If you are a homeowner with a mortgage to pay, then if you haven't got it already, mortgage payment insurance is certainly something you may wish to consider. You may just think that it is another added and unnecessary expense to add to your list of household commitments, but it can, in times of financial distress such as unemployment or incapacity, literally save the roof over your head.

Mortgage payment protection insurance – to give its full title, or MPPI for short – helps you to maintain your mortgage repayments in the event that you lose your income though no fault of your own. By this it means such things as involuntary redundancy; recovering from an accident or a prolonged illness, all things that could see you without an income.

How does mortgage payment insurance work?

If you have this form of payment protection insurance, should you lose your job to involuntary redundancy or become unable to work due to illness, the policy will pay you a monthly tax free benefit that can be used towards maintaining your monthly mortgage repayments as well as other mortgage related costs such as home insurance.

The benefit will usually kick in anywhere from 30 to 90 days after the covered event happens, subject to the individual policy's terms and conditions. Some providers will allow you to claim just 30 days after you become unable to work and will back date your claim to the first day of incapacity or unemployment, meaning that you get the full benefit of the cover.

You will then continue to receive this benefit typically for up to 12-24 months, again, depending on the individual policy terms and conditions – or when you get back to work, whichever happens sooner.

How much can I claim?

The amount of benefit you will receive will be agreed at the time of taking out the insurance and will be subject to the provider's own limits, but you can typically insure around 75% of your gross monthly earned income (or up to £3,000). The insured amount will include your monthly mortgage repayment as well as insurance premiums for things such as home, life and critical illness insurance. Some insurers will also allow you to include an amount to cover other household related expenses such as utilities and council tax.

Of course, as when buying any type of financial product, it is important that you fully understand what the insurance entails, so never just skip over the terms and conditions – make sure that the protection offers you the cover you need. This includes the ‘exclusions' section too of the policy. Do check that you would be eligible to claim on your mortgage payment insurance policy as things like a pre-existing medical condition, or being a part time worker, or retired, would generally be excluded from the cover.

Shop around

One final point to note is that you are free to shop around for your mortgage payment cover. Despite what your mortgage lender may imply, you do not have to take their policy at the time of arranging your mortgage. And if you already have an existing policy, you can switch to another provider.

Do some homework when looking for your insurance, particularly focusing on the independent providers of the product who are, historically, cheaper than their high street counterparts. Mortgage payment insurance can be an invaluable product to have, but you should not have to pay over the odds for it in order to get the peace of mind it gives.