Protect Your Repayments With Mortgage Insurance

Being able to pay your mortgage each month is essential if you do not want to fall foul of your mortgage lender and be faced with losing your home to repossession. A couple of missed mortgage payments and not being able to show the lender how you are able to catch up and continue paying the mortgage and repossession will be imminent. Mortgage insurance can be taken with a standalone specialist provider and by doing so you would be provided with an income each month that covers the repayment of the mortgage.

The sum of money you got back would be amount of your mortgage repayment or up to a certain amount, set out by the provider. This allows you the peace of mind that is you should become a victim of unemployment or be unable to work after falling sick or suffering an accident you would not suffer financially. Up to June 2008 there have been over 18,000 repossessions already and more will come. In total the Council of Mortgage Lenders believe this figure will rise to around 45,000 by the end of the year and this is a terrifying thought for all home owners. For just a small premium with a standalone provider you can avoid becoming one of the statistics.

Of course mortgage insurance is often pushed alongside the borrowing and while this may seem to be the easiest way to take out protection it is usually the most expensive. High street lenders charge way over the odds for protection and along with this often gives very little information when selling policies. An investigation by the Financial Services Authority and the Office of Fair Trading in 2005 highlighted the fact that policies had been mis-sold to individuals who could not claim against them. There are exclusions that have to be checked against your circumstances to be sure that you would be able to claim. Providing you check these then you have a viable back up plan on which to rely.

When taken with a standalone provider mortgage insurance premiums are based on your age, the level of cover you need and the amount you protect. This means that younger first time home buyers can now afford to cover their huge outgoings even on tight budgets. The level of cover can be tailored to suit your needs. You might want to take out accident sickness and redundancy cover together. However you are also able to take out just unemployment insurance or insurance for just accident and sickness.

Mortgage insurance is usually offered over periods of either 12 monthly payments or 24 monthly payments and then the policy stops. There is always a period of deferment before you are able to put in a claim and this can be between 30/90 days. The terms should be set out on the website of the provider along with all the information you need to make sure that cover is right for your circumstances. Providing you understand what you are buying then you would be able to recover with peace of mind or find work again knowing your mortgage repayments were safe.

Simon Burgess is Managing Director of the award-winning British Insurance, a specialist provider of mortgage insurance.