Mortgage protection

At what point does a mortgage protection policy become active?

I applied for a policy through my bank but have since got a better quote from labrokers - can I apply for this instead and cancel the original application or can I wait until approval has come through for both and cancel at this stage?

Depends on your timeframe and when you are drawing down the loan. In my experience it takes a month to five weeks to get these policies issued and assigned ( maybe longer if there are medical issues) to the lender so if your first application is at an advanced stage and you need the dosh quickly you might be as well leaving it go ahead. You can then proceed with la brokers to get cheaper life cover and then assign that policy to the lender who will then reassign the other policy back to you and you can cancel it. This advice might be even more pertinent if a postal strike goes ahead.

I think my mortgage protection life assurance started before the mortgage was drawn down but I can't remember for sure. However even once it has started I presume that you can substitute a different/cheaper/better policy and cancel the original one at any time?

So I can apply for both and if they are both approved before drawdown just get the cheaper assigned and cancel the other before it is needed.

It will probably take some time to have the policy reassigned.

I am not in a particular hurry to close so this may help me really.