If you work full time and have monthly mortgage payments, you might worry about what would happen if you got hurt, got sick, or were laid off. Mortgage insurance is something you might have thought about, but if you didn't compare prices from different providers, you might have found it to be very expensive. If you look around, you can find cheap mortgage insurance. It can give you a replacement income to pay your mortgage payments, but you have to buy it separately from a specialist provider to get the best rates.
An independent specialist provider will always find you the cheapest premiums for mortgage payment protection and give you all the information you need to make sure a policy is in your best interests. Specialists offer cheap mortgage insurance that starts paying out on the 31st day of being out of work and gives you a tax-free income for up to 12 months. Some policies can cover you for up to 24 months, but they don't start paying out until you've been out of work for up to 90 days.
Coverage is known to be expensive and hard to understand. One of the problems has been that there hasn't been enough information about what a policy doesn't cover. There are exceptions to every policy, and some of the most common ones are if you are retired, self-employed, have a pre-existing medical condition, or only work part time. Even though these are the most common exclusions, there may be others, and every policy is different. Exclusions are often hidden in the fine print, so you need to read it carefully before you buy a policy.
Mortgage cover and the rest of the family of protection policies got a bad name when Citizens Advice told the public that policies were being sold in the wrong way. In 2005, the complaint was sent to the Office of Fair Trading, and the Financial Services Authority started looking into it. As a result, several well-known high street names have been fined, with a mortgage firm being the most recent.
The Competition Commission is currently doing an in-depth review of the sector, which is expected to be finished in February 2009. There have already been changes for the better made, and in March 2008, comparative charts will bring about a much-needed change for the better.
Comparative charts will help the consumer learn more about the products and choose the best one for their needs by asking a series of questions. The chart will show how much the insurance costs and what is not covered by the policy. Cheap mortgage insurance can help you keep a roof over your head, but you need to buy it wisely for it to work. Take advice from a specialist to save money on mortgage insurance and to make sure you understand a policy. This is the best thing you can do until the charts go into effect.