Mortgage Protection Insurance: What you need to know

In today's fragile economy, mortgage protection insurance makes more sense than ever. Not to be confused with private mortgage insurance, often simply abbreviated to PMI, mortgage protection insurance is designed to pay off your mortgage, or make payments toward your mortgage for a specified period of time, if certain specific events make it impossible for you to make your mortgage payments. As with any kind of financial product, it is very important to assess your needs, and carefully examine the insurance policies available to you before you make a decision to buy mortgage protection insurance. Below are things you need to know about mortgage protection insurance before you buy.

What is mortgage protection insurance?

There are two kinds of mortgage protection insurance, commonly called mortgage protection life insurance and mortgage protection payment insurance. Mortgage protection life insurance is designed to pay off the remainder of your mortgage if you should die before the mortgage is completely paid off. Mortgage protection payment insurance is designed to pay your monthly mortgage for a period of time if you should become disabled or lose your job before your mortgage is paid off.

How is mortgage protection insurance different from private mortgage insurance?

Private mortgage insurance, or PMI, is designed to protect the bank if you should default on the mortgage. Most lenders require that the buyer purchase private mortgage insurance if they finance more than eighty percent of the home's value through a mortgage. Unlike mortgage protection insurance, which is meant to benefit the homeowner, private mortgage insurance guarantees that the lender gets their money back even if a foreclosure auction does not recover the full value of the house.

Private mortgage insurance, on the other hand, is designed to prevent foreclosure by paying a benefit to the homeowner.

What is mortgage protection life insurance?

Mortgage protection life insurance is term life insurance in the amount of the mortgage on a home. In many cases, policies that are labeled "mortgage protection life insurance" are priced higher than other term policies even though they do not provide any additional benefits. Since there is no standard for these policies, it is important that you read through each policy and understand exactly what benefits you are being offered. Certain policies, for instance, will reduce the amount of the benefit as your mortgage is paid off. Some policies may also reduce the premium, while others have level premiums that are calculated over the life of the policy.

What is mortgage payment protection insurance?
In most cases, mortgage payment protection insurance is an accidental death and disability policy which pays you or your beneficiary a specific amount each month, if you should be disabled or killed during the time that the policy is in force. Many mortgage payment protection policies will also pay benefits if you are laid off from your job during the time that the policy is in force.

Is mortgage protection insurance necessary?

Mortgage protection insurance is not extremely necessary, but it may be an excellent investment especially during this fragile economy. While no one wants to imagine their own death or disability, it makes sense to protect your family against losing their home in the event that you are killed or disabled. Protection similar to this is not always called "mortgage protection insurance." In certain situations, it may be less expensive to take out a term life insurance policy for the length of your mortgage term. For example, if you have a 30 year mortgage for $150,000, it would make sense to take out a term life policy for $150,000, and keep it in force for 30 years. If you die before your mortgage is paid off, the insurance company will pay out $150,000 to your surviving spouse or children so that they can pay off the mortgage and not have to deal with the loss of their home.

How long will mortgage payment protection insurance pay my mortgage?

The number of payments that your mortgage payment insurance will cover is dependent on the policy that you choose. The most common policies will pay out for up to twelve months if you are unemployed due to illness or accident. A policy that also includes coverage if you are laid off will generally require that you establish that the job loss was not your fault before they make payments on the policy.

How much does it cost to have mortgage protection insurance?

The amount that you pay for mortgage protection insurance will depend on the amount of the benefit. In other words, if the policy pays $150,000 you will pay a higher premium than someone who has a policy that pays $100,000. Likewise, the premiums on a disability policy will vary according to the amount of the benefit paid out.

Like any other insurance, premiums and cost will vary widely based on many different factors. Be sure to shop around and compare prices and coverage to make sure that you get the best policy for your needs.