In that instance the home that you now have could potentially become a millstone around your neck.

Of course you could be one of the lucky ones either because you have sensibly put away savings that will help you continue with your mortgage payments were you to lose your salary, or your job is secure enough not to be subject to redundancy.

If however you do not fall into either bracket and you do not want to sell your home at what will inevitably be a loss in a buyers market, then Mortgage protection insurance will give you peace of mind.

Mortgage Protection Insurance is an insurance product designed to pay you a monthly sum, being a percentage of your salary, for the duration of your unemployment not exceeding 12 months.

Like all insurance policies however Mortgage Protection Insurance does have the provision that you must not be aware of your impending unemployment either before or during a set time after you purchase the policy; so it is important to think about buying Mortgage Protection Insurance whilst you are still employed. It is no use thinking about it when you become unemployed, it will be too late.

Shopping around for an independent provider is by far the cheapest option. A search on the internet for Mortgage Protection Insurance will bring up several independent providers with highly competitive rates.

It is important however to read the Terms and Conditions; however daunting this may be. The purpose of buying Mortgage Protection Insurance is to ensure that it pays out should you need it; failing to read the small print at the beginning could jeopardise that so print out the Terms and Conditions and ensure you read and understand that you are eligible and the requirements for claiming. If you are in any doubt then contact the Customer Services Centre and speak to an advisor for clarification.

Or alternatively you could go straight round to the estate agents and put your house on the market; but don’t hold your breath anytime soon for a quick sale!

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There’s therefore never been a better time to obtain mortgage protection insurance or income protection insurance that protects jobs and homes from the effect of unemployment.

However, like all things in life, timing is key. If unemployment were to strike soon, have you left it too late to get cover? Most payment protection insurance providers have very long lead periods, some up to 6 months, so you need to have your policy in place well before that 6 month period arrives as if you don’t you may be unemployed nut your policy debars you from claiming until the end of your lead (initial exclusion) period.

The solution, in part, is to get your insurance in place early AND to get one with the shortest lead period possible, such as 2 months with Ant Insurance.

Don’t be fooled into believing the price of income or mortgage insurance is all you need to know as not all policies are the same. Always read the policy terms and conditions.

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There are two kinds of insurance cover. First there is “assurance” where you pay money on a monthly basis and you should get it back later in life, hopefully with some profit. This is called a Whole Life policy. The other is “Insurance” where you pay a certain amount each month for a set period of time and the money is repaid to you when a certain set of circumstances occur. These insurance polices are further split into Life policies and General insurance policies (Mortgage Protection Insurance falling into the latter group).

Firstly you need to find out what cover you already have. Many people have “endowment” policies and usually this is attached with a life cover, everyone should have home and contents, building and car insurance. You may have some form of policy to protect your income against redundancy or sickness such as Mortgage, Loan or Income Protection.

If you are uncertain, contact a good broker who will explain all the various policies and their differences but also be wary because they are “salesmen” and will and do use various techniques to perhaps provide you with policies that you personally feel you may not need. You must be your own judge and do your own risk assessment.

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These figures give the lie to the accepted version that insurance companies “never pay out on a claim” but the analysis of complaints suggest this not to be true. The FOS reported that PPI complaints tripled in 2009 but the vast majority related to the sale of the insurance policy rather than the claim.

So what is the truth? When purchasing a policy most people look for the bottom line; which one is the cheapest almost irrespective of which insurance policy is the best. This means that almost from the start the consumer has a policy that was not bought with their individual needs in mind rather focusing on their financial needs.

When the policy finally arrives some consumers will barely give it a second glance, consigning it to the document draw never to see the light of day again until the need to claim arises, by which time the lack of attention to detail at the buying stage could become an issue.

Buying an insurance policy can be difficult; it does take time and some considerable patience but if you consider the importance of it then this is time well spent. If when you purchase an insurance policy such as mortgage protection, you should always carefully check the details and make sure that it is suitable for your needs and that you understand the eligibility criteria both for applying and claiming, then you will be one of the lucky ones who will receive the monthly claim cheques when you lose your income or have occasion to claim.

The insurance industry, in spite of its poor press, is there for a reason and when the criteria is met they will pay out; but they cannot be wholly responsible if a consumer decides that the most important decision they may make can be reduced down to a quick glance and a cursory nod in the direction of the small print.

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Banks are there to make a profit. In a falling market it is just a matter of mathematics as to whether a mortgage should be given or not. In the old days a bank or building society would lend up to 100% of the value of the property; in a rising market this was acceptable because the bank, in the event the buyer could not repay their mortgage, would make a profit on the deal when they repossessed it. However in a falling market the opposite happens and the bank stands to make a loss if the buyer could no longer repay their mortgage and the house was repossessed.

After a short period of upward movement, house prices now appear to be taking a dip and therefore the banks are nervous of this falling market. It seems that mortgages are still a limited commodity and may be so for some time to come.

Mortgages, and in particular good mortgage deals, are now becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. Only those with very high deposits can take advantage of the limited packages being offered so it may be some time yet before the financial markets are confident that the house prices have found their level.

Mortgage protection insurance protects against loss of earnings or sickness so it is always worth considering a good mortgage protection insurance as offered by Antinsurance.

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More and more children are turning to their parents to help them secure the necessary deposit to get on the housing ladder. In September 2007 the deposit required was in the region of £13,194 but this has now almost doubled to £32,000 putting it out of the reach of many desperate to get onto the first rung. Records show that a total of £116bn has already been loaned by parents to their offspring.

Many parents are nearing retirement age and therefore the money they are giving is paramount to those retirement plans and the assumption is that the retirement will be supplemented by the loan being repaid in monthly instalments. However the fall in property prices and the continuing uncertainty in the workplace does not make those repayments certain and, in some instances, could cause the total loss of the whole loan.

Parents are therefore now actively encouraging their children to take out protection for these loans either by way of Life, Mortgage or Critical Illness cover. For those parents who do not have excess retirement funding in place, lending the initial deposit to your children can be a very high risk move so it is wise to ensure that loan is covered in the event of a worst case scenario.

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This investigation, it is hoped, would encourage those who want a mortgage to shop around with other providers before taking the, sometimes quite expensive, PPI that may be attached to their mortgage or loan. The lack of choice often forces people to take this cover from their provider.

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