What kind of income protection do I need?

Q What is the difference between income protectors and mortgage protectors given that both are available with mortgage, sickness and unemployment "add-ons".

I am looking for decent quality protection to tie in with what my employers offer. They provide 50% of my salary for six months in the event of sickness and 100% of my salary for the next six months, so I would need cover from 12 months onwards.

My main concern is to ensure that my mortgage of ?650 a month is paid so that I could retain some independence should the worst happen.

LB

A The cynical view is that because it is now virtually impossible to sell endowment policies with a mortgage, financial advisers and especially banks are looking for other ways to earn commission. To make double profits, they offer two types of insurance cover - one to cover critical illness and another to protect against accident and redundancy. There is obviously a case for insuring yourself against the unexpected so that you can sleep at nights. However you have to consider whether the policies they propose attaching to your mortgage are good value for money.

Unfortunately they are often a rip off, especially redundancy policies. Read the terms very carefully because they usually include all kinds of restrictions that mean making a claim is pretty difficult. Rather than rely on the mortgage provider, maybe you should go elsewhere to buy the kind of insurance cover you want.

I feel you could get better value for money and an insurance policy that really fits your needs by consulting someone other than your mortgage provider.