Which is the best mortgage protection policy, available in Ireland? Knowing how to choose the right provider policy to suit your specific needs, as well as how to get that same policy at the lowest possible price takes real know how, but don’t worry I’m here to help!
Which is why when you run your free mortgage protection comparison quotes with us, you not only get to compare all providers already maximum discounted prices, but also their standard (free) and optional (added cost) benefits all in one place.
But, before you run your quotes let’s break it down further.
I think you will agree, without too much rumination, when it comes to identifying the best mortgage protection policy to suit you, it will be the policy that does its primary job (pays-off your mortgage, if either life dies within the mortgage term) and then adds the most meaningful standard and optional benefits, at the most competitive price.
Which is Best Mortgage Protection Life Insurance Policy in Ireland
So, let’s look at this more carefully, starting with:
(A) Which insurers actually offer mortgage protection in Ireland?
(B) Which insurers offer the best core benefits as standard?
(C) Which insurers offer the best optional (added cost) benefits?
(D) How to get the best price from the insurer policy best suited to you?
(E) How to avoid clever sales tactics and buy smart?
(A) Which insurers offer mortgage protection in Ireland?
- Aviva
- Zurich
- Royal London (Ireland)
- New Ireland
- Irish Life
(B) Which insurer offers the best core benefits as standard?
Core policy benefits which come as standard (without added cost) are actually pretty similar, but do differ slightly amongst the 5 leading insurers, here’s an in-depth look at them and how they work:
(1) Dual Coverage at joint prices
In the past, when two people were on the mortgage, a joint life policy claim resulted in the mortgage being cleared and the policy ending. Dual Coverage on the other hand, means that even after a life insurance claim, the policies life insurance can be maintained on the second life. All insurers offer dual coverage, but what’s important to know, is that only Royal London and Irish Life have decided not to charge any extra, for dual cover over joint.
(2) Instant Advance Life Cover
This benefit may occur when your mortgage protection life insurance cover is being put in place, during the time it takes to process your health details, through what’s called the underwriting process. Neither New Ireland nor Irish Life offer this benefit.
Both Aviva and Zurich offer a version of this called Accidental Death Benefit, which pays out due to an accident occurring causing death with a limit of €150,000 and a 30-day cover period.
With Royal London, you get up to €500,000 free life cover (once under age 60) for up to 4 weeks, where the underwriters await any additional health related information sought and the cause of death is not restricted to an accident, but any cause provided there is honest health disclose on your application.
(3) Guaranteed Insurability
Now this is a really important benefit, as at no extra cost, it allows a certain level of future proofing, in terms of increasing your cover without fresh evidence of health. It is usually availed when someone is building an extension. or doing an attic conversion, but certain restrictions can apply, dependent on which insurer you have chosen as they all offer their own version.
Irish Life has the highest maximum increase in cover limit at €125,000, whereas Royal London, Zurich and New Ireland allow up to €100,000 and Aviva a disappointing €40,000.
(4) Waiver of premium
This requires one of the life’s assured to be unable to work for a consecutive period of 13 weeks (3 months), before a claim can be made and in case of confusion, it does not cover your mortgage repayments, only the mortgage protection premiums, it is a nice free additional benefit, which is only made available by Zurich.
(5) Free Children’s Cover
Standard with all insurers, Children’s Life Cover on a mortgage protection policy provides a payout if a child (usually up to a certain age, typically between 21 and 25) of a parent covered under the policy dies during the policy term. The payout amount is a fixed sum, between €4,000 and €7,000, with Irish Life the only insurer paying this higher amount and New Ireland having the lowest figure with three remaining all paying €5,000.
(6) Terminal Illness Cover
Not to be confused with serious illness benefit sometimes referred to as critical illness benefit which is an optional benefit, terminal cover comes standard on all mortgage protection policies. If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness and have less than 12 months to live, the insurer will pay the full amount of Life Cover as of the date of diagnosis.
(7) Serious Health Condition – Second Medical Opinion
This is a free service that will allow a specialist from an international panel of doctors, review your medical files to help verify your diagnosis and treatment options. This can reduce the risk of complications that may result from a misdiagnosis and help you and your doctor decide on the best course of action. This service comes as standard with Irish Life, Royal London and Aviva mortgage protection policies. It is not on Zurich or New Irelands policies, however. Royal London’s offering is the most stand out, as it is a face-to-face consultation.7
(8) Health Assistance Services
Health assistant services are provided by all leading mortgage protection providers, bar Zurich. New Ireland provide Mental Health, Bereavement Counselling and Online Physiotherapy, as does Royal London, who also provide Speech and Language Therapy. Aviva does not provide Physiotherapy services. Irish Life does provide a Nurse Assistance phone service, but no free therapy or counselling.
(9) Missed Payments Reinstatement
This is simply the ability to reinstate you policy if you have missed consecutive payments which has caused your policy to lapse. Aviva and New Ireland allow 30 days, Irish Life and Zurich 90 days, whereas Royal London is the most flexibility allowing 100 days.
(10) Digital GP
Now this like “Guaranteed Insurability” which is arguably the most important and most utilised standard policy benefit, Digital GP is often a big influencer to buyers of mortgage protection.
It is definitely a pretty handy service to have at your disposal and is currently made available through both Aviva and New Ireland, with Aviva providing the best choice.
However, a word of caution if you are significantly cost focused, you may already have this benefit, if you have health insurance with the likes of VHI, Irish Life or Laya, so check this out if you do. Also please do not think this suddenly means free GP services, it can in no way replace a regular GP, as they cannot check your glands, take your blood pressure, or write repeat prescriptions, and nor do they hold your medical records.
(C) Which insurer offers the best optional benefits?
This is more straight forward as there are only two optional added benefits you can choose to include on your Mortgage Protection Policy, which come at additional cost but which you may decide are worth having dependent on your personal needs and circumstances, but also dependent on your future plans.
1. Conversion Option
If you want to protect yourself and not just the bank, then Convertible Mortgage Protection life insurance only is the policy for you! By adding an optional “Conversion Option” you are basically future proofing your policy against any change in your mortgage, health, or financial circumstances, as it you the option to convert your cover into another policy, including from standard reducing cover to level cover. All five leading insurers provide this optional add-on, but we are the only brokers to offer this option in our free online quotes comparison service.
2. Specified Serious Illness Cover
In the interest of best advice, its first important to explain, the following: (a) adding this optional benefit adds serious cost and is not typical, (b) any claim payout goes to your bank (mortgage lender) and not directly to you.
However, you don’t need to match the life cover amount and reducing your outstanding mortgage should a claim occur lower the mortgage repayments, which would obviously be of immediate benefit. So, it’s really a question of affordability first.
Then in terms of the who has the strongest range of serious illnesses covered, then hands down its Royal London. They cover the broadest range of illnesses, but more importantly they offer the best and broadest coverage for cancer and heart attack (the most common reason for claims), and they are the only insurer to cover Rheumatoid Arthritis.
(D) How to get the best price from the policy best suited to you?
Okay let’s break it down, when you consider all standard and optional policy benefits as outlined above, the rankings based on benefits before cost considerations are:
- 1st Royal London
- 2nd Zurich
- 3rd Aviva
- 4th Irish Life
- 5th New Ireland
However, if you really feel that you’ll benefit from having the Digital GP service, then you must choose between Aviva and New Ireland.
Here Aviva is the better policy unless you feel you may be hampered by the low “guaranteed insurability” level, should feel you may wish to remortgage in the future and want to avoid fresh health underwriting.
How can we finally get down to price and see if this changes the ratings:
Let’s take the following example:
Couple, both non-smokers, and both aged 35 next birthday
Loan amount €350,000
Loan term: 30 years
Royal London easily wins on price at: €26.91 PM + first month free!
If you want Digital GP however, the choice is now between New Ireland or the more comprehensive Aviva policy:
- New Ireland is : €28.95 PM
- Aviva is: €34.33 PM
Best Mortgage Protection – Insurer Ranking with Cost Considered
When you consider all standard and optional policy benefits, our rankings to include cost considerations and not places a strong emphasis on Digital GP service is:
1st: Royal London
2nd: Zurich
3rd: New Ireland
4th: Aviva
5th: Irish Life
How to avoid clever sales tactics and buy smart?
- Brokers or advisors, who push Aviva or Irish Life (the only two insurers who allow standard price matching, but no additional advisor discount) are out to benefit form higher commissions, but at the end of the days the choice is yours, especially if you want Aviva’s digital GP service.
- Zurich’s product is decent from a fully comparative standpoint, although they charge extra for dual coverage and don’t provide Health Assistance Services, but they do uniquely offer waiver of premium benefit. However, when it comes to price, be careful of their occasional 2-month cashback offers, as Royal London always grant the first month free, they will offer a cheaper ongoing premium and a better overall product.
- Your health can play a big role, never try to avoid any medical issue as non-disclosure will invalidate your policy at claim stage. Chronic or recent serious health issues can sometimes affect the premium on offer from all insurers, but we believe that this should not prevent you from still getting a discount. If you have a health issue of concern pick up the phone and get a pre-sales underwriting viewpoint of how your quoted premium might be affected.
Best Mortgage Protection Policy – In Summary
- As outlined above, the Best Value Mortgage Protection Policy on the Irish market is made available through Royal London, who can deliver their super comprehensive plan at the cheapest market price, with the first month free!
- If, however, you happy to pay more to get a free Digital GP Service, together with really comprehensive additional benefits go with Aviva, but if you need a more affordable price opt for New Ireland.
Note: Please note that One Quote Financial Brokers, has no strict allegiance to any particular provider and that with hold agencies and can conduct business with all mortgage protection providers. We have however, designed our quote engine to always highlight the best value market quote, alongside all other best priced quotes.
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Ken O’Gorman – QFA, RPA, SIA, CB – Protection Specialist
OneQuote.ie | Smart Financial Protection
