Give a Yiti

        so we just bought a house and now every insurance co it seems is contacting us about mortgage insurance (including 3 separate prudential offices).         so what's the deal...the concept of one spouse dies the other gets $ to pay off the house...sounds like gimmicky life insurance...is it a 2nd policy, but because of it's specialized nature re the rates worse? i       i'm not even asking which co is better  unless you really want to get into that...

   so we just bought a house and now every insurance co it seems is contacting us about mortgage insurance (including 3 separate prudential offices).    so what's the deal...the concept of one spouse dies the other gets $ to pay off the house...sounds like gimmicky life insurance...is it a 2nd policy, but because of it's specialized nature re the rates worse? It is generally decreasing term life , which is about the worst kind of insurance you can find.  Basically, the amount the company has to pay out decreases, while the rates stay level over the life of the loan.  So you pay the same amount for less insurance.  In other words, if the premium is say, $20/mo on $150,000 mortgage (I made these #'s up!), towards the end of the loan, you are paying $20/mo on maybe $10,000.... If house payments are a concern in the case of the death of one spouse, buy straight term life insurance (or 5 or 10 year level term) in whatever amount you deem necessary.  As an example, I recently received quotations on $500,000 of term life with premiums varying from $400 to $550 a year for a 29 year old non-smoker. For info/quotes on term life from various companies, you can call SelectQuote...they'll send you info on various policies from various companies.  They don't issue policies themseleves.  I don't have their number handy, but it is available from 800 information at 1-800-555-1212.  -Steve

   so we just bought a house and now every insurance co it seems is contacting us about mortgage insurance (including 3 separate prudential offices).    so what's the deal...the concept of one spouse dies the other gets $ to pay off the house...sounds like gimmicky life insurance...is it a 2nd policy, but because of it's specialized nature re the rates worse? Yes, it is gimmicky life insurance (and some of them only pay in case of accidental death, so death by illness isn't even covered).  This type of life insurance is a bad buy unless you absolutely can't get any other type of life insurance.  The ones offered to us had a stable premium and a decreasing benefit, and were more than three times as expensive as the term insurance we already had. If you do need a life insurance policy that would pay off the mortgage if one of the spouses were to die, then buy an additional term policy for each spouse (or add to the one you already have).

   so we just bought a house and now every insurance co it seems is contacting us about mortgage insurance (including 3 separate prudential offices).    so what's the deal...the concept of one spouse dies the other gets $ to pay off the house...sounds like gimmicky life insurance...is it a 2nd policy, but because of it's specialized nature re the rates worse? I've been getting those since moving to Colorado both for my house and now for the Condo I still have in Minnesota (it appears MN law prohibits these so I hadn't seen them before). As best I can tell it's a life insurance policy which will probably cost you much more than a simple term insurance policy.  The offer I just got for accident insurance (with premiums added to my mortgage payment) is about twice what I've been quoted for individual term life insurance and 3-5 times what group policies run.  All this to only get accident coverage rather than full life insurance coverage.  Many of the offers come from the mortgage company, which wants you to buy their coverage since they are beneficiary (so are sure to be paid off). Some of the offers will pay your mortgage payment if you're disabled or on unemployment, which might be an advantage, but you may either have disability insurance through your employer or be able to buy it for less. Evaluate these offers against normal insurance