Please help! Why can't I buy payment protection for maintenance/exhusband's income

Ann5028

I am a lone parent and took out a mortgage six months after separation. The financial adviser and the mortgage company used the maintenance payment as part of my admissable income. I have what I regard for a single person on average earnings, outside of London a fairly large mortgage of £140,000.

I have asked my FA and also gone direct to payment protection providers about protecting either the maintenance payment, or my ex-husband's salary. Apparently no such product exists. The best solution is for him to take out income protection and then draw up some kind of legal memorandum so that he undertakes to pass the money paid out to me. Clearly this is very unsatisfactory as it depends on him being cooperative.

Now that it is very possible that redundancy is looming for my ex husband in practical terms this has become theoretical as it is too late for him to take out income protection (assuming redundancy follows in the next few months). I AM REALLY ANGRY THAT I WAS ALLOWED TO TAKE OUT SUCH A LARGE MORTGAGE THAT IS DEPENDENT ON A FACTOR WHICH IS OUT OF MY CONTROL. I take responsibility for it but at the time when I was vulnerable and only interested in providing a home for my children, and frankly would have accepted any offer if it meant I could achieve this.

I am interested to know if anyone else has the same experience - surely they must do so why isn't there a product to cover us? - and also who I should complain to. It is not even really a complaint as it seems it is just the way it is in the insurance industry not to provide a product to cover this eventuality.

nightingalesgarden

You can't complain - the FA's advice was correct.

As the FA suggested the only way to cover yourself would have been if your ex had taken out the insurance product out himself and legally placed it within a trust so that you would receive the payments. However without a trust or legal agreement, even if you had paid the premiums, the payout would have gone to your ex.

I presume that your ex's life insurance policies have trusts associated with them so that your children will get the proceeds. Otherwise whatever is stated in his will/through probate will stand if the worst happened.

jaffa19

I am surprised that you have been allowed to take out a mortgage that relied on your ex-husbands maintainance payments.I am also surprised that anyone would rely on payments from their ex to pay a mortgage. Good luck with sorting this out

LittleMissGiggles123

I think you've had a lot of bad advice on your mortgage. Your maintenance payments are presumably for your children, so when they reach a certain age the payments will stop. So you will lose that income down the line somewhere, so I'm surprised any mortgage company lent money based on that income.

However, that's what they've done & you're in this position.

The only thing to do is as the FA suggested, speak to your ex regarding an insurance policy in case he loses his job etc. It's in his interests also, so he might be more willing than you think.

Good luck

Firefox1975

Safest option

sell the house and move somewhere where you are not dependant upon your ex's maintenance contributions.

that way you wont go through this stress again.

Well that was the option you didn;t wanna here but it is still watertight.

What was the plan when your children turned 18 anyway? how much is remaining on the mortgage?

geoffky

Consider yourself very lucky as you would struggle to get that mortgage today. and very lucky you got regular payments from your ex...many women never see a penny..