Mortgage Life Insurance - One Size Fits All?

There was a time not many years ago when there was one type of mortgage life insurance you could purchase, which was simply the declining insurance that continued to decrease as your mortgage decreased. This meant that if you lived in the house 30 years, and owed just $2000 on the mortgage, that is how much the life insurance policy would be for, it was ever declining. There are some companies that still market this type of mortgage life insurance but there are much better options available.

Today, you can purchase a more traditional life insurance policy that is specifically for your mortgage. In other words, you can purchase a level premium policy, which is affordable and you can purchase it for a specified number of years, such as 30 years. The nice thing about this policy is it guarantees you that the policy amount you purchased will not decrease as your mortgage decreases. In addition, you can also have the premium set to a specific amount that is unchangeable over the course of the policy.

Another mortgage life insurance policy that is becoming very popular is the Return of Premium Insurance plan. With this policy, it does not decrease and if you set the policy up for 20 years and your mortgage is paid off and you are still living, you get all of the premium payments back that you made over the course of the policy and it is tax free money. You can do anything you want with the money. It is like having a little savings you are putting aside for 20 or 30 years. No matter how low your premiums are, they add up over the course of 20 to 30 years, so this would be a little reward money for paying off your mortgage and policy. If you cannot afford the return of premium policy, then the simple decresing term insurance or mortgage protection policy would be beneficial to you and your family regardless, its one type of peace of mind that makes sleeping at night a bit better.

What is Mortgage Life Insurance?

Mortgage is generally defined as a type of loan that is taken to purchase a property. The term 'mortgage' can also be applied to the practice of keeping the property as collateral against the payment of any debt. Home buyers who borrow more than seventy five percent of the value of the property are required to have a life insurance policy for themselves. If the homeowner dies unexpectedly with an unpaid mortgage, then the family has to cope with the additional burden of repayment. Mortgage life insurance guards the borrowers against this possibility.

There are two types of mortgage life insurance coverage available for the borrowers. These policies are known as decreasing term insurance and level term insurance. Borrowers can decide on the kind of cover they want and opt for the one best suited to the mortgage. Decreasing term insurance is essentially offered to the borrowers who have taken a repayment mortgage. In this type of coverage, as the balance on the mortgage keeps decreasing, the sum of coverage also decreases. This ensures that there are sufficient funds to pay off the balance amount due in case the borrower dies. Level term insurance is suitable for those borrowers who have an interest only mortgage. The sum of the coverage remains the same throughout the mortgage term, as the principal never reduces.

Terminal illness benefit is added with both the decreasing term and the term mortgage life insurance. It guards the borrower against the threat of non-repayment if they become terminally ill. Critical illness cover can be taken in addition as it ensures a payout in case the borrower loses his income due to a critical illness. Mortgage life insurance puts the minds of the borrowers as well as the lenders at ease with regards to the repayment of the loan.

Mortgage Life Insurance Explained

The talk around very many financial services products gets surprisingly and perhaps unnecessarily complicated when, all along the concepts behind the vast majority of these products is really quite simple and straightforward. Take Mortgage Life Insurance, for example. Despite the potentially off-putting title, it is simply an insurance intended to ensure that your mortgage is fully paid off in the event that you died before you had had the opportunity to pay it off.

Mortgage protection life insurance has been around for a long time, therefore, to offer security and peace of mind to those you wouldn't want to have to worry about paying off the mortgage if you died.

As an aside, do not confuse mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) with mortgage protection life insurance. The two are very different, with the former protecting your actual monthly mortgage repayments in the event of you becoming unable to work due to involuntary unemployment; after having an accident; or due to long term illness. MPPI enables you to keep repaying your mortgage until you are back on your feet or find alternative employment.

Anyway, back to mortgage life insurance... many mortgage lenders themselves have traditionally insisted on borrowers taking out mortgage life protection to cover their own risk against the mortgaging remaining unpaid if the mortgagee died before the end of the mortgage term.

Those more traditional methods of mortgage life insurance tended to be decreasing term life assurance arrangements, in which the potential insurance payout sum decreased over the term of the insurance, in line with the decreasing mortgage balance owing. By the end of the mortgage term, therefore, the insurance payout has reduced to zero.

A guaranteed payout

Given recent changes in the mortgage market and the increasing competitiveness of straight forward term life assurance, however, it could make better sense to opt for a fixed term life insurance equal to the mortgage amount borrowed. That way, if you die before the expiry of the insurance term, the mortgage can be repaid from the proceeds and your beneficiaries will likely enjoy a lump sum payment of any remaining balance.

This type of cover offers a guaranteed policy pay out amount and guaranteed premium payments throughout the term of the insurance, which can be agreed at 30, 25, 20, or any number of years, at the outset.

When considering the ways of ensuring that your mortgage is repaid if you die before its full term, remember that:

* The traditional method is to go for a decreasing life assurance
* Current premium rates, however, make a standard fixed term life assurance policy in the same amount as the initial mortgage another option to consider
* As when making any major or important purchases, ensure you shop around for your cover in order to get the right level of benefits at a realistic price. The life assurance business is an extremely competitive one, so don't just apply for the first policy that catches your eye - make sure you do your research first.

Life Insurance VS Mortgage Protection

An outgoing question for many homeowners is whether to purchase mortgage protection or standard life insurance. Both options have benefits and all homeowners should have one or the other in order to secure the future of their family. While mortgage protection limits payment to only paying off the mortgage, life insurance allows the beneficiary to utilize the money as they deem necessary under their individual circumstances.

Mortgage protection is also called Mortgage Life Insurance by many carriers. This coverage pays off the mortgage in the event of death. Some people question the wisdom of mortgage protection life insurance because of its limiting factors. However, these limits can prove to be a major benefit, especially, if for some reason an insured cannot obtain or afford standard life insurance. This often occurs due to an existing or pre-existing illness or one's weight-to-height ratio makes it difficult for a person to obtain affordable insurance.

Another pro-mortgage protection argument is that many people cannot make good financial investments. This bears the thought they will make poor spending decisions should they be given a large sum of money, as the case with a true insurance policy.

It is possible to purchase mortgage insurance from the bank or mortgage company, but generally control of the policy is lost. A better option might be to carry Term Life Insurance as mortgage protection. By carrying term life insurance, the purchaser is in the driver's seat. All benefits will be paid to the beneficiary of choice, not the bank or mortgage company. This allows the beneficiary to maintain control of the situation.

The beneficiary may want to pay off the mortgage in one lump sum. By carrying term life insurance, this person can also decide whether to pay off the house, use the money for other investments or retirement, send children, grandchildren or perhaps themselves to college.

Term life insurance also allows the opportunity to purchase more coverage for competitive rates. It makes great sense to do this when coverage is needed for a specified period of time such as the life of the mortgage. With term life insurance policies the premium and the death benefit remain constant which is contradictory to a mortgage protection plan. In these cases, the premium remains the same, however as the amount of the loan decreases the amount to be paid out upon death decreases.

Bottom line...it does not really matter in which of these options you most believe. Just take action on purchasing one or the other. If you own property of any type, it is a wise financial decision to make arrangements for the payment of the loan on that property in the event of death. Single, married, divorced, children, no children, no matter your situation, never assume that you are not leaving someone behind to pick up the pieces. You never want to put your family or friends in the financial situation to be selling a home in a time of grief, whether it is by their own decision or out of necessity. Taking action today provides peace of mind tomorrow.

As a Personal Financial Representative and Insurance Specialist in Texas I work with an array of clients. My knowledge and understanding of people and their protection needs helps me provide customers with an outstanding level of service. I look forward to helping families like yours protect the things that are important - your family, home, car and more. I can also help you prepare a strategy to achieve your financial goals.

Easy Ways to Find Mortgage Life Insurance Leads

If you want to find yourself mortgage life insurance leads it may be hard to find for the first time. There are some easy ways that can help you find right and in a quicker way the best mortgage life insurance leads.

One of the first places you must try is at the businesses. There are many employees at the businesses; therefore, most of the people do not realize that may be providing their employees any policy for life protection. Very first try at small business. But small businesses usually do not provide these facilities.

Everything is available in the market through various private firms, so are the mortgage life insurance leads. There are many firms that can guide you to find good mortgage life insurance leads. They have agents with which you will need to sign up and they will put in contact with those customers that are looking for life insurance services for their employees. You can find these firms on the internet too. Just enter in the search engine and find one.

Another good place to look for insurance leads is the colleges. There are many students who are ready to spend money on anything that they are asked for as they lack appreciation for money. One of the easy ways to reach them is to set up booth at the college fairs. This is also a good way to make a reputed place for you.

Last but not the least; try looking for it by doing door to door marketing. This is a very old method to do it.