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News: Abbey makes a mortgage payment protection offer

Abbey is offering people three months' free mortgage payment protection cover for all new applications from September 5th until the end of the year.

New research from the mortgage bank reveals that homeowners in the UK are leaving themselves vulnerable when it comes to mortgage payments - half of UK adults admitting they could not maintain their current lifestyle beyond one or two months if their work circumstances were to change. Yet only one in five have protected their mortgage payments in case of accident, sickness or unemployment.

For new customers taking out both an Abbey mortgage and its Paymentcare mortgage protection, cover starts from the time of exchange of contracts in England, or conclusion of missives in Scotland. In addition, there will be no qualifying period at all for the policy's unemployment cover - the normal 60-day period having been waived.

Paymentcare, is available for accident, sickness or redundancy, and homeowners can choose any combination of cover that best suits their needs.

Also, it is not just available to those in full employment as it can cover people on fixed-term contracts and the self-employed. To qualify for the insurance people need to be between 18 to 65 years and have a mortgage, but not necessarily with Abbey.

There is no limit to the number of claims that can be made during the life of a Paymentcare policy, and payments are usually made monthly direct to the customer.

Mortgage payment protection is increasingly important since 70% of people who unexpectedly lose their income do not qualify for any assistance from the State with their mortgage.

Even the minority who do qualify must wait nine months before they receive any help towards mortgage interest payments and their mortgage must have been taken out after October 1st 1995. Similarly, anyone with £8,000 of savings will not qualify, nor anyone working more than 24 hours a week.

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