Your mortgage is likely to be one of the biggest expenses you need to have every month. Even if you were not able to work because of a disease or redundancy, those repayments still must be made, or you may face the risk of losing your home. You can choose from two primary possibilities to protect yourself: you can turn to general income protection insurance (meaning the payments you would get could be spent on anything) or use protection insurance, designed particularly to cover the mortgage payments. People tend to choose the second option often because it is explicitly designed to solve this problem. MPPI, which stands for mortgage payment protection insurance, makes it possible for you to keep on paying off your mortgage, even if you stopped getting a stable income.
Types of MPPI
There are three main types of mortgage payment protection insurance. The difference between them is the range of situations where you will get financial help:
- Accident and sickness only,
- Unemployment only,
- Accident, illness, and unemployment.
The cost of mortgage payment protection insurance
The price of MPPI is not always the same – it may differ accordingly to your age and the level of your mortgage repayments. Apart from that, the number of life circumstances that enable you to get financial help also affects the cost. Therefore, accident and sickness-only or unemployment-only policies are less expensive than the variant that covers both of them.
What is more, your job or the type of employment contract you have can be significant as well. Most insurers classify professions in different risk categories. For instance, it may look like this:
Class 1 – Professionals, administrative staff, managers, secretaries, IT specialists, etc.
Class 2 – Skilled manual workers, shop assistants, florists, etc.
Class 3 – Semi-skilled workers, care workers, teachers, plumbers, etc.
Class 4 – Heavy manual workers, builders, mechanics, etc.
What is more, most insurance companies cater to self-employed people as well. Still, you should always read the small print carefully in order to make sure you are not excluded because of, for instance, being on a fixed-term or casual contract.
Where to get mortgage payment protection insurance
Firstly, you can be provided with MPPI by a mortgage lender, as most of them offer it along with your mortgage application. It is a convenient solution because, in this way, you will cover your premium as an element of your regular mortgage payment. Nonetheless, it is advisable to always shop around for a policy. You need to keep in mind that buying policy via your lender means that you will be under their group policy. For this reason, further switching to your mortgage can be restricted.
The second option is to cooperate with a mortgage broker to arrange the best insurance for you. They are experienced in comparing numerous policies from many different companies to make sure that you will be provided with the best possible option. What is more, before you make your final decision, they will comprehensively explain to you what the differences in each possibility are.
Another solution that you can choose is to use an existing life insurance policy for mortgage protection. It is possible as long as the amount you are insured for is equal or higher than the value of your mortgage. Moreover, it needs to run for the same term. However, you need to remember that it means you are assigning the policy to your lender. As a result, if you die during the term, the life insurance benefits will be given to your lender to pay off the mortgage. If there are any policy benefits left over after that, your dependants will receive them. However, if the whole sum needs to be used to cover the mortgage, your dependants will get no money.
Topping up your mortgage
If it happens that you want to top up your mortgage, you always have to check if your policy is appropriate for its new value. It is possible for you to find a new policy that will cover the whole amount of your mortgage. Apart from that, you can get other insurance that will be associated just with the added amount.
Both of these options should be compared carefully. Sometimes it can be more beneficial to keep your primary mortgage payment protection insurance and then provide yourself with a second one for the top-up value. You should find out what is the cost of resigning from your primary policy and getting a plan for the full value of your new mortgage instead.
When you are getting a new policy, you may be surprised that the premium is higher than the last time you checked. The reason for this is that you are getting older, and age is one of the main factors that affect the premium. But the good news is that if you quit smoking, or if the rates have lowered since the last time you tried to get the cover, it may be possible for you to pay less.
All in all, to make your financial situation better protected, you really should invest in mortgage payment protection insurance. At the same time, it is advisable not to rush in choosing it and familiarise yourself with all the options, or ask a professional broker to help you to make the right decision.
BY JOHN SAUNDERS
Source: London Loves Business