The mortgage protection quote checklist

What to have ready

• Outstanding mortgage balance
• Years remaining on the loan
• Whether the loan is fixed or adjustable
• Date of birth for each borrower
• General health picture and current medications for each borrower
• Tobacco or nicotine use
• Any life insurance already in place, including through work
• Other debts that wouldn't be forgiven

The structural questions

These decide whether the policy behaves the way you assume it does.

• Does the death benefit stay level, or decrease as the balance falls?
• Is my beneficiary a person I name, or the lender?
• Is the premium level for the whole term, or can it increase?
• Does the term match the years remaining on the loan?
• Is there a conversion option if my health changes?
• Does this cover both borrowers, or only one?

Compare it against plain term life

A level term policy can do the same job, often with more flexibility, because the payout goes to your family rather than the loan and they decide how to use it.

Ask for both quoted on the same face amount and term. If mortgage protection still fits better once you can see them side by side, buy it knowingly.

Before you sign

• Confirm this isn't private mortgage insurance — that protects the lender, not you
• Check whether your lender requires anything, and whether this is it
• Confirm the beneficiary designation in writing
• Don't cancel other coverage until this is in force