Mortgage protection insurance: Is it worth the cost?

With the coming of a brand new year, it's often a time when people with itchy feet start thinking about employing the new mental broom to work out what they want to do in the next twelve months.

And, quite often, this might include seeing through their desire to move to a new home, perhaps a different part of the country, downsizing, upgrading, first-time buying and other permutations of the possibilities.

The process of buying (and selling if there is a property to trade off in the decision) a new home can be quite daunting, not the least because there is so much to think about - all while trying to maintain your life in parallel with work, kids, bills and other calls on your time. It's hardly surprising that moving home is deemed to be one of the most stressful times in your life, along with getting married and dealing with a death in the family.

The obvious things you need to consider are appointing a quality conveyancing solicitor (like those we have at Homeward Legal) to look after the legal aspects of your sale and purchase. 

Then there's the financing of the project, which means looking for a good deal on the multitude of mortgage products available (helped by the recent news that many lenders are beginning to cut their mortgage rates) - and you might need to employ a broker to assist with the details of lining up the finance, too, which will have a fee connected to it. 

You're strongly advised to get a chartered surveyor involved in checking over the property you're planning to buy, and you'll want to get a great service for as little outlay as possible (made possible with, say, Surveyor Local). 

Then there are the removals to consider… and so on… and on.

There really are so many calls on your time. And your money, of course.

There are certain things you can do to reduce the amount the whole move is going to cost you, while there are others about which decisions should be taken under advisement.

For example, it would seem an appropriate plan to take over the conveyancing yourself - there is, after all, no legal imperative for you to involve someone who has the qualifications. However, the conveyancing process is very complex and, while straightforward on the face of it, will almost inevitably come up with issues that will test you if you decide to do it yourself. You will also need to allocate a lot of time to getting it right, which is why it makes sense to appoint a good conveyancer to carry out the legal tasks on your behalf.

But one of the things you might want to consider chopping out of the list of outgoings for the move and beyond is insurance. You'll need to get buildings insurance on the planned purchase before you'll be given a mortgage, but do you need all the other add-ons, such as contents insurance and mortgage protection?

Content insurance is completely up to you. It's not required for any part of the house-moving process, but you might want to protect anything valuable - just in case.

But there is a question that regularly arises in this area: should you take out mortgage protection insurance?

Mortgage protection insurance - as the name suggests - means that your mortgage payments will be protected in certain circumstances.

These circumstances will depend on a number of factors, such as your current health status, your age, the job you do, and a number of other aspects connected to your life and whether you are the sole borrower for the mortgage loan.

For example, how likely is it that, during the term of the loan, you will be made unemployed? Or are you concerned about having an accident that affects your ability to pay the mortgage each month?

Obviously, this is the purpose of insurance - to give you a level of peace of mind that you'll be protected in the event of unforeseen circumstances limiting your ability to keep up the repayments.

There are, as is the case with any financial instruments, several different types of insurance products available but you'd be looking at around the £25 mark per month to protect your mortgage and the monthly repayments.

Again, it's entirely a personal thing.

But you are advised to consider the risk of not taking out such insurance before ignoring the possibility of needing it in the future, particularly if your monthly repayments are high. If you feel that such scenarios are unlikely, then deciding not to take out insurance might seem the most sensible path to take.

If you are considering that it might be worth it, you might want to talk to an insurance broker about it, or certainly do some research into the products available and what they will provide for you. 

There are several comparison sites to help you get started, including Compare the Market, Go.Compare and MoneySuperMarket. 

But you can find help on the subject from sites like Which? and MoneySavingExpert.

Are you worried about the legal costs of your move? Are you concerned that you might be paying over the odds for the conveyancing service? Do you want the assurance that you'll get the best quality of conveyancing for the best value, so you can focus on the other expenses in the move?

That's where Homeward Legal can really help with affordable but quality conveyancing services! They will start work on your planned purchase and/or sale as soon as you agree to the quotation and appoint them to represent you, and will work hard to complete the process in as short a time as possible. 

Homeward Legal will also provide a quote that will not change - what you are quoted is what you pay for standard conveyancing process.

There are some unforeseen items that might arise during the purchase and/or sale, but the solicitor discusses these and their cost as they come up. 

In addition, to protect the homebuyer further, Homeward Legal operates a ‘no completion, no fee' promise, which ensures that, should the purchase or sale not go through as planned to completion status, no payment is required.

Call  to get your conveyancing quote started, or to discuss your concerns with your plans to move.

Or you can get a quick quote, using Homeward Legal's easy-to-use quote generator.