Standalone specialists offer cheap mortgage payment protection
- 3RD NOVEMBER 2007
If you want cheap mortgage payment protection then there is only one place to look for it and that is with the standalone specialist in payment protection, a standalone specialist can save you up to 40% on your mortgage insurance and you can be sure you have a quality product along with the key facts of the policy so that you can decide if the product is suitable for your needs.
One of the biggest problems with mortgage payment protection has been the lack of advice that is given at the time of buying the cover, the majority of policies are bought alongside the mortgage and cover bought this way is costly with high premiums, with poor selling techniques being used. Simon Burgess, Managing Director of the ethical British Insurance, warns consumers how essential it is to shop around for the cover and the necessity of being informed before buying it.
There are exclusions which British Insurance points out and these exclusions mean that a policy wouldn’t be in our best interests, common exclusions include being self-employed, having an ongoing illness, being of retirement age or if you don’t work full time.
Providing a cheap payment protection insurance policy would be suitable then it would begin to payout a tax free income which was determined at the time of getting your quotes based on the amount of mortgage each month you want to cover and your age at the time of taking out the cover. You do have to stand so many days with all policies before payout commences and with British Insurance payout begins from the 31st day of being continually out of work and will carry on providing you with an income for up to 12 months. However some providers can ask you to wait until you have been out of work for up to 90 days before payout commences but they can payout for as long as 24 months.
While cheap mortgage cover can help you to save the roof over your head by giving you the income with which to repay your monthly mortgage repayments and so not risk getting into arrears you do have to make sure you would be eligible to claim. Mis-selling of policies came to the public’s attention in 2005 when a super complaint was made to the Office of Fair Trading by the Citizens Advice and an investigation by Financial Services Authority which resulted in fines being handed out to several high street providers along with the FSA stating the changes that needed to be made.
Some changes for the better have been seen as a result, some high street lenders are now making consumers aware that they can shop around for the cover, the exclusions are being listed so the consumer can make an informed decision and the way payment protection is sold online alongside loans has changed for the better. However despite these changes the Financial Services Authority have said that complaints of mis-selling are still on the increase during the last several months, the FSA has stated that they will continue to hand out fines and do everything possible to make sure firms make the product more transparent.
One of the biggest changes should be seen in March 2008 with the introduction of comparison tables, the tables will ask a series of questions which will then lead to the consumer being able to determine whether the product is suitable and will point out the exclusions and how much in total the cover will cost. For now if you want quality cheap mortgage payment protection then get your quotes from a standalone ethical provider such as British Insurance.
