Mortgage Protection - Exemption and Lying on Health Checks

Do you already know you are uninsurable? My husband got an exemption as he could only get a 5 year policy. It was hard work right down to a personal statement for the bank

Hey,

In your position recently enough (October). And same age!

For point 1. We both had issues (mental health) including a fairly serious incident at 18. The rep for the bank was horrible and I left that meeting feeling pretty deflated, and worried that everything was going to slip away. They sent a request to my gp for a report which took months for an answer back. Report also required from herselfs gp.

A day or two later I decided I was going to find out how fucked we were so called a broker. Woman was very helpful when I gave her our backgrounds and said she knew the 2 insurers that would be most accommodating of previous history. Got a call back an hour or so later that she had been talking to one of the insurers and there view was that it was long enough ago to not be an issue. Gp reports were still required but I was put at ease as I had already given all info.

A week or so after the GP finally sent the report back we got 2 offers with NO loading!

Point 2. See above. You will get cover! PM me if you want details of the broker I used.

I just got a mortgage age 61 with minor health issues along with my wife who is slightly younger without issues. Hypertension. I was terrified it would snooker it.

But no it went through fine. But we had a damm good mortgage advisor. Yes number 1 is true. That was his fallback option in case I was rejected. But no need in this case. But it only applied to me not my wife. But as you say both of you have issues this may not apply.

As for 2 get advice. I know of cases where they check. They even check for smoking and alcohol abuse. You say they're not major so it's better to be honest. It may not be as bad as you think. Possibly a higher premium. My original mortgage premium was hiked up because of my job but now I pay less on this second mortgage despite my age and health.

Do not start with a lie. Ten years from now you may need another mortgage. If one of you dies because of an unreported issue. The other will have problems.

Get professional advice.

@paulfogarty wrote:

It would be classed as a form of fraud. Incredibly unlikely that in the event of one of you dying that the Gardai would bring the bereaved to court for criminal fraud.

Your problem with a lie is the length of time you have to maintain that lie. Lying to the bank about the length of time you've been in your job, is a lie that goes away pretty quickly. Within 12 months it doesn't matter anymore. Lying to the life insurer about underlying health conditions, you have to keep up for life.

Your main risk is that were one of you to die, the refusal of the insurer to cover the mortgage, will leave the surviving partner to face the bank on their own. Who will instantly have questions. The bank may not permit the surviving partner to keep the house on their own if they cannot afford to take on the mortgage. In which case you have to sell. Or if they do permit them to take it on, they will need a new life assurance policy, and may insist on a doctor's assessment.

Or, the bank could determine that since the original mortgage was taken out fraudulently, then they consider the contract broken and they call in the loan. In which case, you'll be forced to sell.

Obviously it's not as simple for the bank as having heavies knock on the door and put up a for sale sign, but it's a whole world of pain and stress that the bereaved partner will have to deal with in the immediate aftermath of the other's death, and can drag on for years.

I would strongly advise doing everything you can to try and secure life assurance from somewhere. If your incomes are strong enough that you think either could keep up repayments without the other, then you can afford to pay a higher life assurance premium. If you can't get assurance, then go for the exemption.

While pessimistically one can argue that the point of life assurance is to protect the bank, it does have the side effect of protecting a surviving spouse - or children - from facing eviction and court proceedings after just experiencing the biggest and most devastating loss of their life. The exemption won't pay your mortgage, but it will prevent the bank from trying to evict you.

Lying is not a good route to go - it's fraud and if it came to light at the time of a claim, the policy would be voided. It's all very well saying you'll switch provider a year after moving in - but no one knows what's round the corner in life. Not that I'm wishing it in you, but you could get run over by a bus next week

Hi I've just been turned down by the company that do the mortgage protection for the Rebuilding ireland home loan on medical grounds. I didn't meet the eligibility criteria. Where do I go from here if anywhere? Any information would be greatly appreciated.