ta for reply clubman, loan is 25000 which i am ashamed to say is to cover debt consolidation. I did look into a top-up, was refused then was approved (by the same bank) but I have recently made a complaint about this as i met with a mortgage advisor in April/May and only got the approval in writing in August, it was also at a different rate as offered over the phone/in person and different to that of my existing mortgage, also a different fixed term (perhaps this is standard, I don't know) - I just found it too stressful and confusing to deal with - as you might gather Im not good on money matters and now I am in a situation where I just have to lower the monthly repayments I am making. I will have a look at documents on the mortgage insurance this evening - don't know what I took out, was a first time buyer at the time through a broker and just never shopped around since