We have all heard the old saying “an Englishman’s home is his castle” and to some extent this is true.

Unlike the central Europeans, where renting is the popular option until the early forties, the average brit love’s nothing more than to saddle up as early as possible with a nice big mortgage to buy his or her “castle”.

Unfortunately, due to the booming economy and the availability of inexpensive finance generally, we have all felt a little richer than we actually are!  This has caused us to buy a slightly larger “castle” than we would have if credit was not so inexpensive or freely available.

Well the party is over, recession is upon us and the Banks do not have the confidence to lend unsecured to each other. Credit is tight. One consequence of this is that now many of our initial cheap mortgage deals have come to an end, and the re-finance options are more expensive, and we are prioritising how we use our disposable income very carefully.

If you are concerned about a couple of hundred pounds increase on what you were paying monthly on your mortgage, what would you do if, as thousands of others have; you lost your job and therefore your income?

There are two answers to this question for most people:

Likely to be repossessed
Or
Claim on your MPPI policy

Those of you who have prioritised income away, from say, buying your daily sandwich at the supermarket (I know that it’s hard getting up five minutes earlier to make your own), into a Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance Policy, just might have held on to their home.

Well done.

Those of you that have one of these MPPI policies, that have just been made redundant will know that you all you need to do is register for Job Seekers Allowance at the employment centre, send the form that they issue you with, together with the claims documentation to your insurer.

You will also know that once your claim is processed and accepted, the Mortgage Unemployment Insurance Policy; will start to pay a monthly benefit to cover your mortgage, for up to 12 months or until you find a job; whichever is the sooner.

Those of you that do not have a Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance Policy, and have been made redundant, may have to face the prospect of being repossessed. A sobering thought.

Even if you do not have an MPPI policy and have no impending redundancy that you know of; maybe it’s time to re-prioritise your insurance imperatives and take out a Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance Policy; before it’s too late.