What is Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance? (MPPI)

Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance or MPPI for short is a product designed to pay your monthly mortgage repayment, if you are unable to do so. It is an insurance product designed to keep the roof over your head, during a period when your earned income ceases, due to accident, sickness or redundancy.

An illness or redundancy can strike at any time and without warning. By having an MPPI policy in place you have increased peace of mind that should the worst happen you have some breathing space to get things back on track.

A typical MPPI policy will pay up to twelve months mortgage payments in the event of a valid claim, some with no deferred period, therefore offering you "back to day one cover". Not all mortgage payment protection insurance policies offer back to day one day one cover so if this aspect is important to you then check the policy before buying. With back to day one cover you will generally need to be off work for 30 days, after this the insurance company will back date your initial payment to the first day of the claim. After this payments will be made monthly in arrears.

The policy will pay, for up to 12 months or your earlier return to work; whichever is sooner. Some Mortgage Payment Protection policies will not only cover your monthly mortgage costs, but give you an extra percentage towards other household costs, for instance like life insurance or other mortgage related insurances.

The level of cover you can choose under these policies differs from each provider. Most will allow £1500 per month with some going as high as £3,000 per month. This figure includes the actual mortgage payment and any additional insurance policy premiums you want to protect against accident, sickness or unemployment.

It is estimated that 20-24% of mortgage payers have Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance, unfortunately sold heavily through their mortgage lenders. The lenders find these products an easy "bolt on" to the mortgage sale; well who wouldn't purchase a product that good from a Bank or Building Society? Well if you are smart, you would not. The lenders like to sell these heavily commission loaded, generally inferior products at the point of sale, at a time when your mind is on other things.

People forget the golden rule; spend time shopping around before buying.

It gets worse though; the lenders get to make a packet from you on the sale of an overpriced the MPPI policy, whilst simultaneously reducing their exposure to risk. Why? They are involved in a clever cost containment exercise by selling you a policy to make sure that you do not go into arrears with them! Brilliant idea.

Don't fall for it; get on the internet, and pick up a quality Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance for a good price from a respectable provider. There are some excellent MPPI policies to choose from with some having received a 5 star rating from Defaqto, this means they provide excellent cover at competitive costs.