Do you know what mortgage insurance is?
Many people confuse mortgage insurance with mortgage life insurance, mortgage disability insurance, or even homeowners insurance. These are all very different types of insurance - no wonder there is such confusion! Mortgage insurance is generally required when the down payment on a home is less than 20%, and it is designed to protect the lender in the event of loan default. The lower the down payment, the higher the risk for the lender, and this can mean a higher monthly mortgage insurance premium. Depending on the specifics of your information, there are ways in which mortgage insurance can sometimes be avoided at the time of purchase, or dropped altogether at some point in the future. Many lenders now offer a single loan that doesn’t require Mortgage Insurance. These generally have a slightly higher rate.
If you have to choose, which one is best for you?

Lets look at one home purchase with three scenarios

$200,000 home
$180,000 loan (with $20,000 down)

Scenario A
One loan WITH mortgage insurance
Payments of $1,320.00 plus mortgage insurance payments of around $80.00 per month for a total of $1,400 per month

Scenario B
One loan WITHOUT mortgage insurance (8

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Are you a pensioner applying for a loan? Here are 5 things you should remember

As a pensioner, applying for loans and finance can be problematic. Some of the best deals in the market may be unavailable to you because you do not meet the ideal criteria that lenders look for. For example, because of your situation you may no longer be able to generate income. To make up for this, you need to make sure that other aspects of your loan application are presented strongly to allow you to obtain the loan most suited to you.

Your age may make you a credit risk

In general, the main thing that lenders consider when reviewing a credit application is risk. Your credit history, income and age may all point to you being a high credit risk and lenders may consequently decline your application. Because of these factors, senior citizens and pensioners may experience greater difficulty in obtaining a loan. However, if you can show that you are able to service your loan for the duration of the term, or even prepay the interest, you still have a good chance of succeeding in your application.

You need to demonstrate loan serviceability in your application

Regardless of your age and employment status, the main thing you need to show is that you can actually pay back the loan you wish to take out. If the lender decides that you will have no difficulty making the scheduled repayments for the term of the loan, you will probably be successful in your application. Any information you can provide regarding your assets and income will obviously be relevant.

Being an existing homeowner may help your situation

Even if you have strong income as a pensioner, a number of factors such as illness or hospitalisation may affect that income and lead to financial difficulty. If you are a homeowner, you may be able to access any funds or equity in your property to secure the loan and convince the lender that you can meet the proposed repayments for the term of the loan.

Non-standard loan facilities may be difficult to obtain

Line of credit mortgages, some long-term fixed-rate mortgages and mortgages that offer payment breaks are all innovations that have appeared in the mortgage market in recent years. Unfortunately, many of these mortgages may be unavailable to pensioners. Lines of credit, for example, which allow the homeowner to take equity out of his or her home, present greater risk to a money lender because of their potential to extend the loan period and create more opportunity for default. Because pensioners may already be considered high risk, it is unlikely that these financial products will be available.

You may be required to apply for loan insurance

Depending on your circumstances, you may wish to obtain loan insurance. This ensures that your loan repayments are met in the event of involuntary unemployment, injury or death. Although the premium may be higher than average due to your status as a pensioner, a lender may nevertheless require you to obtain loan insurance before approving your application.

Nick Cameron is a writer for Australian Debt Reduction which is part of Australia’s largest Debt Relief organisation and has assisted more than 10,000 Australian’s reduce their debt. You can read more articles and find out more about how to reduce your own debt at http://www.australian-debt-reduction.com.au or by calling 1300 306 272 from within Australia.

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A mortgage is a long-term financial commitment and you have to maintain the monthly repayments for the full duration of the mortgage. That’s going to be over many years but non of us have the benefit of a crystal ball - so no one knows how your circumstances are going to change. So that must represent a big risk.

Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI) is just one of a range of valuable insurances which includes critical illness insurance and life insurance, which you can use to reduce that risk and protect your family’s finances. The purpose of MPPI is to ensure that you have the income to continue paying your mortgage repayments if you’re off work for an extended period due to accident, sickness or unemployment.

The Top Tips

Some mortgage lenders may try to coerce you into taking out an MPPI policy along with your mortgage. If this happens, make sure you find out how much extra the MPPI cover will cost you each month. Then get on the Internet and get some competitive quotations. Most people will find that the Internet saves them up to 60%!

Mortgage lenders will only quote you for the amount of cover you need to meet your monthly mortgage repayments. The author recommends that you extend the cover to include the cost of your home & contents insurance, mortgage life insurance, and the cost of any investment plan you have arranged to repay your mortgage (the investment plan only applies to mortgages where you are only paying the interest each month and will be repaying the capital at the end of the mortgage).

You can take out MPPI at any time. Some people wrongly believe that you can only take out MPPI when you arrange the mortgage.

If your employment is casual or seasonal you will not be able to claim on an MPPI policy. Every policy has what are called exclusions and seasonal and casual work is a typical exclusion. Exclusions are the circumstances under which a claim will be refused. Be sure to read these exclusions before you take out the policy and, if your circumstances mean that you’re unlikely to be able to make a valid claim, don’t buy the insurance! Exclusions on MPPI policies can eliminate 50% of potential claims.

The cheapest is not always the best. So don’t automatically opt for the cheapest policy. The circumstances under which policies pay out do vary - so check them out cautiously. The premium quoted will be a reflection of the extent of the exclusions in the policy, the level of cover provided and the insurers general pricing policy.

MPPI is sold under a number of alternative names. So don’t get confused. It can also be described as Accident Sickness and Unemployment Insurance, Payment Care and Payment Cover. In principle, they are the same - but remember to check out the exclusions!

Most MPPI policies say that you must be off work for a minimum period before you can claim. The longest period you’ll find is 60 days but many policies reduce this to 30 days. Some will then backdate the payment to the first day you were off work. Look out for the details which you’ll find in the policy’s Terms and Conditions. Always check these out before you buy - and remember to compare like with like when you’re comparing prices.

Don’t confuse Mortgage Indemnity Insurance (MIG) with Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance. MIG p rovides insurance cover for a lender for any losses they might suffer as a result of a property on which they provided a mortgage being sold for less than the value of the outstanding mortgage. All payments under a MIG policy go to the lender, not you!

If you have Permanent Health Insurance your may not need MPPI. Check out the terms of you PHI policy and then make your mind up whether MPPI is adding anything extra.

If you already have Critical Illness Insurance be aware that there is a level of duplication with MPPI. MPPI will pay an income during the insured period for any illness that prevents you from working. Critical illness Insurance pays out a lump sum if you have any of the chronic illnesses listed on the critical illness policy (other conditions apply). So if you have a valid claim under your critical illness policy, you will probably also have a valid claim under your MPPI policy. However, if the illness that’s keeping you off work is not listed on the chronic list then only your MPPI policy will payout.

Do shop around. You’ll find that the Internet is the cheapest place to shop for MPPI and many web sites enable you to arrange cover immediately online.

The good bit - if you claim, the income is totally tax-free!

Michael is the chief editor of Express Life Insurance offer life insurance and mortgage life insurance.

Additional reading - What is Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance?

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