CLEAR CHOICE MORTGAGES

Mortgage Protection

It is usual that people will consider protecting their mortgage using the following means:

Life Insurance and Critical Insurance

Lump sum payable on death or diagnosis of a defined critical illness. Examples of the type of critical illnesses covered are: some forms of cancer, stroke, heart attack, benign brain tumour, aorta graft surgery, Alzheimer’s disease, blindness, coma, loss of limb, total permanent disability liver failure, kidney failure and major organ transplant.

How would you pay your mortgage on the death of a breadwinner? We offer three types of life insurance and critical illness: level term assurance, mortgage decreasing term assurance and family income benefit.

• Level term means the amount you are insured for remains the same throughout the term of your mortgage life insurance policy, the policy is taken out for a specific term. The premium can either be reviewable or guaranteed.
• Decreasing term means the amount of benefit decreases over the term of your mortgage life insurance policy. This cover is designed to help protect a repayment mortgage, so that the amount of insurance decreases roughly in line with your remaining mortgage debt.  The premium can either be reviewable or guaranteed.
• Family Income Benefit means the benefit is payable on a monthly basis and stops at the end of the original policy term. This can be used as family protection and preferred by those who do not want the added worry of having to deal with a large lump sum on the death or diagnosis of a defined critical illness.

These are offered from our range of insurers including legal and General, Aviva (formerly Norwich Union), Friends Provident, PruProtect, Scottish Equitable (Aegon), Scottish Provident, Bupa, Royal Liver, LV and Bright Grey.

For these products you will pay a premium.

The premium we quote you is affected by a number of factors. The main ones are your age, sex, occupation, smoker status, health, the level of cover you need and type of contract that you choose. Normally, the older you are, the higher the premium. Your individual height, weight, medical history and lifestyle are all assessed.

Premiums are guaranteed - you pay the same throughout the term of the plan. However, if you decide to include critical illness cover in your plan, you can choose between guaranteed or reviewable premiums. If you choose reviewable premiums, these are reviewed every five years and could increase or decrease.

Mortgage Repayment Protection

How would you pay your mortgage if you were unable to work?

What would happen if you were to lose your job unexpectedly or if you fell ill or had an accident and were unable to work? Without Mortgage Repayments Protection how would you be able to cover your mortgage repayments until you got back on your feet? Very often people fall behind on repayments, and once any savings have been swallowed up re-possession quickly follows.

This will ensure you are able to maintain your mortgage repayments and associated insurance if you are unable to work through accident, sickness or unemployment. You can choose the initial waiting period before a claim will be made it is usually between 30 and 60 days and each claim can be paid for upto a maximum of 12 to 24 months. The amount of benefit you choose is limited to cover your mortgage and associated costs only and not to replace your income.

Note: Some providers offer cover for people renting their property.

For buildings and contents we offer products from a selected panel of providers.

Buildings and Contents

How would you replace all your belongings in the event of a fire or flood?

Who would you call if late on a Saturday night, water started to pour through the bathroom ceiling from the hot water tank in the loft?

Buildings insurance is conditional on taking out a mortgage. This is because the property remains the lenders security while you have a mortgage outstanding on it, if the property burns down and buildings insurance is not in place, the lender may not get all their money back.

This insurance protects the basic structure of the house against the usual perils of fire, theft, storm damage etc..with the option of accidental damage. It is usual that the policy be in place on exchange of contracts, so before the solicitor can exchange contracts they will require proof that the policy has been set up. To avoid any delay, we will recommend a policy and set it up early on in the house buying process and automatically provide the solicitor with a summary of cover or equivalent.

Contents Insurance is optional, but nowadays, with the increase in personal possessions and their value it is unwise not to take out contents insurance. As a guide, this covers all the moveable items you may take with you should you move home. Eg carpets, curtain, furniture, electrical goods, jewellery etc.. (Limits apply).

Home Emergency Cover is an option on most policies. Home emergency means a sudden event that was not expected by you and which needs immediate action to:

• Make the home safe or secure;
• Avoid damage or more damage to your home;
• Make your home fit to live in;
• Restore electricity, gas or water services to your home if they have totally failed.