Best Mortgage Protection Insurance for self-employed?

EagerLearner

Hi all,

Please can anyone help - I am looking for the best MPPI that accepts self-employed individuals? Most of the ones I have seen won't touch you if you are self-employed?

This is for someone who works on contracts on and off, say 6 months on 3 months off for example. He is self-employed but needs some sort of protection for his mortgage.

Many thanks for any info you can provide. :beer:

dunstonh

Most will consider you if you are self employed. However, a self employed individual will often be better looking at premanent health insurance (PHI) rather than accident, sickness and unemployment (ASU).

Short term contract workers are often not eligible for ASU but that is not the same as being self employed.

EagerLearner

Hi Dunstonh, thanks you for your quick reply, in that case can you recommend the best PHI? Would this be the same as mortgage protection, or another product?

Sorry, as I don't have a mortgage I don't know much about this area hence I thought I would ask here so I don't give him the wrong advice.

He runs his own business and charges out his time when he is working under contract. He wants to protect his mortgage payments even though he only works under contract say 6 or 9 months of the year.

dunstonh

Hi Dunstonh, thanks you for your quick reply, in that case can you recommend the best PHI? Would this be the same as mortgage protection, or another product?

PHI is a regulated financial services product so I cannot make any recommendations. ASU and PHI are different things. PHI is pure income protection and comes above ASU in the pecking order of things you should insure.

EagerLearner

Hi Dunstonh, is there any chance you can recommend 3 PHI's, or at least a site I can start from? i want to make sure he applies for one that are open to his contract work/self employed status, as he tried one of the MPI's recommended by Martin and they claimed to accept self employed, but they did not accept his application and would not explain why.

dunstonh

Hi Dunstonh, is there any chance you can recommend 3 PHI's, or at least a site I can start from?

I cannot I'm afraid. It would put me in breach of FSA rules. It would also place a potential liability on Martin.

As for sites, PHI doesnt have very good internet coverage. Because some plans fall under investment classification, protection only sites cannot include those versions. Plus, there is no real standard with PHI. Every company is different and providers will often have 2 or 3 versions available (often referred to by IFAs as budget, standard and comprehensive but that isnt what the providers would call them). This makes it impossible to provide them in list of prices in the same way you get with term assurance. Perhaps another reason why internet sites havent gone big on PHI is that it is low profit.

It's one of these areas where you have to use the old conventional routes if you want the product.

I can tell you that you should avoid UNUM plans. They are low quality and have a poor reputation. Skandia have possibly the most comprehensive version but you will pay for that. In between those there are a lot of options.