Mortgage Protection Policies

EDM number 1180 in 1994-95, proposed by Nicholas Winterton on 25/05/1995.

That this House notes with interest the report published by the Department of the Environment on 18th May entitled Mortgage Arrears and Possessions: Perspectives from Borrowers, Lenders and the Courts; notes the conclusions of this report that mortgage protection insurance policies offer no adequate protection against arrears and will be no substitute for the current system of income support for unemployed homeowners, that 'it is hard to see what would be gained by expanding them', and that 'in many instances they take borrowers' resources that might otherwise be put towards mortgage payments while offering little in return'; calls upon the Secretary of State for Social Security to give his most urgent consideration to this report and to the representations not only from the Manufacturing and Construction Industries Alliance, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, and the House Builders Federation, but also from many charitable proposals to restrict the payment of income support for mortgage interest since they are based upon the Government's misguided belief that mortgage protection insurance can provide an effective and comprehensive alternative to income support. (Relevant registered interest declared)

This motion has been signed by a total of 61 MPs.