Mortgage Protection Quotes

Mortgage Protection is simply a life insurance policy, designed to pay off your mortgage in the event of your death, before your mortgage is fully repaid. It therefore protects both you and your mortgage lender.

If you are looking to take out a mortgage on your principal private residence, you will need a mortgage protection policy in place, before you can draw down your mortgage loan. It is not however, a compulsory requirement on an investment property, but certain mortgage lenders may still seek it under certain conditions.

We compare all the leading mortgage protection providers in Ireland to ensure that you always obtain the most appropriate and comprehensive policy at the cheapest fixed price. This includes comparing mortgage protection policies provided by: Aviva, Irish Life, New Ireland, Royal London and Zurich.

Unlike going direct where you might get a discount on a life companies own expensive premium (e.g. Zurich) we:

1. Identify the best provider policy, with the most free added benefits to offer you.

2. Match this best comprehensive policy to the cheapest competitor price.

3. Discount this cheapest competitor price by up to 25%.

4. Add a free months cover.

• Life events cover. Increase your cover without the necessity to provide medical evidence on certain life events, such as having a baby or moving house. Benefits vary between companies.
• Free medical second opinion. Very useful addition from some providers and the service is available to the policy holders, their children and the policy holder’s parents. Second medical opinions very often recommend different treatments than are currently being recommended by your consultant.
• Free dual life mortgage protection cover. This facility is included in one insurer’s standard benefits, at no extra cost – so the mortgage protection policy could pay out twice in the event of both parties to a policy passing away.
• Children’s Life Cover, typically between €4,000 and €7,000 – Zurich do not have this facility.
• Non Smoking Declaration – Only Royal London allow you to revert to non smoker rates on an existing policy, if you give up cigarettes at a later date – assessed on a case by case basis.
• Children’s serious illness cover automatically included if you take out a qualifying serious illness policy – typically €25,000, not available through Zurich Life.
• Medical support benefits – available through Royal London, Irish Life and Aviva.
• Accidental Death Cover – during the period after you submit an application, up to a certain time limit – typically 30 days- not available through Royal London. The insurer will pay out a lump sum up to €150,000, subject to the case meeting qualifying criteria.
• First month free cover. Available with some insurers.

Joint mortgage protection covers two people, but a payout is made only for the first death, after which the policy ends. Dual mortgage protection, on the other hand, covers two people and makes separate payouts for each death, continuing coverage for the surviving person. In essence, joint cover offers protection for one death, while dual cover provides coverage for both deaths within the policy term. 

Both Royal London and Irish Life charge nothing extra for their dual cover mortgage protection policies life insurance policies.

A standard term life insurance policy is more expensive than a mortgage protection policy because the cover remains level. This is only needed for interest only mortgage loans, but can be considered by those who want the additional balance of cover.

With Mortgage protection the cover is designed to reduce in line with the outstanding mortgage balance, thereby keeping its cost down in comparison with level cover.

They both pay out on your death but with life insurance, the sum assured is paid to your beneficiaries. With mortgage protection, it’s paid to your bank and any remaining funds are then sent to your beneficiaries after the loan is cleared.

Mortgage protection for single life cover can start from as little as €10 per month over a 25 year term, but this is dependent on your mortgage loan details, as well as several other factors as outlined below:

• Your age: If you’re young and healthy, your premium will be lower because there’s less likelihood of a claim being made.
• Your health: You have to declare any pre-existing conditions and whether you’re a smoker as these things can increase or decrease your risk, which affects your premium.
• The level of cover needed: The higher your mortgage is, the more you’ll pay.
• Type of policy: For example, whether it’s a reducing term or level term policy which is more expensive.
• Term of the policy: The longer the term, the higher the overall cost. The policy must run for the full, or remaining mortgage term if you’ve switched providers.
• Where you buy your cover: Your mortgage lender will try and sell you mortgage protection but you’re likely to pay more. This is because they generally only have one or two products to choose from, so you’re limiting your options by not shopping around.
• Who the cover is for: Single cover is cheaper than dual cover. If there are two of you on the mortgage, it usually works out cheaper to have a joint or dual policy, rather than individual policies.
• Which benefits or add-ons you need: For example, if you choose to add on serious illness cover it will cost a lot more.

Dual Life mortgage covers 2 people but pays out separately on each. So, if a death claim occurs the mortgage gets paid off, but the policy can still be maintained on the second person. In the tragic event that both people died together, the policy would pay out double the life cover level.

When seeking best value mortgage protection, you want to ensure the cheapest price fixed for your full policy term (not just some short term offer), but also to ensure, that your policy includes the most important complimentary benefits and policy features.

Complimentary Benefits & Features

In order of importance and based on the most useful added features:

1. The First Month Free:

This applies to everyone in terms of savings and can be particularly useful if you’re switching policies in terms of timing payments.

2. Dual Coverage:

Dual coverage unlike joint pays out on both people not just on the first claim. Most insurers offer this now with no added cost compared to joint coverage.

3. Guaranteed Insurability:

Health-related underwriting can delay some policies, and for new mortgages down the line, a change in health may also affect the future premium, unless the increase in cover required falls within the guaranteed insurability limit.

4. Missed Payment Reinstatement:

Anyone can change their bank account or miss a debit on occasion, so this feature is worth looking out for, with Royal London granting the best terms.

5. Second Medical Opinion:  

Can prove a useful resource for some and is offered only through Aviva and Royal London.

6. Children’s Life Cover:

A grim topic to say the least, but most insurers include a level of free children’s life cover, on average up to 5,000 except for Zurich Life, who doesn’t provide it.

7. Accidental Death Benefit/Advance Life Cover:

Offered by all insurers this feature provides life cover, even before health underwriting is completed i.e. between application return and policy release. Most insurers include this feature, but interesting Royal London will provide higher coverage, which also includes any cause of death (outside a pre-existing known condition) whereas others only cover an accident as the cause.

8. Waiver of Premium

This sounds like a great benefit, but it’s important to understand, that it covers your mortgage protection (life insurance) repayments and not your mortgage loan repayments.  Also, you must be continuously ill and unable to work for 3 months, before it kicks in. Only provided by Zurich, but the claim level is low.

9. Terminal Illness Benefit

This feature is included with all market policies, to advance the payment of life cover on the diagnosis of a terminal illness. What’s important to note is that this should be confused with specified Serious Illness cover, which is an added optional coverage, that can be included on all insurance company policies, but which seriously adds to the cost.

10. Digital GP

This is a super additional benefit, currently made available through Aviva both New Ireland. 

However, to include this benefit it adds significantly to the cost especially through Aviva, with New Ireland it won’t prove as expensive as Aviva, but New Ireland’s policy is not otherwise as comprehensive as the like’s of Royal London, who also grant the first month free. (Tip if you already have VHI, make sure to check out if your policy already includes this benefit).

We negotiate leading discounts with all insurers every year, ensuring that premier added benefits are included as standard (no added cost), these  include:

1. Dual cover, over joint at no extra cost.
2. Terminal illness cover.
3. Second medical opinion.
4. Children’s Cover.
5. Missed payment reinstatement.
6. Life event optional cover increases, without fresh health evidence.
7. The first month’s cover free, or digital GP.

To learn more, run your instant market comparison quote and click on View Policy Features & Benefits.

All Irish mortgage protection policies are quoted based on a 6% mortgage interest rate, despite real rates being much lower, however this means that in the event of  a claim, as well as the bank getting paid off so as the mortgage loan is completely cleared, a small residual pay-out also goes to the policy holders family.

The answer is that’s up to you, as your mortgage lender can only insist on a policy with life cover.

That said, we would recommend considering this additional protection, if affordable and especially if you don’t have any other Serious Illness Cover already in place.

If you have no health issues, you can have your policy documents within 24 hours from your signed application return (subject to volumes). You can choose to apply and hold for a later start date and hold your quote for up to 3 months, or your next birthday, whichever comes sooner.

Your bank will provide you with a Deed and Notice of Assignment in your loan pack, which is sent to your solicitor. Once you receive your Mortgage Protection policy schedule, you simply use the detail to complete your Notice of Assignment and return both to your bank.

Your bank will then contact the insurer to complete the process.

As long as you’re sure that you’re happy with all the automatic added benefits and features, and that you have also considered any optional policy benefits.

Keeping the cost down can actually save you in the thousands over the term of your policy.

One Quote can offer you any insurer policy you require but has also already compared all insurers and as so, always quotes the best policy coverage at lowest fixed price.

No, it is very rare that the life insurance company would ask for a medical, this only happens for very large cover amounts, and for older applicants on occasion. Sometimes a GP report can be requested if you disclose certain health conditions, but typically and especially if you’re young, fit, and healthy there is no additional health-related requirements post application return.

Under a standard policy, you can decrease the cover level if for example you’ve pay off part of your mortgage early, but you can’t reduce or extend the policy term. If you have increased your mortgage loan, most policies will however allow you to increase the cover level within certain limits specified within your policy, known as guaranteed insurability limits.

Alternatively, if you opt for a Convertible Mortgage Protection Policy, you can also extend the policy term, or even turn your cover in a level cover policy, crucially without any need to answer fresh medical questions, so in affect this option future proofs your original health status.

The premium quoted on a mortgage protection policy already accounts for the fact that the cover is designed to reduce in line with a capital and interest reducing loan balance. If the cover stayed level for the policy term, a much more expensive level term premium would apply. Should you wish to see the difference in cost, run a level term life insurance quote with the same quote details.