It is important to make sure that the cover is suitable for your particular type of mortgage. Whatever kind of mortgage you have, however, make sure the cover provides contributions towards the repayment of capital or the cost of an endowment, PEP or pension policy as well as simply meeting the interest payments.The range and price of insurance varies according to the lender chosen and cover required. Most lenders require policy-holders to have worked for their employer for three months before the cover begins, but they will take over the interest payments and, unlike the state housing benefit, they will insure the capital repayments and any endowment policy premiums, and some offer cover for housing-related bills like council tax and household insurance premiums as well.Most ASU policies cost about pounds 6 a month for every pounds 100 of the mortgage repayment insured; thus, if you want to cover monthly payments of pounds 300, it will cost you an extra pounds 18 a month, but that can be reduced if you exclude a type of cover. Another good deal comes from the Loughborough Building Society, which is offering free ASU insurance on all new mortgages for the first three years of the loan. But exactly what type of cover is out there to protect our mortgage payments, how much does it cost and is it worth investing in?At present, there are several lenders which are seeking to attract new borrowers by offering a period of free ASU insurance with new mortgages. With a few exceptions, free insurance tends to be available only for the first 12 months of the loan's duration. But it is a useful way to entice first-time buyers who are worried about taking the plunge into such a large financial commitment.Skipton Building Society is at present the only lender that offers free unemployment insurance for the whole term of the mortgage.

In most cases that means having to sell the house and hope to have something left over.The new rules mean that mortgage payment protection policies (MPPs) - also sometimes known as accident, sickness and unemployment insurance (ASU) - have gone from being a quirky optional extra for the hyper-cautious to being the difference between keeping and losing the property. Most lenders now offer a comprehensive range of cover to help borrowers protect their mortgage loans. This in effect means that since then all new borrowers and anyone who simply remortgages will have to wait nine months before they qualify for any support. So anyone out of work for between eight and 26 weeks would receive a government contribution of 50 per cent towards their mortgage interest payments, rising to 100 per cent after that period.At the Woolwich, only 15 per cent of borrowers currently insure their payments. But as part of an ongoing process of transferring its responsibilities to the private sector, the Government withdrew this benefit to all new mortgage loans from last October. The recent recession also serves as a painful reminder to many that employment should never be taken for granted. Until this time last year, we drew comfort from the knowledge that if we were unable to work, the Government was on hand to pick up the pieces and provide mortgage payment benefits.

That should not be a problem while our salaries provide a steady inflow of capital. However, what does the future hold should that inflow of capital cease through unemployment, sickness or injury? This is a relevant question when you consider that 25 million working days a year are lost through accidents and injury. Everyone knows taking out a mortgage is probably the biggest financial commitment we make in life. Not everyone realises it also represents a major financial risk if, for any reason, we are unable to keep up the monthly repayments.

A Norwegian coastguard vessel was visiting the port during a trade show which had attracted exhibitors from as far away as Portugal.As I gazed at the arc of colour in the sky I could not decide whether there had been divine intervention behind that rainbow. But I couldn't help having suspicions.DONEGAL DEPARTURESA convenient airport for County Donegal is City of Derry, about eight miles from the border. Jersey European (0345 676676) flies from Gatwick to Derry via Belfast for a return fare of pounds 105 (including tax).Bord Filte/Irish Tourist Board: 150 Bond Street, London W1Y 0AQ (0171- 493 3201).. "And people in Dublin sometimes look at us as being too keen on devoting our lives narrowly to work." At Killybegs, the biggest commercial fishing port in Ireland, which looks out over Donegal Bay, men were certainly hard at work at 8am.