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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The alternative to mortgage insurance is income payment protection insurance. With income protection it doesn’t matter that the renter doesn’t have a mortgage. The insurance is not tied to any mortgage or any loan, it is simply based on the income of the worker. Renters in work therefore have the option to take income protection and assuming they qualify, renters can cover hundreds of pounds a month paid personally into their bank accounts to use as they see fit. Should unemployment hit them, renters can potentially afford to keep up rental payments and keep their rented home over their heads.

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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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However it is not just existing buildings that cannot get insurance. Insurance companies are now failing to provide cover for new properties that are being built on flood prone areas and any cover that is supplied is extremely expensive. This means that developers will find it increasingly difficult to sell these properties as people now become very much more aware of the issues that can arise.

Tighter regulations by the insurance industry are causing builders to avoid high flood risk areas but as land is becoming in short supply this is having a knock on effect on the market supply. The other alternative is to provide homes that will be better protected against the flood damage.

The insurance industry through the ABI is to offer advice to enable planners and developers to build insurable properties in high risk areas. They are offering access to information regarding available flood preventative measures; these include such things are risk assessment, flood resilient building materials and raised floors

These guidelines come on the heels of the ABI’s announcement that a high percentage of small businesses could become uninsurable if there is not an improvement to the UK flood prevention.

Other insurances to consider helping secure your home and lifestyle are income protection and mortgage payment protection insurance.

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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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The failure of the banks to pass on these lower interest rates could seriously hinder the recovery of the economy and Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling are under intense pressure to step in and force the banks to offer competitive rates.

Bank of England official data released yesterday showed the difference between the interest rates that banks charge borrowers and the rates at which the banks borrow is the biggest on record.

Lenders claim they are being pressured by regulators to build up their balance sheet to cover the costs of borrowers who are still defaulting on loans.

The Government had hoped that consumers, who may have recently experienced cheap discounted mortgages, would take up the fixed rate deals to protect themselves from a very probable “payment shock” when interest rates start rising again; but the large upfront fees and the high interest rates attached to the fixed deals do not make them attractive.

There is real concern now that British consumers are being forced to provide higher profits to banks in order to help them compensate for the huge losses they are making elsewhere in the financial sector.

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