What Happens If I Fall Sick And Cannot Work For Some Time? - Mortgage Mantra

How much can I borrow

What happens if I fall sick and cannot work for some time?

Falling behind on your mortgage payments is a very serious matter, and should be treated seriously and promptly. If you are suddenly injured or fall sick enough that you can not work for a period of time, which could affect your mortgage payments, you need to talk to your mortgage provider. Silence is a dangerous way to try and avoid an unavoidable situation which would lead to a mortgagee sale. By talking to your provider realistically about your financial troubles due to sickness, the more likely you can renegotiate payments and make it a manageable situation.

You should also invest in something called Mortgage Protection, which is like life insurance, but it covers sickness-related absences from work. You choose the amount you would like to protect which usually matches your ongoing repayments (known as a “wait period”, and a “payment period”.) If the worst happens and you become too injured or sick to work, once your “wait period” has ended, your insurer will start to make monthly claim payments. These can continue until you are once again able to return to work or until the end of your “payment period”, whichever comes first. Again, even with this protection, you need to let your insurer know that this is happening – otherwise, they will not know to make the claims due to your illness.

There are obviously some exclusions, but most health issues are covered and you can find out the individual terms and conditions while shopping around for an insurer. Some insurers allow you to add Redundancy cover to this plan but it is not a standard part of mortgage protection. For peace of mind, Mortgage Protection can be life-saving for your home if you one day become ill or injured.

request a call back.

Would you like to speak to one of our financial advisers over the phone? Just submit your details and we’ll be in touch shortly. You can also email us if you would prefer.

    What kiwis are saying about usOur journey with our clients lasts beyond the life of their home loan. That’s why we ask them to keep us posted on how we are doing along the way.

    Plotting your path requires information.

    We have created the tools to map the constellations so you don’t have to.

    Latest Interest Rates

    Check out the latest interest rates figures for all the banks in one convenient place with our helpful interest rate tracking tool. Remember we can often get even better interest rates so give us a call when you are ready to take the next step.