Well it would appear that the vanilla times that we have all enjoyed, are over; Gordon’s debt fuelled boom economy, is almost bust, with a gloomy outlook for the businesses well into 2009/2010.

The generally accepted view is the downturn in our economy could be long and deep, as many large UK companies operate abroad, and this as we know is a global issue.

Unfortunately, the “R” word, no not recession; rationalisation or to put it another way, job cuts will become necessary, if companies are to survive. Even in the good times, companies go to the wall or experience cash flow issues that are beyond their control. Employee’s can become casualties. In the bad times, the number of employee job casualties increases dramatically, and the odds of becoming a casualty are gear indeed.

If you lost your job, and therefore your income, the Government would help you with your mortgage repayments, right?

Absolutely, they would start to pay the interest on the loan, after 9 months. They probably keep most of the money put aside for Income support for mortgages as they hardly ever pay out; you would be re-possessed in 4-6 months! Super.

Look, UK PLC is only a “nanny state”, when they want to find a way of interfering in our affairs. Otherwise the message is clear, when it comes to money; you are on your own.

So what can you do for yourselves to save your home if you lost your job? Simple, at the stroke of a pen, you can sign up for a Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance Policy, known as an MPPI policy.

These “white knights”, would come to your aid should you be unfortunate enough to be made unemployed through no fault of your own; i.e. one can’t walk in to the boss and tell him to stick it!

If you lose your job, mortgage unemployment insurance, will start to pay a monthly benefit to cover your mortgage, for up to 12 months or your earlier return to work; whichever is sooner. Some Mortgage Payment Protection policies will not only cover your monthly mortgage costs, but in addition allow and a contribution to other costs associated with running your home.

The terms and conditions applicable to each Mortgage Payment Protection Policy vary, so do read the policy carefully to make sure that the policy does what you think it should do.

Under current HMRC rules, the benefit is tax free.

How much will an MPPI policy cost per month?  Less expensive than you may think, f you buy right. Buy wrong and it will cost you a lot of money, for not a lot of cover. Examples of buying an MPPI policy wrong would be, purchasing from your mortgage lender or a bank.

To obtain some competitive mortgage payment protection insurance quotes just do a quick search on Google.