Your new home comes
with a new number
Two minutes, no contact details needed, just your own loan numbers.
Defaulted to a typical current rate, change it to whatever you're actually quoted.
🔒 Nothing here is saved. This stays on your screen only.
Your loan, over time
Tap or drag anywhere on the chart to check any year
Reducing cover vs. level cover
Both shown starting at your loan amount, so you can compare them directly.
Tap or drag to check any year
The gap between the two lines is what a level structure can leave for your family beyond just clearing the loan, where that money actually goes depends on how the policy is nominated.
Three ways buyers cover this
- Coverage reduces as your loan balance reduces
- Tied to this specific loan, doesn't follow you if you refinance or switch banks
- Usually the lower-cost option, since the cover shrinks over time
- Ends when the loan ends, no payout if you outlive it or settle early
- Coverage stays level, doesn't shrink with the loan, so any excess goes to your family, not just the bank
- Portable, stays with you if you refinance or move banks
- Some versions include a savings component, worth asking what structure applies
- Generally costs more than MRTA for the same starting amount
- You choose the amount, not sized to a bank's loan schedule
- Can cover more than just the mortgage: income, other debts, family needs
- Fully portable, fully yours, most flexible on who benefits and how
- Who gets paid: a reducing structure typically settles the loan directly. A level structure can often be nominated to your own beneficiaries first, who then decide how to use it, though some banks still require an assignment either way, worth confirming for your specific loan.
- If you sell or refinance: a structure tied to this loan usually ends when the loan does. A level, standalone structure can typically move with you to your next property.
- Shape of the cover: reducing shrinks alongside your loan balance, that's the gold line you just saw. Level holds steady, that's the gap.
- What it costs: structures vary by insurer, whether reducing or level, some are one-time premium, others ongoing. Worth asking specifically what you're being offered.
- Add-ons: some level-structure plans allow riders like critical illness, this isn't universal, so it's worth asking rather than assuming.
Neither is automatically the right answer, it depends on how long you're likely to hold this property, whether you'd want any excess beyond the loan, and what fits your monthly budget. That's worth a specific conversation.
Most buyers sort this out in the same month as their loan, want me to run your numbers properly?
No pressure, this just starts the conversation, whenever you're ready.