Guide: Mortgage life insurance.

Mortgage life insurance can be used to help your partner, dependants, family members or anyone else you nominate to pay off your mortgage if you die. In this guide, we explain the key things you need to know about this type of insurance…

How does mortgage life insurance work?

There are two different ways of arranging mortgage life insurance to protect your loved ones. You can have level life insurance, where the amount you’re insured for remains the same through the term you select. Or, you can have a decreasing policy, which means the amount you’re insured for will reduce broadly in line with the amount outstanding on your repayment mortgage. 

Decreasing policies tend to be cheaper than a level term policy and are generally the most appropriate for a repayment mortgage.

What level of cover do I need?

The amount of cover you apply for should cover your full mortgage including any fees, if you’re adding these to the loan. This means it’s important to update your life insurance plan if you move house or borrow more on your mortgage, otherwise there could be a shortfall in the event of a pay-out.

How much does mortgage life insurance cost? 

There isn’t a set figure that you pay for life insurance as there are many factors that influence the cost, including the length of the policy, life cover amount, your age, and your current health and medical history. We’d be happy to go through all of this with you to obtain a no obligation quote and give you a good understanding of what the premium might be. 

What extras are available?

Terminal illness benefit 

This is usually included with most life insurance plans. It’s designed to pay out the benefit of a life insurance plan if a doctor or medical officer confirms in writing that you have a limited time left, which is usually less than 12 months.   . 

Waiver of premium benefit  

This is an add-on insurance to provide cover for your monthly premiums. If you’re off sick and unable to work for a period this insurance will maintain your monthly premiums. This is useful as often people’s income falls if they are signed off work long term. Typically, you need to be signed off work for 6 months before waiver of premium kicks in, but you can pay a little extra with some insurers to lower the wait.   

Guaranteed insurability option 

A guaranteed insurability option, lets you increase the cover on your life insurance policy without further medical underwriting. This is only allowed in certain circumstances, such as marriage, or the birth of a child and there are limits as to how much extra life cover you can have.  

Support helplines  

Some providers also offer helplines for mental health, medical queries, legal advice etc. For example, you could have a nurse on hand to discuss medical concerns, or access to mental health support. 

Which insurers do you recommend for life insurance?

We have a wide range of providers who we recommend, including: Aegon, AIG Life, Aviva, Legal & General, Liverpool Victoria, Royal London, Scottish Widows, The Exeter, Vitality and Zurich.

Do I have to pay Dupree & Co for this advice? 

No, not a penny. We get paid a commission from the insurance company for arranging the policy on your behalf. If you decide to cancel the policy at any time, we do not clawback any of this payment from you. Be careful as some insurance companies can do this! 

Page contents

Relax. We've got this.

We will seek out a mortgage deal that is right for you, so you can move home minus the stress.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Most Buy-to-Let mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Illustration of woman relaxing in hammock with pet cat and fizzy drink, reading a book
Contact us.

Contact us.

We would like to hear from you. Please send us a message by filling out the form below and we will get back to you shortly.

I have read and understand the privacy policy.