by :
Simon Burgess
The cheapest loan protection quote is to be found with those providers who specialise in offering all types of loan payment protection. In some cases you can save as much as 80% on the quote you are given in comparison to what protection might cost if you add it into the loan at the time of borrowing. High street lenders bring in around £4 billion in profits simply from adding in payment protection alongside the loan, credit card or mortgage they sell. They have also been known to sell protection to those individuals who have stood no chance of making a successful claim on their cover. Mis-selling has ranged from high street lenders adding in protection without the consumer knowing or selling cover without providing information which has meant that those who only work part time or who are retired have bought cover. A lack of information has been one of the biggest problems.
Many times consumers are not even aware that they can choose to take out loan protection as a standalone product and they can buy independently for specialists. Of course high street lenders want to keep the stranglehold over the sector so they do not make it known.
Buying your loan protection from a standalone provider will also ensure that you have access to the information needed to be able to compare policies.
All providers will add in different exclusions, some more than others and these are what have to be checked against your circumstances if you are to be sure cover is suitable. Along with the cost fluctuating you also have to be aware that the terms do too. Some providers will begin to pay out on their policy after you have been unemployed or unable to work due to an accident or sickness for 30 consecutive days. Others might ask that you wait to put in a claim until day 90. You also need to check to see if the provider would backdate your cover. Some will backdate to the first date of you being unable to work or of being made unemployed by such as redundancy. Once your policy has begun to provide you with an income then it would payout each month for between 12 and 24 months.
Protecting your borrowings is essential if you are to keep your credit rating intact. If you default on your loan repayments then it will go down on your credit file. This means that you could find it very hard to be given credit as your credit rating is the first thing that any lender will take into account when deciding whether they will pass your loan application. Depending on the amount you owe the lender could take you to court and this could mean that you would have a County Court Judgement against you. In some cases the lender may apply to the courts to have bailiffs take your possessions to get back what you owe. A cheap loan protection quote can stop all this from happening if you have the protection of a policy.