First time buyer - confused over insurance

spuddy

As the title states, buying first home, as I understand it.

Mandatory:
Mortgage Protection Insurance (type of Life Assurance) - no tax relief
Home Building Insurance - no tax relief

Optional:
Mortgage repayment protection (aka Income Protection / payment protection insurance) - tax relief
Home Contents Insurance - no tax relief

Have I got the above right?

My broker has done the hard sell on the repayment protection so I suspect there's some good commission there for her (she's trying to make a living, fair enough), but I'd like to make up my own mind.

Can the optional insurances be taken out at any time?
Has anyone had any experience with mortgage repayment protection insurance, good, bad or otherwise?

jameshayes

Seems right about the optional / mandatory but I don't know about the tax relief end of things?

Also - I didn't find it easy to get home insurance that didn't cover contents, in some quotes (FBD) it was cheaper to go with building and contents...

spuddy

jameshayes wrote: »

Seems right about the optional / mandatory but I don't know about the tax relief end of things?

Also - I didn't find it easy to get home insurance that didn't cover contents, in some quotes (FBD) it was cheaper to go with building and contents...

You're probably right, I just wanted to clarify the situation on what was actually required.

The broker mentioned about the tax relief, seems to be backed up here http://www.consumerhelp.ie/choosing-insurance

Did you mind me asking if you took out repayment protection?

jameshayes

spuddy wrote: »

You're probably right, I just wanted to clarify the situation on what was actually required.

The broker mentioned about the tax relief, seems to be backed up here http://www.consumerhelp.ie/choosing-insurance

Did you mind me asking if you took out repayment protection?

na, I think its a scam to be honest, but thats just my conspiracy theory.

If you become unemployed you have to jump through loads of hoops to qualify - have a read of the T's & C's... (eg. some of them don't cover you if you are made redundant!)

spuddy

jameshayes wrote: »

...If you become unemployed you have to jump through loads of hoops to qualify - have a read of the T's & C's... (eg. some of them don't cover you if you are made redundant!)

That's the concern, spending money on a policy which would prove ultimately worthless.

Obviously you'd hope never to be in the position, but curious to know if anyone has had any direct experience claiming?

phormium

There is no tax relief on repayment protection insurance.

House and contents will normally be taken together and are a requirement of the mortgage bank.

Equally basic decreasing mortgage protection (life cover) is also a requirement, anything above that level of cover is your own choice.

Income protection is the only one that has tax relief and whether that is a better option for you or not depends on many things.

Nervous Wreck

Life Assurance and Home Insurance will be mandatory. MRP (which is the same as PPI) is optional.

Munstermissy

spuddy wrote: »

That's the concern, spending money on a policy which would prove ultimately worthless.

Obviously you'd hope never to be in the position, but curious to know if anyone has had any direct experience claiming?

Depends on your situation, I have it as a single person. If you are joint application and you feel that if one of you lost your job and you will be able to repay based on one income, no need.

It was a life saver for me. I claimed immediately but I was not covered for the first 2 months and also a third month as I was given a months notice with my redundancy. It paid out for 12 months as I was out of work for 15 months.

Check terms and conditions carefully before taking it out if you think you will purchase.

Red Nissan

My payment protection plan on my Credit Card did not kick in as expected when I lost my job, I had been told, by a broker that it would kick in automatically.

In theory the protection payments are sensible but be sure you can actually claim and exactly how it should work and what exactly and for how long it lasts after a complete meltdown of payments.

Trish56

The only insurances you have to take out to comply with the conditions of your mortgage are : Mortgage Protection policy to cover the amount of the mortgage and term and a Home Insurance policy to cover building's and contents for the sum recommended by the lenders Valuer.
The lenders usually take an assignment of the mortgage protection policy so that if you died the mortgage is paid off and their interest is noted on your home insurance policy so that any claims over a certain amount are paid directly to them.

A payment protection policy is optional and will pay out after a certain time usually 90 days in the event of accident/illness or compulsory redundancy. The payment is for 12 months.

spuddy wrote: »

As the title states, buying first home, as I understand it.

Mandatory:
Mortgage Protection Insurance (type of Life Assurance) - no tax relief
Home Building Insurance - no tax relief

Optional:
Mortgage repayment protection (aka Income Protection / payment protection insurance) - tax relief
Home Contents Insurance - no tax relief

Have I got the above right?

My broker has done the hard sell on the repayment protection so I suspect there's some good commission there for her (she's trying to make a living, fair enough), but I'd like to make up my own mind.

Can the optional insurances be taken out at any time?
Has anyone had any experience with mortgage repayment protection insurance, good, bad or otherwise?