Why protection matters alongside a mortgage
Taking on a mortgage means committing to years, often decades, of monthly payments — and most people don't stop to properly ask what would happen to those payments if they died, fell seriously ill, or were unable to work. Protection insurance exists to answer exactly that question, and it's worth thinking about at the same time as your mortgage, not as an afterthought once everything else is sorted.
Life cover vs Family Income Benefit
Both pay out if you die during the policy term, but in very different ways, and most people take them out together rather than choosing one over the other.
Life cover
Pays a lump sum, often used to clear the mortgage balance outright or provide a cushion your family can use however they need.
Family Income Benefit
Pays a regular, tax-free income instead of a lump sum, designed specifically to replace lost salary — well suited to families with children to help raise.
Income Protection vs Critical Illness Cover
These two are also commonly confused, but they cover genuinely different situations, and many people take out both.
Income Protection
Replaces part of your income if you're unable to work due to illness or injury — for a wide range of conditions, paying out anywhere from a limited term to retirement age depending on the policy.
Critical Illness Cover
Pays a one-off lump sum if you're diagnosed with a specified serious illness from the insurer's defined list — useful for a large one-time cost, like adapting your home, rather than ongoing income replacement.
How much cover do you actually need
There's no single right answer — it depends on your mortgage balance, your income, who depends on you financially, and what other savings or support you have. A useful starting point is simply: what would my household need to keep paying the mortgage and everyday bills if my income stopped tomorrow? We talk this through properly on a protection review rather than guessing at a round number.
Buildings and contents — often forgotten
Buildings insurance, covering the structure of your home, is a mortgage requirement from the point you exchange contracts. Contents insurance, covering what's inside, is optional but genuinely worth having given the cost of replacing a home's belongings after theft or fire — both are easy to overlook once the excitement of the mortgage itself has passed.
When to review your protection
Life changes are the natural trigger for a review — a new mortgage, a new baby, a change in income, or simply cover you took out years ago that's never been revisited since. If you're remortgaging with us, we'll always ask about your existing protection as part of that process, whether that means reviewing what you already have or helping you set up cover for the first time.
