According to For Insurance, a site that connects consumers with insurance agents, mortgage life insurance policies are generally available to cover a range of mortgage repayment periods, e.g., 15, 20, 25 or 30 years, and the premium payment period may be shorter than the period of insurance coverage.

Mortgage life insurance is often confused with Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). You buy mortgage life voluntarily to protect your survivors from having to make the monthly payments. But with Private Mortgage Insurance, lenders require you to buy a policy in order to protect them (the lenders) against the possibility that you will default on the debt.