How Does Covid-19 Affect Your Mortgage Application?

Catching Covid-19 and Being a Close Contact

Mortgage Protection Insurance is legally required to draw down on your mortgage. If you have contracted Covid-19 insurers will not consider your application for mortgage protection, as well as other health related insurance products, until a period after you are symptom free. Typically, you will be reconsidered one month from when you last had symptoms but in some cases insurers have delayed applications by up to 6 months.

If you have been a close contact of an individual suspected or confirmed to have the virus your application will be processed one month after your isolation period ends.

Acquiring the right insurance is one of the most common reasons mortgage applications are delayed after going sale agreed so it's important to be particularly diligent about avoiding the virus when looking to buy a home.

Your Employer is Availing of a Covid-19 Subsidy Scheme

When applying for a mortgage your lender will ask your employer to confirm if they are availing of temporary financial supports related to the pandemic, such as the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS). Cases will be considered on an individual basis, however few lenders will allow you to draw down on your mortgage if your employer is still availing of supports at that time. Lenders are concerned that when the subsidy ends you may lose some or all of your salary. It's not all bad news, most lenders will still grant Approval in Principle so that you can understand how much you can borrow and begin bidding on properties.

Government Response to Insurers and Lenders

The government has stated that financial institutions must evaluate applications on a case by case basis. Sharon Donnery, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, told RTE that none of these factors "can be used as a blanket based exclusion" to applicants. The reality is that banks and insurers have put policies in place to make successful applications from people impacted by Covid-19 the exception rather than the norm.

Will Not Having the Vaccine Impact My Application?

Whether you have the vaccine or not is unlikely to impact you during the process of buying a home. If you are allergic to any aspect of the vaccine it will be taken into account in your insurance policy.