All About Mortgage Insurance: Update Nov, 14 - 2009 All About "Mortgage Insurance" Information By Insurance Experts

Mortgage insurance is defined as a decreasing term life insurance depending to the amortization of the mortgage period while the premium remains the same over that period. You can purchase the mortgage insurance from the bank, trust or life insurance companies.
1. If you purchase your mortgage insurance from the bank or trust
a) No medical exam is required
b) The beneficiary of the policy is the bank or trust
2. if you purchase your mortgage insurance from the life insurance companies
a) medical exam is required for any sum insured over $100,000
b) The beneficiary of the policy is designated by you ( Kyle J. Norton)

Is it Wise to Cancel Mortgage Insurance?

By Griff Hanning

Some people do not even know that they have mortgage insurance. They bought a house, they pay a mortgage bill every month, and that is all they really know. This is because it is usually tacked on to the mortgage monthly payments. Once you understand what it is, you may want to consider getting rid of it.

Mortgage insurance exists to protect the borrower and/or the lender in case the borrower defaults on the loan payments. According to Wikipedia, lenders usually make it required to have if the borrower has paid less than 20% of the amount borrowed. This is usually private mortgage insurance, but it could also be public mortgage insurance, depending on the insurer.

Your insurance hardly ever covers the entire loan amount. It is often just a percentage of the loan amount. In fact, it is usually a very low percentage. It is definitely a good idea (not to mention a requirement) to have it at the beginning of your loan, but once you have over 20% down or whatever the cut-off was with your insurer, it may be worth getting rid of.

For instance, if you take out a mortgage loan on a house for $200,000 and pay $45 per month for the insurance that will only cover $35,000 if you default on the payments, this will be helpful, but still put you in a bind if something happens. It is usually recommended that after you have paid for more than 20% of the mortgage, you should cancel your private mortgage insurance policy and reallocate that $540 per year towards something else like investments or life insurance that will help protect you for your future by giving your greater gains.

It is important to re-examine your finances on a yearly basis and determine the pros and cons of private mortgage insurance once you have the freedom to get rid of it. Nobody wants to pay for something they do not need.

For other money saving and money management tips check out http://financialsecrets101.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Griff_Hanning

Do You Need Mortgage Life Insurance?

By Tom Mullaly

Mortgage insurance sounds like something that anyone would be interested in having. To insure one of the largest financial commitments that you will probably ever make must be a good idea after all, right?

Did you know that there might be better ways to ensure that your family's living arrangements are taken care of, in the event that you pass away? One danger with mortgage insurance is that, knowing that the mortgage on the family home will be paid, you might underestimate the amount of insurance that you need for the rest of their living expenses, or things like post-secondary education. In practice, a better strategy is to buy enough term or whole life insurance to cover all the costs that you want to cover. The mortgage may not even be the most relevant expense that your family will have: although it is not pleasant to think about, they may even opt to sell the house. Whether they would or not, ask yourself who actually benefits from the mortgage being paid off? The bank that holds your mortgage benefits, and you are protecting their financial interest. Might any mortgage premium amount you pay each month be better put toward more term or whole life coverage, meant specifically for your family? Greater flexibility, for the same money, would be what you are choosing.

If you decide to approach your family's expenses with this holistic approach, what policy might be best, out of the many available? Obviously each situation is different, and you really must consult with more than one unbiased source of information (i.e. someone not actively engaged in selling you insurance!) but one policy to consider is a return of premium term life policy. The policy can be purchased for a term similar to that of your mortgage, say 15-30 years. If you are still alive when your policy ends, you get all your premiums back, tax-free. Statistics say that it is likely that this will happen, by the way.

Now, if you do still determine that mortgage insurance is what you want, there are a couple of reasons why you should NOT buy it from the bank from which you take out your mortgage. First, you will probably be offered mortgage insurance with a constant monthly premium to cover an mortgage principal amount that is declining over time. That is definitely a bad idea in the later years of your coverage.

Secondly, in the event that you take out a new mortgage or renew your present mortgage with a different bank, you will have to reapply for mortgage insurance, and since you will be older, the new terms may be much less favorable. A 'portable' term policy covers you continuously in either event, and this portability is a great feature.

All in all, think twice about accepting the 'convenience' aspect of the mortgage insurance that your lender will very probably offer you. It is probably not the best type of insurance to pay premiums into each month, and even if you decide that it is right for you, your mortgage lender is almost certainly not the financial institution from which to buy it.

Educate yourself on life insurance policies before you take out mortgage life insurance.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Mullaly

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