Not everyone’s finances are in great shape, yet many homebuyers don’t always think about financial protection. We explain why it’s crucial and how it can protect you and your loved ones.
Some 12.9 million adults had low financial resilience last May, according to the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Lives 2022 survey. That’s around 24% of all UK adults currently in financial difficulty or those who would struggle if they had a financial setback.
While you might be healthy and earn a reasonable wage, it’s essential to consider what would happen to your bills if you were ill and couldn’t work. You could find yourself in a difficult spot if you have a mortgage and limited savings. Financial protection could offer you peace of mind if you fall ill and cannot work or offer a lump sum to your family if you were to pass away. As it’s morbid to think about illness or death, we don’t always like to have these conversations, and it’s not always something that homebuyers consider.
‘Many homebuyers don’t necessarily consider how to protect themselves and their families should anything go wrong,’ says Phil Leivesley, MB Associates’ Sales Manager. ‘In my experience, homebuyers generally spend a great deal of time finding the right location and property that suits their needs. In addition, they will usually look quite closely at the cost of the monthly mortgage payments and the maintenance costs of home ownership.
Phil adds: ‘Yet too often, people don’t necessarily consider what might happen if they were to become ill, if one of the homeowners were to die or if they couldn’t work for some time and maintain those mortgage payments.’
Bespoke advice
An advantage of speaking to a mortgage broker rather than going direct to a lender is that you’ll receive bespoke, personalised advice to ensure your family is protected. In other words, it’s not just about getting the right mortgage deal but carefully considering your financial situation and putting steps in place to protect you.
‘A crucial part of our advice is that we look at the overall picture with our clients to make sure that if something unfortunate were to happen, there is some kind of protection in place so that you don’t lose your home if you were ill and unable to work,’ adds Phil.
Financial protection myths
It’s about more than just financial protection being overlooked, too. Some homebuyers don’t even know it exists, especially first-time buyers. Others mistakenly think that it may be expensive. The cover can be tailored to your budget as well as your needs.
‘It’s our duty to discuss these situations with all of our clients, whether they are first-time buyers or have been through this process several times,’ adds Phil. ‘It’s a topic we’re incredibly proud to talk about. We don’t hide behind it. It can be a difficult subject, and unfortunately, we’ve seen of late quite a lot of claims come in lately – claims on life policies which means that somebody has unfortunately died, and claims on critical illness or income protection, which means that somebody is very ill or out of work for a long period.’
Contact us today to arrange a free financial protection consultation.