Rather than asking yourself if you can afford to take out UK mortgage protection insurance, you really need to be asking yourself if you can afford not to. Without the cover you would have to rely on savings or State benefits to continue meeting the demands of your mortgage and both of these could be a huge let down. Not only could they let you down, but also you are risking losing the roof over your head.

Getting behind by one or two months would have the lender starting repossession proceedings. Mortgage cover allows you to service your mortgage if you came out of work through unemployment, accident or illness. A policy would begin to pay the sum of money you insured against when taking out the cover after a pre-defined time. This would be the total amount of the repayment for the mortgage each month.

The waiting period would depend on the provider and is usually between the 30th and 90th day. The same would apply when receiving payments; the majority of UK mortgage protection insurance policies would payout either 12 monthly payments or 24 monthly repayments. This can be checked in the terms of the cover along with exclusions which reside in your protection policy.

Exclusions are the main factor in protection that could mean a policy would not work, so you have to go through these very carefully. If you suffer an illness that is classed as ongoing, if you are retired, in self-employment or only work on a part time basis, then you probably would be ineligible. At the least you would have to look very carefully into the wording.

The payment protection sector on the whole has seen some problems in the past. In 2005 mis-selling was brought to the public’s attention following a super complaint by the Citizens Advice to the Office of Fair Trading. The Financial Services Authority investigated the sector and many well known names were given fines for failing to have the consumer’s best interests at heart. While the majority of those fined were those selling loan cover, one of the latest firms that had to payout a hefty sum was a UK mortgage protection insurance company. They not only received a company fine but the CEO also had to put his hand deep into his own pocket and hand over a personal fine. Many changes have been seen and the Financial Services Authority is continuing to watch over the sector. At the same time the Competition Commission is also conducting an in-depth review of the whole sector and it is hoped that many more changes for the better will be seen soon.

However, this should not put you off - UK mortgage protection insurance can provide invaluable cover and should be considered by anyone who has a mortgage to pay. A standalone specialist such as the ethical British Insurance can offer low cost cover that can afford comprehensive protection.

If you are considering buying accident sickness insurance (combined with unemployment cover too, this is called ASU for short), then don’t let the recent negative press dissuade you. Certainly, while the recent mis-selling scandal has highlighted that there have been some failings when selling this type of payment protection insurance, already many positive changes have been seen within the sector.

It should also be borne in mind that the major culprits of indulging in sloppy sales practises were the high street banks and lenders who often over charged for the cover as well as selling it to people who would not be eligible to claim.

This insurance is generally forced on customers by the high street banks and lenders at the time of taking out some form of borrowing such as credit card, mortgage or loan. However, historically, taking cover this way if often the most expensive option. These high street names pocket around £5 billion every year in profits from selling accident sickness insurance cover alongside the borrowing. A cheaper option to get adequate cover is by choosing to shop around for the policy among independent providers.

To get quality cover for your circumstances getting quotes for not only the price but the benefits offered for your payment protection insurance, as well as buying with a specialist provider is imperative. A specialist, standalone protection insurance provider will help ensure that you, the individual buy cover that more than adequately meets your requirements.

British Insurance are one independent specialist who can offer quality cover at a price that can suit in the most modest of budgets. Their accident and sickness insurance policies can also offer additional benefits that some of the policies on the High Street do not, such as your claim being backdated to the first day you became unable to work.

Accident sickness insurance can help to provide a financial lifeline and in a world where nothing is certain, this is imperative.

When you buy an unemployment cover plan – which is part of the payment protection insurance (PPI) family - you decide right from the beginning the amount of replacement income you will need in the event of your becoming involuntarily unemployed.

This, of course, will subject to the provider’s own limits and the monthly premiums you will pay are determined by the amount of protection you select. As just mentioned, the amount will be subject to the payment insurance provider’s limits, but the income will go a long way to meet your financial requirements in the event that you lose your income due to losing your job.

Another advantage of these unemployment cover policies is that you can tailor the insurance further to meet your needs by adding on further benefits for a further premium. You can add accident and sickness insurance which means that you will also receive a tax free sum every month if you are unable to work due to recovering from an accident or long term illness.

British Insurance are a standalone provider of unemployment plans and are among the cheapest in the market place. They can tailor your policy to meet your requirements, so that you have exactly the right payment protection insurance in place.

What benefits you choose depends on what existing arrangements you have in place already (if any), or any schemes at work. For example, you may have an employer’s sick pay scheme that will give you full pay if you are off due to incapacity or illness, for up to six months’. In this case, for example, you may decide that you will need just unemployment protection.

With the latter, of course it’s important to remember that to be eligible for the unemployment cover benefits you have to become unemployed through no fault of your own. Redundancy insurance will not pay out if, for example, you’ve simply resigned from your present employment, nor will it pay out if you have been dismissed because of your own misconduct at work. To pay out for redundancy, it has to be involuntary redundancy.

From 2006 – 2007, over 36 million working days were lost, which is on average 1 and half days for each worker. Some of these were down to ill health caused by the workplace and others being due to injuries happening in the workplace as a result of accident.

A huge majority of these people would have been left struggling to find the income each month to cover their mortgage repayments if they had not had the foresight to take mortgage protection cover.

The figures speak for themselves and are proof that accidents do happen. They also show that protecting your outgoings is essential and this is without considering sickness and unemployment through such as redundancy.

“I have savings” you may say, however you have to take into account the possibility that you could be relying on them for several months. Several months of mortgage repayments along with paying for groceries, heating, lighting and other essential outgoings would quickly drain those savings away.

The same applies to the belief that State benefits would maintain your repayments. There has been a big shake up and reduction in the help provided. If your mortgage was taken after October 1995 you could be waiting a full 9 months before you would see any money and even then it would only be for the interest part and up to the first £100,000. Exactly how much help you would receive would depend on your circumstances and there are many conditions to be checked.

A far more reliable way of protecting your repayments and ensuring you keep your home is by taking out mortgage protection cover. This type of protection is also called accident, sickness and unemployment benefit as this is what it covers. When taken with standalone provider British Insurance you can choose the level of protection. A full policy would provide cover for all three, alternatively you can either insure just for accident and sickness or just for unemployment. How much you pay in premiums will reflect this and your age.

As British Insurance can offer age related cover this means that for the younger generation cover is now more affordable than ever. Savings of up to 40% when compared with quotes from other providers can be made.

With mortgage cover you wouldn’t have to worry, because you would be protected from the 30th day with British Insurance and for up to 12 months. The income you received would be tax-free and be backdated to day one. If you shop around it is possible to find cover that lasts for up to 24 months but you have to check the starting date of any policy you are considering because some providers make you wait 90 days before cover would commence.

Mortgage payment protection insurance isn't mandatory, but it's just as important as your buildings insurance, for example, which is mandatory. This is because mortgage payment protection insurance covers your mortgage payments if you become ill or injured, such that you are unable to work.

read more | digg story

Mortgage protection insurance cover is one member of a family of payment protection insurance (PPI) policies that can, when purchased correctly, ensure that you would have a monthly income to cover your mortgage repayments and associated costs if you should become out of work due to having an accident, suffering an illness or becoming unemployed through such as redundancy.

The cover is sometimes called ASU which is stands for accident, sickness and unemployment, and a policy can be taken out to safeguard against accident and sickness only; unemployment only; or accident, sickness and unemployment together.

Quotes for the mortgage protection insurance cover are given on the amount that you wish to protect each month and if you shop around for the cover and get your quote from a standalone provider then you can be sure of obtaining the cheapest quotes for the premiums. If you take the mortgage protection insurance cover that is offered alongside the mortgage from the high street lender, then the premiums could be sky high over the term of your mortgage. Also, historically, high street banks and lenders often fail to provide pertinent information regarding the key facts and exclusions within a policy. In a nutshell, this could mean that you buy a product that doesn’t even cover you.

Some of the most common exclusions within mortgage protection insurance cover are if you are self-employed, if you are retired or only work part time. If you should become unable to work due to a pre-existing medical condition then this too would be excluded and you wouldn’t be able to claim for it. There are also many exclusions among common problems that keep people out of work such as back problems and stress related illness, so it is worth checking out the exclusions to ensure that a policy would suit your requirements.

Mortgage protection insurance cover could help you save your home as if you were to be out of work, typically for 30 days or more, a good policy would kick in and be backdated to day one. It would then continue to provide you with a tax free income for up to 12 months - in some cases for up to 24 months with some providers. It isn’t, however, suitable for everyone and only you or a specialist provider can determine if it is. The majority of standalone providers will offer all the information that you need to ensure you are able to make the right choice before committing yourself to a policy. However, be aware that the high street lenders often do not and you must ask about them about the key facts and any exclusions outright.

Age-related mortgage payment protection insurance has flexible premiums that are dependent on the age of the applicants. Instead of having flat premiums, as other products do, the premiums are calculated according to the age of the customers. This means that younger customers, in particular, can make large savings on their premiums.

read more | digg story

How Does Mortgage Protection Work?

Basically put, if you are unable to make you mortgage payments because of accident or illness, or because of unemployment, you payments are made for you through the insurance. This is similar to car insurance that covers you if you are in a car accident, except that mortgage protection provides the same type of cover for your home.

It doesn't matter whether you lose your job, we become ill, or are involved in an accident that leaves you unable to work. Simply, if you can't work and would be unable to make you mortgage payments otherwise, this insurance makes those payments for you, usually for 12 months and up to 24 months.

If you should need to make a claim, it's pretty simple. If something happens to you that will leave you unable to make your mortgage payments and it's covered in the insurance policy (namely, illness or accident that leaves you unable to work, or unemployment), you should contact your insurer within 120 days of your illness or injury, for example. You provide the insurer the information asked for, and then you should be covered.