Mortgage borrowers are failing to protect themselves, says survey
Only 2.7% of people taking out new mortgages and 5.4% of existing borrowers have financial cover to ensure continuity of their payments if they become unemployed, says protection specialist Simon Burgess.
The statistic has come to light following a survey undertaken over the weekend – 1st and 2nd March - by online market research firm Usurv.
Burgess says:
“I commissioned the survey in order to source a definitive figure on the extent of the protection gap - I knew it was widening, but this is grim. Last year over 1.26million loans were advanced to first-time buyers, those moving up the property ladder and people re-mortgaging their homes. It’s frightening to think 1.2 million of these could go into arrears; this scenario must be prevented.”
Non-partisan UK think-tank ResPublica estimates around 96% of people with mortgages from UK lenders have no financial support mechanisms to pay bills in the event of a lost income and these latest survey findings confirm its fears.
Martin Bysh from Usurv.com comments:
“I’m pleased Simon has been able to source a reliable statistic which reveals the extent of the protection problem; the rapid response guaranteed by Usurv ensures that this data is the most up to date data on this matter.”
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