There are different types of insurance you can take out on your home and mortgage. As with trying to find your actual mortgage you should shop around for any insurance you take out – there are some good deals, and some very poor ones that should be avoided.

You’ll probably find that your bank/mortgage provider will try to get you to take out a policy with their own company – while they may push it hard, it’s often not the best deal available, so shop around on the internet and you’ll probably be able to save yourself quite a bit.

Hazard Insurance – You’ll want to insure your home and it’s contents against damages. It’s important to get it right when estimating how much coverage you need – you don’t want to pay excessive fees, and neither do you want to underinsure.

Look at your possessions – do you have any antiques that need extra protection? Do you have expensive jewelry? How much would all of it cost to replace? Shop around to find some great deals and you’ll save yourself thousands in the process (as opposed to signing up with whatever your mortgage provider is trying to push on you).

Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance – this type of insurance protects you against any loss of income that may affect your ability to make your mortgage payments. This can be important coverage, especially if you do not have the cashflow to make mortgage payments should you lose your job/income source.

The two important things to look for are (1) when do the insurance payments start after your loss of income (for example, is it 30 or 60 days?) and (2) how long are you covered for (you can often get 12 to 24 months coverage).

As with most insurance types, these vary widely so make sure you shop around and get what's right for you.

Life Insurance – With this type of insurance, should you die your dependents will receive a sum of cash to replace a part or the full amount of your earning power. If you’re single this is cover that you don’t really need – but if you are married and have children who depend on you to put food on the table and a roof over their heads, it may be coverage you should seriously consider.

Mortgage Protection Decreasing Term Insurance – This is a unique type of coverage whereas the amount owed on your mortgage decreases over time, so do your insurance payments. The logic is that as your mortgage decreases, you need less to cover it should anything bad happen – so the insurance should also cost less.

Critical Illness Cover – As you might think, critical illness insurance protects you in the event that you develop a very serious injury/illness (the types of illnesses are pre-set in the policy).

Standard Illness Cover – Also known as health insurance, this type of policy covers you against most types of illnesses (typically you can expect 50% of your income to be paid out until recovery).