What Is Mortgage Term Life Insurance?
Question asked by Sally Bishop
I am thinking of taking out Joint Mortgage Life Insurance with my husband. Does this plan payout twice or only once? If we took out this plan and one partner dies, what happens then?
The purpose of joint Mortgage Life Insurance is to pay off the loan if either partner passes away.
This provides the surviving partner with the funds to pay back the mortgage, thus allowing them to stay in the family home without the worry of having to meet potentially unaffordable mortgage repayments.
It is important to note that with joint cover the plan would pay out once and then terminate. In other words, the plan would pay out on the death of (usually) the first partner and then the remaining partner would have no Life Insurance remaining if they still needed it for other liabilities.
It is possible to take out separate cover for each partner so that the remaining partner would still have their life cover in place if their partner were to pass away. This could be used for additional family protection, for example.
It usually costs around 10-15% extra to have two separate plans relative to one joint policy, but as a result of paying a few pounds extra a month you effectively double the payout you’ll receive.