Mortgage Payment Insurance Can Protect Your Home From Repossession

If you should find yourself unable to work and lose your income then finding the money needed each month to continue making your mortgage repayments could be a struggle. In the worst case scenario the situation could lead to you getting behind on your loan and ultimately losing the roof over your head. Mortgage payment insurance can protect your home from repossession, providing you ensure that the policy is suitable for your needs.

There are certain exclusions that can habitually be found in a policy. Being retired or self-employed, suffering an ongoing illness or only working part time as opposed to full time can all mean you would not benefit from cover. However, this is just a guideline and the exclusions are not set in stone: all policies vary. For example, you could benefit from mortgage payment cover if the illness has not reoccurred during the last two years. And if you are self-employed and you find yourself having to cease trading through no fault of your own, then a policy could pay out. It is essential that you read the terms and conditions fully before taking on the cover.

Finding information on the exclusions in a policy can be hard. Often, very little information is given when buying the cover alongside borrowing from the high street lender. Also, sales techniques at high street lenders have been known to be poor, with staff having very little training in selling payment protection products. A better way to make sure you get your hands on the vital information needed is to choose to buy a policy independently. By going to a specialist provider of payment protection you can also get the cheapest quotes. This could mean you save up to 40% on your mortgage cover.

Quality cover from an ethical provider would give you a tax-free payout after being unable to work for between 30 to 90 continuous days. The income you gain from the policy would mean you can relax and not worry about money. This allows you to concentrate on getting well or to find another job.

Those individuals who assume the state would help in their time of need can find themselves unpleasantly surprised. You have to qualify for help from the state, and having savings of more than ?8,000 would mean you were not entitled to receive anything. If your partner works full time this would also exclude you. In addition, if your mortgage was taken out after 1995 then you would have to wait for a period of nine months before you would see any money. Even when you started receiving benefit, it would only be for the interest part of your mortgage, and then for up to the first ?100,000 only.

While mortgage payment insurance has a bad name along with the rest of the family of protection policies, it can be a worthwhile buy. The product itself has never been an issue; the problems lie with the way it has been sold. Buying from a specialist provider does away with the problems associated with poor selling because an ethical provider will give you the information needed to ensure a policy works for you.

Simon Burgess is Managing Director of the award-winning British Insurance (http://www.britishinsurance.com), a specialist provider of low cost income payment protection insurance (PPI), mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) and loan payment protection insurance.