Life Cover on mortgage

i want to extend my mortgage term on my home from 20 to 25 years. the bank say its a legal requirement on homes that life cover is in place for the duration of the loan. anyone know if its a legal requirement? or are they just trying to make a life cover sale. thanks

There is a legal requirement to have mortgage protection (reducing life cover) in place for the duration of the mortgage when you are extending the term. You just need to have basic mortgage protection which is cheaper than life cover in place.

You can get the new life cover from anywhere, doesn't have to be with the same bank with whom you have the mortgage. It's optional to take it out with them but they may not shout about that hoping you'll take it out with them. So shop around.
It has to be the same length as the mortgage in case the mortgage holders die before it's paid off.

A tied agent of the bank where I took out my mortgage phoned me when I had applied for a mortgage & basically told me to come in & apply for my mortgage protection. When I told her I was looking at options with a broker, she said, "You don't want to be messing around with mortgage protection insurance" and basically insinuated that I needed to get it sorted out (with her) or else could have trouble getting the mortgage.

Since they're not allowed to insist you buy it from them, I think they try every trick in the book. Shop around. You can get mortgage protection insurance quite cheap.