Term insurance for your mortgage

Term insurance helps you to protect your mortgage.

Your mortgage is likely to be the biggest debt you have, and you know that if you fail to make the repayments, your home could be repossessed. It’s only natural to worry about how that mortgage would be paid off if you died – particularly if you are the major wage-earner in your home. Term insurance lets you cover that possibility without costing you a fortune.

Term insurance is different from payment protection insurance or PPI insurance which caused so many PPI claims because of mis-sold policies.

How term insurance can help

Term insurance is specifically designed to pay out a sum of money if you die within a certain period of time – usually between 10 and 25 years. This makes it the ideal product to protect your mortgage. You can take out the term assurance for the same length of time as you have taken out your mortgage, so that if you die before the end of the term insurance policy, your mortgage will be paid off immediately. There are many benefits to taking this route, including:

• Peace of mind – by taking out term assurance to cover your mortgage, you don’t need to worry about how your dependents will manage financially after your death.
  
  
• Flexibility – you can choose a decreasing term insurance policy, so that the amount paid out is in line with the amount of mortgage left to pay. Your premiums will decrease accordingly, so you are making sure you’re not paying out too much for your term assurance.
  
  
• Additional cash – you could also choose an increasing or index-linked term insurance policy, where the sum assured grows in line with the Retail Price Index. Although this may mean higher premiums, it also means that the sum paid out on your death may exceed the mortgage you have left to pay, leaving you family with some extra cash.
  

Before choosing your term insurance policy, make sure you seek some advice so that you can be sure you’re getting the policy that’s right for your budget and your circumstances.