Seems to be a morning of financial advice...

I still believe I am 20 so making adult decisions always troubles me :p


I am finally about to complete on my house purchase and keep getting told I should be getting Mortgage protection insurance....

Seems to range from about £15 a month up to £30 or so.... I genuinely can't figure out if its worth taking it or not.... what have others done?

I have it, along with my life cover - I wouldnt want to be turfed out of my home if I couldnt work for any reason.

[Edited on 13-2-17 by loggyboy]

Who keeps telling you? People that will make a commission from you buying it or independent advice?

Basically it just covers you if you fall ill so you cant work, some will only pay a few months then drop you. Some wait a few months until they pay, some don't cover certain things, can be very hit and miss if your illness is covered, also some cover terminal illness.... as you know different levels of payment cover different things. DO plenty of reading

A separate Life insurance covers the whole amount in case you drop dead. And is very cheap in comparison to the more complex and fickle protection.

Personally for me it was too expensive for the limited cover £38pm, so I skipped it an only took life cover which costs me £6 a month I think. It's a risk but life is

Take it out then in 10 years time claim it as mis-sold and get 3 times your money back....

Times might have changed, but as above - check the small print. A friend had one that sounded great on the glossy brochure, then at point of claim in order to qualify he needed to show that he was claiming income support to validate the need. At the time having more than 16k savings disqualified you from income support, rendering the policy worthless.

Likewise if you're married to a full-time earner then lost your job then most state benefits aren't available and the policies won't kick-in so are worthless.

Obviously the insurance companies are careful not to put you in a position where you've no incentive to get back in to work ASAP, so the policies are written as such... to make you feel some pain.

SWMBO and I have a life cover policy that would pay-off the mortgage should either one of us die. It's declining in-line with the mortgage debt and IIRC costs us about £13/month. I opted to take it when we bought our current house as we were about to have our first child. I'd not like to think of the family being turfed out should the worst happen to me.

Be careful who you take up the policy with and make sure you read the paperwork carefully before signing up.

Consider the terms carefully if you're interested in it at all.

I wasn't interested in the slightest when I bought my place as I have no dependents.

If I suddenly become dead then so be it.
If I get seriously injured then I would have to make adjustments and perhaps sell my current property to buy something that suits my needs - probably still be able to work for a living though so long as I can read and respond by voice/pen/type on a keyboard.
If I get even more seriously hurt then no amount of payment protection or life insurance is going to cover the costs of my healthcare on a private basis anyway and I'd end up reliant upon state aid as would anyone in that situation (aside from third parties paying out in case of fault perhaps).


I think it's probably a much more difficult decision if you have dependent children and then you want to be able to assure yourself that you would be able to provide reasonably for them in any circumstances and on that basis these policies become worth considering but they're not straight forward.

As above. Depends on if you have others dependant on you, and your income - and how risk averse you are.

I personally have never paid any mortgage protection or life insurance, don't even bother with contents insurance now.

I never bothered with it. Depends how risk averse you are, and how likely you would be to lose your job if you were ill.

There are always LOADS of exclusions, so check it over carefully. Some take a month to kick in (expensive) some 6 months (obviously cheaper) so weigh up the options and decided if you do actually want it.

Never had it and about to complete on a new house without it.

I get good sick pay, private medical and life assurance through work. I'd check how long your sick pay covers you for. I could do my job sitting down, probably with a broken leg or arm. If I was a roofer or buildet I'd think twice.

Just my 10ps worth take out critical illness cover I know 3 people who had their mortgage paid off by it ...2 with a cancer diagnosis and 1 who had a stroke at 43 ... I have and I thought most mortgages had it as standard ..... When you get past 40 and into your 50s it's surprising how many friends and people you remember from school get ill or die.

Never seen the point either so have not bothered, it's like injury insurance when you get into the small print... Lose one hand or a foot and get back £50 it's only when you lose both they start to pay up!

They will look for any excuse to get off the hook, like most policies these days they ask have you made a claim before? You say no! You do not associate your fridge failing creating a warrentee claim but...... It's still an insurance policy so you have lied and get nothing.

As above, if you have savings you cannot claim, if it's a joint mortgage then the other person becomes liable so cannot claim.. It's rubbish.

I get all the cover I need from work, I guess that makes the descision much easier for me. BUPA costs £77 a month, this I consider worth it.

[Edited on 13/2/17 by mark chandler]

Its all in the small print

Don't forget the idea is that they keep your money and don't have to pay out
They are in it to make a profit and not be a charity

Most make you wait 90 days before paying out and even then with some you need to be in receipt of benefits
If you are employed and receive a redundancy payment that will be taken into consideration..

Thanks for the thoughts chaps.

I don't have any dependants at the moment and if I was so badly injured that I couldn't work I'd probably not be able to look after myself either so having a house is rather irrelevant at that point.

Does one have to take the insurance on day one or could I take it out a year down the line ?

We took it out and had to claim on it and have now used the full 12 months it covered which was very welcome as still not able to work. They weren't having us jumping through all sorts of hoops to claim employer had to fill out section of the claim form doctor and myself. I got a phone call every month to find out how I was going and when the next sick line covered me until. I used Pinicle insurance.

I have 2 kids so am spending some money.

we have an original joint mortgage life protection with decreasing payment - ie will pay off the mortgage - actually it was bought to cover half the mortgage if either of us get critically ill - if it is one of the things they agree is critical or die.

work cover me a bit and I took out extra life cover too.

also I have income protection, rather than mortgage payment protection. too keep the cost down as much as poss it wont pay out for 6 months, but will then pay forever if I can't work.

I used Moneyworld https://www.moneyworld.com/

who I found great.

I need to sort something for my wife, but as she doesn't work this is much harder, so am ending up hanging on till she goes back to work for a bit in september rather than sorting it twice.

this site I also find very helpful

[url=http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/payment-protection-insurance]http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/payment-protection-insurance[/ url]