Being able to maintain your mortgage commitment at all times no matter what happens is essential unless you want to give up your home to the lender through repossession. If you were forced to leave work after suffering an illness, accident or unemployment in an ideal world the lender would have total sympathy. They would send you a get well card, flowers and tell you not to worry. However we live in the real world, and the reality is no lender is going to do this, however patient and helpful they might be. The hard truth is that a couple of missed repayments could very well mean the lender would seek a repossession order. Following this would come the court hearing and if the judge rules against you, you could only be around 28 days away from eviction. The way you could avoid this scenario is to take out mortgage protection insurance.

Mortgage protection insurance can be your savior if you find yourself without an income following an accident that meant you were unable to work. It would also apply if you should become sick and have to take time off from work to recuperate. Unemployment would also be covered, providing that it was brought about through reasons not of your own making. It wouldn’t pay out if you simply gave up your job for example. Mortgage protection insurance would be the closest thing to a “fairy godmother” at this time.

With a policy behind you there would be no struggle each month and no juggling other bills in the hope that you could gather enough money together. Having to do this each month you remained out of work, especially if this was for any length of time would cause stress beyond belief. At this time all you need to be thinking of is recovering or finding work again.

You do have to shop around for the cheapest premiums when considering a policy. Some providers, usually high street banks, charge sky high premiums, which makes protecting your mortgage very expensive. Others give far cheaper quotes for cover. This means that everyone can afford to take protection and these are the providers you should look for. The terms of the cover also vary considerably and again need taking into consideration.

You could be waiting as little as 28 days after being unable to work before you are able to put in a claim. However some providers will extend this to 90 days, the same applies with how long a policy would payout. With some providers you could be looking at receiving 12 months of protection, others could give 24 months cover.

All providers should give an adequate explanation of what a policy can and cannot do and make you aware of the vital facts and small print. This information of course should be given to you before you buy; after all it would useless and unfair to give it you afterwards.

Lenders on the high street will very often try their hardest to get you buy their mortgage protection insurance when taking out the borrowing. This might seem like one of the best choices, especially if you got a good deal on your mortgage. Usually you could not be more wrong and high street lenders premiums are among some of the highest premiums. Nine times out of ten a standalone provider will offer the cheapest quote and provide one of the best quality policies to fall back on.

Mortgages were seen in the boom years as a foolproof way of borrowing, leading to inevitable profits from soaring house prices. Now the recession has hit, many people are struggling to repay their mortgages by themselves – this is where mortgage protection comes in.

During the boom years, many people were able to borrow up to six times their own salary – sometimes more – to buy a property. When times were good, it was just about feasible to keep up on the repayments, safe in the knowledge that the price of your property was steadily climbing, and would surely leave you in clear profit, should you need to sell up.

For many, the mortgage they were once so happy to be granted has now become a millstone around their neck. With negative equity virtually sweeping the country, the terms ‘mortgage’ really has taken on a bitter taste, especially for those who, as a result of a slowing economy, have lost their jobs and can no longer afford to pay the monthly installments. For them, mortgage protection insurance would have been a very good idea in hindsight.

A mortgage is usually taken out on the understanding that the borrower can pay the mortgage repayments out of their income. The mortgage provider calculates the risk they are taking that the borrower will be able to keep up monthly installments, based on their salary, other income and their expenses. Unfortunately, overconfidence by mortgage lenders, as well as borrowers, during the years leading up to 2007 led to many thousands of borrowers being lent sums that they simply wouldn’t be able to repay.

It’s only more recently, now that house prices are falling, that people have really started to discuss ‘mortgage protection’. Mortgage protection is an insurance policy which can cover the borrower in the event of redundancy, illness or injury.

When you take out a mortgage, you will be told about the monthly payments you will need to make in order to pay it off in the given time period. There is an option to ‘protect’ your mortgage by paying a slightly higher tariff each month, or by taking out mortgage protection cover with a different provider. While the different mortgage protection insurance give different sorts of cover, they mostly relate to redundancy, illness or injury. If you pay extra each month for mortgage protection which covers redundancy, it will mean that, in the event of you losing your job or suffering from an illness or injury which prevents you from working, the insurance company will pay your mortgage payments for you for a fixed term, and you will not face repossession of your property by the mortgage lender.

To decide whether it is worth taking out mortgage protection insurance, it is important to think seriously about the likelihood of something happening which would cause you to be unable to pay the repayments (thereby potentially losing your property), and weigh this up against the disadvantages of paying extra on top of your mortgage payments while you are still employed and healthy.

As losing your home is likely to affect more people than yourself, it is also wise to talk it through with friends and family. The most important thing is to seek advice on your options, consider all possible outcomes, and make an informed decision, based on the facts.