuring someone else. A contract on another person's life needs that person's written consent. Death cover on a child under 12 is not allowed.
The beneficiary clause
You choose who receives the capital on your death, by name or by description, for example "my spouse, failing that my children in equal shares". You can change the clause at any time unless the beneficiary has formally accepted it.
Capital paid to a named beneficiary is not part of your estate and your creditors cannot seize it. If no beneficiary is named, the capital goes into the estate and is shared among the heirs. Takaful contracts follow different rules: see how Takaful differs.
Tax rules
| Situation | Rule in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Premiums for life insurance and capitalisation | No insurance tax |
| Capital or annuity from a contract held for at least 8 years | Exempt from income tax |
| Withdrawal before 8 years | The gain is taxable |
| Contributions to a retirement savings contract | Deductible from taxable income: up to 10% of that income, or up to 50% of net taxable salary for people whose only income is a salary |
| Payout from a retirement savings contract | Taxed after an allowance of 70% up to 168,000 MAD and 40% above, and spread over four years |
The deduction for retirement savings applies to contracts of at least eight years that pay out from the age of 45. Rules change with each finance law: check the current text with the tax administration or your insurer before you commit.
Choosing well
| What you want | What to look at | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Protect your family if you die or cannot work | Term death and disability cover | This page |
| Repay a loan whatever happens | Borrower insurance | Loan insurance |
| Pay for your children's studies | Education savings and education annuity | This page |
| Build a capital over eight years or more | A savings contract with low fees | This page |
| Add to your pension | Retirement savings with a tax deduction | Retirement |
| Cover funeral and repatriation costs | Funeral cover or an assistance contract | Living abroad, visiting |
| Sharia-compliant cover or savings | Takaful | Takaful |
Protection first, savings second: a savings plan started this year cannot replace an income next year.
Questions
Can I take my savings out before eight years?
Yes. You can surrender at any time. In the first years the surrender value can be lower than what you paid in, because of the entry fees, and the gain is taxable when the contract is less than eight years old.
I named no beneficiary. Who receives the capital?
It goes into your estate and is divided among your heirs under inheritance law. If you want a specific person to receive it, write a beneficiary clause.
A relative has died. How do I find out whether they had life insurance?
Look for premiums on bank statements, ask their bank and their employer, and write to the insurers concerned with a death certificate and proof of your relationship. If an insurer does not answer, you can turn to ACAPS.
Is a savings contract better than a bank savings account?
They do different things. A bank account is available at once and has no entry fees. A savings contract is designed for eight years or more, when its returns become free of income tax, and it lets you name a beneficiary.
My bank offered me a contract when I opened my account. Do I have to take it?
No. Opening an account or obtaining a card does not require buying life insurance. Loan insurance is a separate matter: see Loan insurance.
Does conventional life insurance comply with Sharia?
This guide does not give religious opinions. If this matters to you, Takaful contracts are designed for it and are approved by the Higher Council of Ulema: see Takaful.