Buying a house is stressful. That may even be an understatement. There’s so much paperwork and even with a great realtor, you may not understand half of what you’re signing. Where did all these taxes and fees come from? Closing costs? Insurance? It all adds up.
Bank-Issued Mortgage Life Insurance
Chances are, if you applied for a mortgage through your bank you were offered mortgage protection insurance. You may know that if your down payment is less than 20% you’ll require private mortgage insurance, so you sign up. However, they aren’t the same thing! Your private mortgage insurance will have already been included, as it is mandatory, but mortgage life insurance (mortgage protection insurance) is not. Have you been duped?
Not necessarily. Mortgage life insurance protects you, the lender, against foreclosure in the event of premature death. It is designed solely to pay the bank back for the mortgage if you can’t. In and of itself it’s not a bad thing, however the way banks offer the policy leaves a lot to be desired.
So what’s really going on? Bank-issued mortgage life insurance is often as easy to get as checking off a box during your mortgage approval process, and the bank lists themselves as the beneficiary. Essentially, the bank has taken out an insurance policy on you, but you’re paying for it. If you don’t qualify for traditional life insurance and your home will be your biggest liability, it could still make sense to do this. But it’s not going to feel good if you don’t know you’re signing up for it, don’t know what it’s for, or how it works.
Remember, bank employees work for the bank. Getting you to agree to mortgage life insurance protects them as just as much as you because foreclosures are messy. Sometimes the employee even gets a commission for signing you up. Often they can’t articulate why you should get it or the specifics; it’s not their job: they aren’t insurance agents.
20/20 Mortgage Life Insurance
20/20 Mortgage Life Insurance isn’t offered by a bank. Our products are offered by AIME Financial Group, a national insurance agency. Our combined management team has over 100 years in the insurance and financial sectors. In other words, we know our product. This is what we do.
Because we aren’t a bank, 20/20 Mortgage Life Insurance allows you to select your beneficiary, not automatically naming the bank. This means your policy is yours, not the bank’s. It’s also portable so that if you change lenders you don’t need to requalify.
We understand insurance and can discuss options among our products to give you and your family the best coverage for your needs. We also underwrite our policies at the time of application like a traditional life insurance firm, rather than at the time you make a claim, as with most bank-issued policies. This means if you are approved for coverage, you will be able to get the payout when you need it, which is not always the case through a bank.
Because banks are often large companies with administrative overhead, your premiums are high. 20/20 Mortgage Life Insurance has streamlined the process so that it is done entirely online and without all the overhead, resulting in a discount of up to 25% on their premiums compared to bank-issued policies.
Easy to Switch
If you’ve signed up for a bank-issued mortgage life insurance policy without realizing it or would like the greater flexibility offered with 20/20 Mortgage Life Insurance, it’s easy to switch. Simply let us know if you wish to cancel your bank-owned plan. When we send you the confirmation of coverage for your personal records, we will also provide you with a cancellation letter to sign and send to your bank. Compare and get a quote now with our easy online calculator.
