You may be familiar with disability insurance, which is an insurance plan that assists you in case you cecome disabled and unable to work. This type of insurance may be provided by state governments, or by an employer. The concept is similar to unemployment insurance in that if your salary is cut off, in this case because you cannot work, not because you have lost your job, you will still receive an income.

There are workman’s compensation disability policies, which are related to loss of job due to accident or illness on the job, but many policies cover all disabilities, job related or not. Disability insurance is frequently a benefit given by employers at a low rate since it is part of a group package, and employees always have the right to subscribe to more if they want to.

Disability insurance normallyusually only replaces a part of one’s full income, many times as little as half. As we all know, making the mortgage payment each month is difficult enough with 100% of your salary; imagine the burden if you were only receiving 2/3rds of your salary. To protect what is probably your biggest asset, you may want to make sure you can manage your mortgage payments when you are sick for a while.

This is the role that where mortgage disability insurance is meant to play. When you carry this kind of insurance, your mortgage is paid by the policy, even if you have other disability insurance.

If you have life insurance of sufficient size, or mortgage life insurance, your family would be in a position to pay off the mortgage should you pass on. But a disability can create a great deal of havoc, and life insurance will of course not help here. Can your family continue to afford the mortgage if you couldn’t work for a while? This is the problem mortgage disability insurance addresses.

In addition, as is the situation with so many of today’s households, both breadwinnrs can be covered if they both contribute to the payments. If you or your spouse is injured, and they are covered under the policy, you would still be able to make the mortgage payments for a few years. These payments are done in addition to any other disability insurance you may be receiving.

The terms for which the policy can be called differ from company to company and even from policy to policy. It is important to understand all of the features of the policy before you commit to an insurance policy, for example what illnesses and accidents will it cover and if there a time lapse before the insurance will “kick in”. Once you understand and compare a number of policies, you will be in the best position to choose the best one for your needs.