I don't want to say it's funny, because it's not funny at all

There are too many homeowners who upon approval of their Mortgage from the bank agree to purchase Mortgage Insurance in the event of their death. Now I’m not saying that purchasing Mortgage Insurance is wrong, homeownership is the BIGGEST investment of your life and protecting yourself and your loved ones in the event that something were to happen to you is the smartest thing you can do for your loved ones.

The problem is that most homeowners only know one thing about Mortgage Insurance and that it’s included in their monthly mortgage payment, and that’s it. Most homeowners also believe that upon their death that their beneficiary will receive the balance of their Mortgage from the Mortgage Insurance that they signed up for upon re/approval of their mortgage. In some cases this is true, but in most cases this isn’t true at all it’s more further from the truth then you know.

Here is the truth: You do not own your Mortgage Insurance Policy, the Bank does. Your loved ones will not receive the balance of your Mortgage in the event of your death, the Bank does.  The person you may have assigned as your beneficiary for the policy is not, the Bank is. You DON’T have control over your policy, the Bank does. The Bank CAN terminate your insurance at ANYTIME.

Probably the most astonishing truth that I found out about the banks Mortgage Insurance is something called POST-CLAIM UNDERWRITING. Now many people don’t understand what POST-CLAIM UNDERWRITING is or what it even means unless you are a Life Licence Advisor or knowledgeable in the insurance industry.

Now, when we hear the word “Post” in the context of “The POST GAME show” or “The POST SEASON” we immediately think of “After” the game, or show or whatever it is. The context of “Post” also applies to your Mortgage Insurance. Post-Claim Underwriting is the process of: In the event of the homeowners’ death, the beneficiary will contact the Bank to claim the Mortgage Insurance on the remaining balance of the Mortgage too pay it down. Now, the Mortgage Insurance application that you signed up for however long ago that you renewed or purchased your Mortgage will NOW be sent to the underwriting department once the claim has been filed or made (POST-CLAIM UNDERWRITING).

This is what you may not know. Underwriting is the process of analysing medical questions that you were asked by a Life Licenced advisor which then gets analysed along with your medical records to detect if you are in fact insurable or uninsurable. Like I previously stated, once the beneficiary of the estate goes to claim the Mortgage Insurance the application that you signed will NOW be sent to the underwriting department, this is called: Post-Claim Underwriting. Now the underwriting department will analyse your medical records and make sure they match up with the mortgage insurance application.

 For Example

The underwriter will open your Mortgage Insurance Application and will read the first question “Has the Proposed insured smoked cigarettes, cigars, marijuana or used any tobacco products in the last 12 months?” your answer “No” then they will check your medical records and notice that you are telling the truth and that question is passed.

Next Question: “Have you had an x-ray in the past 2 years?” and you answer “No”. Again the underwriter will check your medical records and check if that statement is true. But in fact your medical records show that you had an x-ray 8 months ago for taking a hockey puck off the ankle and you went to the hospital to see if it was broken or not. Then underwriter will notice that you DID in fact have an X-ray 8 months prior to your death and since the claim is made POST-death the underwriter will mark the application VOID in the event of misrepresentation of the insured, and the beneficiary of the estate will no longer be eligible to receive the insurance benefit to pay down the remaining balance of the mortgage.

So all in all, this whole time you have been paying for your Mortgage Insurance no matter if it’s 1 year, 20 years, or 30 years it will never be underwritten unless you die, and depending on your health at the time you signed up and the time you die, will be the determining factor on whether your Mortgage Insurance will be approved or not.

 Now, the easiest way to go about getting Mortgage Insurance is by finding a qualified independent Life Licenced broker such as myself. The benefit by applying with an independent advisor is that YOU own your policy, YOU can assign a beneficiary of your choice, and YOU have full control of the Policy. What is also great about an Independent Broker is that we sit with you and go over all the necessary health questions that are required for underwriting to process your policy. We send all completed health applications to our underwriting department following the completiong of the medical form, which they again go over the necessary health questions and medical records and within 2-3 weeks you will be notified if you are insured or not, which is much simpler, faster, and benefits all parties involved.

To conclude, we never know what is going to happen tomorrow, tonight, or 2 minutes from now. What we do know is that our families are the most important things in life and that we will do whatever it takes to protect them from anything.

Do the right thing, and protect your family from financial crisis.