How drinking (a little) less coffee can be good for your financial health

For less than the price of your daily cappuccino[1], protecting yourself, your home and your family’s future is now quick, easy and even more affordable.    

Despite rising prices and largely stagnant incomes over the last decade, home ownership remains the cornerstone on which millions of people’s lives are built. Often making extraordinary financial efforts simply to get on the property ladder, it now takes over eight years for the average UK first-time buyer to save a 20% deposit towards their own home[2].

For many, the precarious long-term financial balancing act in search of the property-owning dream doesn’t end there. Assuming you do buy a home, 43% of workers don’t have anyone in their household they could depend on to support them financially in the event of hardship[3], such as an illness or injury. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a 57% chance that the average 30 year old mortgage holder will need to take at least a month off work before the age of 65 during the loan term for the same reasons[4].

Therefore, having gone to such extreme efforts, it’s frankly mind-boggling how few first-time buyers in particular take out any form of mortgage protection. Why work so hard for so long to own your own home, only to have it taken away in a relative flash, just because of a single stroke of bad luck?

It could be that the need for mortgage cover is somewhat lost in the highly stressful buying process – arranging the mortgage, solicitors, moving and the rest. It could be it’s not considered necessary, but then no-one bats an eyelid at insuring buildings and contents, mobile phones or even pets, so why not your mortgage? What it certainly can’t be for is reasons of cost or simplicity, as even the best mortgage protection costs less than a daily caffeine hit and takes just five minutes to arrange.

Take the example of the new VitalityLife Mortgage Plan. It always includes life cover. You can choose to add either Serious Illness Cover – which protects you against 145 different serious conditions – or Income Protection – to give you an income if you can’t work due to accident or illness – or both. It’s also very quick to arrange: with just 5 medical questions, you could be fully protected in minutes. And it’s eminently affordable: £250,000 of comprehensive protection for a 30-year mortgage costs just £52.53 a month – or around £1.75 a day.

So how would that work for, let’s say, Dave (35) and Katy (32) with a £250,000 five-year fixed-rate mortgage costing just under £800 a month[5]? With our mortgage plan, they could get life cover on a decreasing basis to pay off the mortgage, £25,000 worth of serious illness cover to provide a lump sum in the event of a serious illness, and income protection of £800 per month on a three-month deferred period. All in one plan. All for £1.75 a day.

As the insurer that rewards its members for healthy habits, the plan also includes access to a whole range of deals and discounts that could save hundreds of pounds a year. These include up to 40% off monthly gym membership, which on its own could almost save the equivalent cost of the entire plan; a weekly handcrafted drink at Starbucks; a fortnightly cinema ticket at Cineworld or Vue; a monthly Amazon Prime membership and many more[6]

For the cost of a daily coffee, it seems a small price to pay, when it comes to protecting what’s probably your biggest investment in life – not to mention your family’s future. Find out more about the new all-in-one VitalityLife Mortgage Plan at vitality.co.uk

[1] Based on cost of Starbucks Cappuccino (Grande) of £2.60 https://uk.menuwithprice.com/starbucks-menu/Jan 2019. Premiums are charged on a monthly basis

[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42565427 Jan 2018

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jan/25/uk-workers-chronically-broke-study-economic-insecurity Jan 2018

[4] Based on a male 30 year old, non-smoker https://vitalityriskcalculator.co.uk/

[5] Mortgage rate, Nationwide, 5 year fixed, 80% LTV, £250,000 2.54%

[6] T&C apply. Visit https://adviser.vitality.co.uk/rewards/partners/  for more information