Protection & Insurance in Reading & Caversham

Getting a mortgage is one of the most significant financial commitments you will ever make but what happens to your home and your family if you could no longer work or were no longer here? At Templar Mortgages, we help you put the right protection in place, comparing policies across our extensive panel of leading insurers and explaining your options in plain English. We will never recommend cover you do not need.

What is mortgage protection and insurance?

Mortgage protection and insurance is a collective term for policies that safeguard your home, your income, and your family if something unexpected happens. Most people insure their car without hesitation, yet leave their mortgage – often their biggest financial commitment – completely unprotected.

At Templar Mortgages, we advise on five core areas of protection. Not everyone needs all five. That is why we take time to understand your situation before making any recommendation.

Our mortgage protection and insurance services

We offer specialist advice across all types of mortgage protection and insurance. Whatever your situation, we will help you understand what cover you genuinely need:

Life Insurance

Life insurance pays out a lump sum to your family or dependants if you die during the policy term, ensuring they can keep the home and maintain their standard of living. Policies can be level term (fixed payout), decreasing term (reducing in line with a repayment mortgage), or whole of life. We compare policies from leading insurance companies to find the right level of cover at a competitive premium.

Critical Illness Cover

Critical illness cover pays a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a specified serious condition such as cancer, heart attack, or stroke. Unlike life insurance, you do not have to die to claim – the payout can be used to clear your mortgage, adapt your home, or replace lost income while you recover. Cover and definitions vary significantly between insurers, which is why independent advice matters.

Income Protection Insurance

Income protection replaces a portion of your income (typically 50–70%) if you are unable to work due to illness or injury, paying out until you recover or reach retirement age. It is particularly important for the self-employed, contractors, and anyone without a generous employer sick pay scheme. We will help you understand deferral periods, policy types, and which level of cover suits your circumstances and budget.

Buildings & Contents Insurance

Buildings insurance is required by virtually every mortgage lender and covers the structure of your property against damage from fire, flood, subsidence, and storm. Contents insurance protects your belongings inside the home. Our home insurance specialist will compare the market to make sure you are properly covered and not overpaying, and can arrange combined policies where these offer better value premiums.

Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI)

Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance covers your monthly mortgage payments if you cannot work due to accident, sickness, or involuntary redundancy. Unlike income protection, MPPI is specifically targeted at keeping your mortgage payments going rather than replacing your whole income. We will explain the exclusions and waiting periods clearly so there are no surprises at claim time.

Accident and Injury Insurance

Getting injured from sport or daily life could mean you need long or short term financial help. We offer flexible low cost policies to provide financial support for a range of specified accidental injuries and UK hospital stays.

How Templar Mortgages helps you

Free Consultation

We start with a free, no-obligation conversation about your situation. We can meet in person at our Caversham office, over the phone, or by video call.

Search & Recommendation

We search our extensive panel of lenders to find the options that best suit your circumstances. We explain your choices in plain English and offer you recommended solutions

Application to Completion

We handle everything from application through any underwriting to completion. You will have easy access to your adviser throughout, making the process smooth and stress-free.

Why choose Templar Mortgages?

Plain English Service

We explain everything in clear, simple language without confusing jargon.

Local and National Expertise

Based in Caversham, we take pride in our expertise in the Reading, Berkshire and Oxfordshire property market alongside the national market.

Comprehensive Market Access

We search our large panel of providers for the right solution for you.

Transparent Fees

No hidden charges. We tell you upfront what our service costs.

FCA Regulated

Fully authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Common questions about protection and insurance

Do I legally need life insurance with a mortgage?

No, life insurance is not a legal requirement. However, if you have dependants or a joint mortgage, most financial advisers would strongly recommend it. Your lender will require buildings insurance, but life cover is your choice. We will help you decide what is genuinely right for your circumstances.

How much does mortgage protection cost?

Costs vary considerably depending on your age, health, smoking status, the level of cover required, and the type of policy. Life insurance for a healthy non-smoker in their 30s can be relatively cheap. We compare our large panel of leading insurers to find competitive pricing once we understand your needs.

I am self-employed – do I need income protection?

Income protection is arguably more important for the self-employed than for anyone else. Without employer sick pay, your income stops the moment you cannot work. Income protection provides regular income replacement – typically 50–70% of your earnings – so you can focus on recovering rather than worrying about your mortgage.

What is the difference between income protection and critical illness cover?

Critical illness cover pays a one-off lump sum on diagnosis of a specified serious condition. Income protection pays a regular monthly income if you cannot work due to illness or injury, for as long as you need it. Both can have a place in a protection plan – which you need depends on your individual circumstances, and we will explain this clearly.

Can I get critical illness cover if I have a pre-existing condition?

Possibly, yes. Some conditions may be excluded from your policy or mean higher premiums, but that does not mean you cannot get cover at all. Specialist underwriters work with a wide range of health histories. As an independent broker, we know which insurers are most likely to offer competitive terms for your specific situation.

My employer provides death in service – do I still need life insurance?

Death in service is a valuable benefit, but it is usually tied to your employment and lost if you change jobs. It also typically pays a multiple of your salary (e.g. 3–4 times) which may not be enough to repay your mortgage in full. We will review your existing benefits and advise whether additional cover is needed.

Do I need buildings insurance and who arranges it?

Yes. Buildings insurance is a requirement of virtually every mortgage lender. It must be in place from exchange of contracts, not completion. We can arrange for a specialist to contact you and perform a comparison on your behalf and ensure cover is in place at the right time, co-ordinated with your mortgage application.

How often should I review my protection?

You should review your protection whenever your circumstances change significantly – when you take out a new mortgage, have children, change jobs, or experience a significant change in income. A general review every two to three years is also good practice. We are happy to review existing policies as part of our ongoing service.