protection, it is important

Nobody gets excited about protection. You've just had your offer accepted, you're picking paint colours, and then your adviser starts talking about what happens if you get ill or die. Cheery stuff. I get it. But here's the thing, your mortgage is probably the biggest bill you'll ever have, and it's secured on the place you live. So it's worth spending ten minutes thinking about what would happen if the money stopped coming in.

Start with a simple question

If you couldn't work from tomorrow, how long could you keep paying the mortgage?

Be honest. Check what your employer actually pays when you're off sick, because a lot of people assume it's full pay for months and find out it's a few weeks, or just statutory sick pay, which isn't going to cover much. Self employed? It's probably nothing at all. Then look at your savings and work out how many months they'd really last with the mortgage, the bills and the food shop all still going out.

For most people that number is a lot smaller than they'd like. That's the gap protection is there to fill.

Life insurance

This is the one most people have heard of. If you die during the policy, it pays out a lump sum, usually enough to clear the mortgage so whoever you leave behind can stay in the home.

There are two main types. Decreasing cover goes down roughly in line with a repayment mortgage, so it's usually cheaper and does the job of clearing the debt. Level cover stays the same throughout, which is useful if you want to leave something on top for your family, not just pay off the house.

"I've got death in service through work." Great, that's genuinely useful. But it's tied to your job. Change employer, get made redundant, or go self employed and it's gone, usually at a point in your life where getting new cover costs more than it would have done now.

Critical illness cover

This pays a lump sum if you're diagnosed with one of the serious illnesses listed in the policy, things like certain cancers, heart attacks and strokes. It's often added alongside life insurance.

The reason it matters is that people survive these illnesses far more often than they used to, which is brilliant, but recovery can mean months off work and a very different life for a while. A lump sum at that point can clear the mortgage or just take the money worry off the table while you focus on getting better.

Income protection

Okay so this is the one I think gets overlooked the most. Rather than a lump sum, income protection pays you a monthly amount if you can't work because of illness or injury, until you're back at work or the policy ends.

You choose how long you wait before it kicks in, called the deferred period. If your employer pays you well for six months, you might set it to start after six months. If you're self employed with no sick pay, you'd probably want it to start much sooner. The longer the wait, the cheaper it tends to be, so it's about matching it to your situation rather than just picking the cheapest option.

It doesn't need a serious illness to pay out either. A bad back, a broken leg, stress, anything that stops you doing your job could be covered depending on the policy. And those are far more common than the big stuff.

"Isn't it expensive?"

It depends. Your age, your health, whether you smoke, and how much cover you want all make a difference. But it's often a lot less than people expect, and it's always cheaper the younger and healthier you are when you take it out. Waiting a few years usually just means paying more for the same thing.

You don't have to have everything either. A lot of people start with the basics and build on it later. Something is almost always better than nothing.

"They never pay out anyway."

You'll hear this a lot, and it's not true. The vast majority of claims are paid. When they aren't, it's usually because something wasn't disclosed on the application, like a health condition, a GP visit or the fact you smoke. So be completely honest when you apply, even about things that feel minor. It might nudge the price up, but it means the policy actually works when you need it.

It's also worth asking about putting your life cover in trust. It can help the money get to the right people much faster, rather than it being tied up while everything else is sorted out.

So, do you need it?

If anyone relies on your income, or you rely on it to keep a roof over your head, then yes, it's worth looking at. Not because anything is going to happen, hopefully it never will, but because if it does, the last thing you want is to lose your home on top of everything else.

I look at protection with every client I work with, whether you're buying your first home, moving or remortgaging. If you want to know what you've already got, what the gaps are and what it would actually cost to fill them, let me know and I'll talk you through it, no pressure.