What is mortgage protection life insurance?

Mortgage protection life insurance is a type of term life insurance. It’s also sometimes called decreasing life cover. It could help your loved ones pay off a mortgage or other long-term loan if you die at any point during the policy term, which is how long your cover lasts for.

How mortgage protection life insurance works

The amount you have left to pay on your mortgage usually drops over time. And if you have a smaller mortgage, you need less life cover – so mortgage protection life insurance decreases over time too.

With this type of cover, you pay the same amount in premiums each month for as long as your policy lasts. Your cover amount, which is how much your loved ones could get if they make a successful claim, gradually decreases until it reaches £0. The idea is that your life cover and mortgage repayments reach £0 together at the same time.

Because of the way it works, with decreasing life insurance your premiums are usually lower compared to other types of life cover. However, there are a few things to remember. Your cover will end if you don’t pay your premiums, the cover amount is only paid out once and there’s no cash in value at any time.

Do you need life insurance if you have a mortgage?

You don’t legally need life insurance if you get a mortgage, though some mortgage providers might insist you take it out. If you do want to take out life insurance to help cover your mortgage, you can either get it from your mortgage adviser, a financial adviser if you have one, or direct from an insurer like us.

What type of life insurance is right for you depends on your circumstances. You can find out more about the different types of life insurance here.

Why you might want life insurance to cover your mortgage

Getting a mortgage can be a big step in life and it could be an ideal time to stop and consider what protection you have wrapped around you and who you love.

Mortgage protection life insurance can help give reassurance for the future. So you can get on with enjoying life today, knowing it will protect the important people in your life later on. That if you die before paying off your mortgage, and it’s during the policy term of your life insurance, they could use the money from a successful claim to help pay off the rest of the mortgage, other long-term loan, or spend on whatever they want.

How we can help

You can get our life insurance starting from just £5 a month, which is less than the cost of two takeaway coffees. And you could even get a quote in the time it takes to drink one.

If you’re buying a new home

If you’re taking the plunge and snapping up a new home, if you take out life insurance with us at the same time you can get up to 90 days of free home purchase cover. Once we’ve accepted your life insurance application, your free cover starts after you’ve exchanged contracts up until you complete — so long as you’ve given us a future start date that matches that.

Our Protection Promise

All it takes is just over five minutes for most people to get a quote and decision from us. But if you apply for life insurance and we can’t give you an immediate decision, our Protection Promise kicks in. So you’re covered free of charge for the cover amount you’ve applied for, up to £500,000. This lasts until we’ve made our decision, you withdraw your application, or up to 90 days after we’ve confirmed your Protection Promise cover has started.

You can find out more about our home purchase cover and Protection Promise in our Life Insurance Plan policy summary.