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Protection, arranged alongside your mortgage
A mortgage is a promise to keep paying for the next twenty-five years. Protection is what keeps that promise if you fall ill, cannot work, or die. We will tell you what is worth having, what is not, and what you can safely skip.
Why it matters
Nobody enjoys this conversation. It is the one that matters most.
Most people spend weeks choosing a mortgage and ten minutes thinking about what happens if it all goes wrong. We would rather do it the other way round. The good news is that cover is usually cheaper than people expect, and you only need the parts that apply to you.
What we look at first
Before recommending anything, we work out what you already have. Many people are better covered than they think — through an employer, a pension scheme, or a policy taken out years ago and forgotten about.
- Death in service from your employer, and what it actually pays
- Company sick pay — how long it runs before it drops to statutory
- Existing policies you may already be paying for
- Savings you could genuinely live on, and for how long
- Whether you have children or dependants, now or planned
What we will not do
Sell you cover you do not need. Protection advice has a poor reputation because it has often been sold on fear rather than need, and we are not interested in working that way.
If you already have adequate cover, we will tell you so. If your existing policy is better than anything we could arrange, we will tell you to keep it. If a product is poor value for your situation, we will say that too.
There is no obligation to take protection through us in order to get your mortgage arranged by us. The two are separate decisions.
Life insurance
Pays a lump sum if you die during the term of the policy. In a mortgage context the point is simple: your family keeps the home rather than having to sell it at the worst possible moment.
Cover can be arranged to fall in line with the mortgage balance, which is cheaper, or held level so there is money left over beyond clearing the loan. Which is right depends on whether anyone relies on your income as well as your mortgage payments.
What we will cover
- Decreasing term — tracks a repayment mortgage down, lowest cost
- Level term — a fixed sum throughout, for interest-only or family provision
- Family income benefit — pays a monthly income instead of a lump sum
- Whether to write the policy in trust, so it pays out quickly and normally outside your estate for inheritance tax
- Joint versus single policies, and why two single policies often make more sense
- How medical history and smoking affect what you will be charged
Critical illness cover
Pays a lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of the serious conditions listed in the policy — commonly certain cancers, heart attack and stroke, though every insurer defines these differently.
Those definitions are the whole product. Two policies at the same monthly price can differ enormously in what they actually pay out on, and that difference only becomes visible at the point of claim. This is where advice earns its keep.
What we will cover
- How many conditions each insurer covers, and how strictly they are worded
- Partial payments for less severe diagnoses, such as early-stage cancers
- Whether children's cover is included and what it pays
- Survival periods, and exclusions for pre-existing conditions
- Combining it with life cover in one policy, and when that is a false economy
- Guaranteed versus reviewable premiums, and what reviewable really means
Critical illness cover pays out only on the specific conditions defined in the policy document, and not on every serious illness. Always read the key features document and the policy definitions before you commit.
Income protection
Pays a regular monthly income if illness or injury stops you working. Of all the products on this page, this is the one most often missing and most often needed — you are far more likely to be unable to work for a period than to die during the mortgage term.
Statutory sick pay runs out after 28 weeks. Your mortgage does not. Income protection fills that gap, and unlike critical illness it pays for any illness or injury that stops you doing your job, not just a named list.
What we will cover
- Deferred period — how long before it starts paying, matched to your sick pay
- Own occupation cover, which pays if you cannot do your job rather than any job
- How much of your income can be covered, and the effect on state benefits
- Short-term versus full-term policies, and the real cost difference
- Cover for the self-employed, where there is no sick pay at all
- Whether an employer scheme already covers you and for how long
Buildings and contents
Buildings insurance is a condition of every mortgage — no lender will complete without it. Contents insurance is optional but usually cheap alongside it.
The detail people miss is timing. You become responsible for the building at exchange of contracts, not at completion, so cover has to start at exchange. We will make sure that happens rather than leaving you uninsured for a fortnight.
What we will cover
- Cover starting at exchange, not completion
- Rebuild cost rather than market value — they are not the same number
- Flood and subsidence history, and what it does to your options
- Leasehold flats, where buildings cover often sits with the freeholder already
- Landlord cover for buy-to-let, including loss of rent
How it works
Four steps, and no pressure at any of them
We work out what you already have
Employer benefits, old policies, savings, sick pay. Often this stage alone reduces what you need to buy.
We identify the real gaps
What would actually happen to your household income, month by month, in each scenario. Not a sales pitch — a spreadsheet.
We compare insurers on definitions
Not just price. We look at what each policy actually pays out on, because that is the only thing that matters at claim.
We handle the application
Including the medical questions, which need answering fully and honestly — an incomplete answer is the most common reason a claim is refused.
What protection advice costs you
For protection and insurance, Match Financial Partners Ltd is usually paid by commission from the insurer, which means there is normally no separate fee for you to pay. The premium you are quoted is the premium you pay; it is not increased because you came through us.
We will always tell you before you apply how we are being paid on your particular case, and you will receive that in writing from Match Financial Partners Ltd as part of your suitability report.
The initial conversation is free and carries no obligation. If you decide protection is not for you, that is a perfectly reasonable answer and we will not chase you about it.
Protection policies have no cash-in value at any time. If you stop paying the premiums, cover ends. Cover is subject to underwriting, and your health, age, occupation and smoker status affect both the premium and whether cover can be offered at all.
Not sure which of these you need?
That is normal, and it is exactly what the first call is for. Twenty minutes, free, and no obligation to go any further.