Property investors in the UK who have a number of homes in their portfolio are likely to have taken out one or more buy-to-let mortgages in order to fund the purchase of these properties. With mortgage interest rates at record low levels in the UK, the discrepancy between monthly mortgage payments and rental incomes is now significant so there is huge potential for a good profit to be made from these mortgaged properties.

But property investors generally think it is unnecessary to take out life insurance to cover their property portfolio in the same was as they would to cover their own home and protect their dependents' inheritance. Protecting investment properties in the event of death may not seem to be a major priority and many property investors may never have considered the need for life insurance for the mortgages on their property portfolio.

But if you consider the reasons why you might invest in property it is usually to provide an income for yourself and your family in retirement or as a legacy to leave your family. In that case what would happen if you were to die with a large mortgage debt on your property portfolio and your family simply inherited the debt rather than a number of mortgage-free properties simply because you had failed to take out the appropriate insurance?

It is unlikely that you family would appreciate being encumbered with a property portfolio that they had to either continue to maintain or had to sell for little profit once the mortgage had been repaid. But if the mortgages on your property portfolio were insured then you could leave a substantial legacy to your beneficiaries, one that would offer options to receive a regular rental income and/or a substantial lump sum by selling one or more of the properties.

Depending on how many properties you have in your portfolio and the overall level of mortgage debt, it may not be necessary to insure every single property but it is certainly worth considering whether some life insurance would be valuable to help your dependents in the event of your death, particularly on those properties that have very little equity in them.

With record low interest rates currently available for mortgages you may have some spare rental income that would cover the cost of life insurance so now might be the ideal time to consider it. That way you could bequeath a debt-free property portfolio to your dependants rather than leave them with a large mortgage.