Bank-bundled insurance plans often mix mortgage protection, life cover, illness cover and Bill Cover into one policy. It’s convenient, but it creates blind spots, especially around who owns the policy, what happens if you’re sick, and whether Bill Pay is being mistaken for proper income protection.
Have you had the talk?
No, not the birds and the bees.
The one with the bank.
The meeting where mortgage protection quietly turns into a wider conversation about “cover”, and before you know it, you’re being shown a bundled plan that seems to tick every box.
If you’ve already signed, don’t panic.
Bank-sold plans come with a 30-day cooling-off period, where you get your money back and even outside that window you’re free to cancel and switch.
If you haven’t signed yet, this page will help you understand what’s actually being offered (and what isn’t).
What Is the One Plan (and Similar Bank-Bundled Policies)?
The One Plan is Irish Life’s bundled protection product, commonly offered through banks during the mortgage process.
Rather than buying individual policies, everything is wrapped into one plan, typically including:
- Mortgage protection
- Life insurance
- Serious illness cover
- Bill Cover (often described as “income protection” during the meeting)
On the surface, it looks neat.
One application. One premium. One provider.
The problems only become obvious later.
The One Advantage: Convenience
There’s no denying that bundled plans are convenient.
If you:
- Don’t want to compare insurers
- Don’t want advice on individual covers
- Are happy to take whatever is put in front of you during the mortgage process
Then convenience may outweigh everything else.
For most people, though, convenience comes at a cost they don’t see at the time.
The Real Problems With Bank-Bundled Cover
1. The Bank Owns the Policy
To draw down your mortgage, the policy must be assigned to the bank.
That means the bank becomes the legal owner of the policy and receives the payout first.
For basic mortgage protection, that’s unavoidable.
The issue is that in a bundled plan, everything is assigned together.
Life cover.
Serious illness cover.
Bill Pay.
If a claim is paid while the policy is assigned, the bank is entitled to use that money to clear the mortgage before anything reaches you or your family.
That’s why we usually recommend:
Death-only mortgage protection for the bank, and keeping everything else on separate policies.
Structuring your policies this way means you’re in control of the proceeds.
2. Bill Cover Is Not Income Protection
This is where most people get caught.
During “the talk”, Bill Cover is often presented as income protection.
Clients regularly tell us they already “have income protection” through their One Plan.
They don’t.
Bill Cover is designed to help with specific bills (often mortgage repayments) for a limited period if you’re unable to work.
Income protection does something very different.
- Income protection replaces part of your actual earnings and can pay until you return to work or reach retirement age.
- Bill Cover usually pays for 2 or 5 years, has a monthly cap, and stops regardless of whether you’re back earning.
The average income protection claim lasts over seven years.
Bill Cover can be useful as short-term support, but it is not a substitute for proper income protection.
Crucially, Bill Cover does not qualify for tax relief.
Income protection does.
Premiums qualify for tax relief at your marginal rate, up to 40%. That significantly reduces the real cost over time.
This confusion is also where phrases like “mortgage income protection” come from.
People are trying to protect repayments if they’re sick, but are sold a bill-focused product instead of true income replacement.
3. You Don’t Get Real Choice
No single insurer is best at everything.
Some are stronger on income protection.
Others on life cover.
Others on serious illness definitions or underwriting flexibility.
Bundling removes that choice.
Once everything is tied into one plan, you can’t easily compare like with like, and you can’t optimise cover based on your own circumstances.
That matters even more if health issues or job risks come into play.
4. Health and Underwriting Nuances Get Lost
Different insurers treat medical conditions differently.
In a bundled plan, you don’t get to choose the insurer that’s most sympathetic to your situation.
That can mean higher premiums, exclusions, or compromises that wouldn’t apply elsewhere.
So What’s the Safer Way to Do This?
For most people, the cleaner approach is:
- Basic mortgage protection to satisfy the bank
- Life insurance, serious illness cover and income protection arranged separately
- Each policy owned by you, not the lender
- Each insurer chosen for what they’re actually best at
That way, if you claim, the money goes where it’s meant to go and keeps paying for as long as you need it to.
What to Do Next
If you’ve already been shown a bundled plan and want a second opinion, that’s sensible.
If you haven’t signed yet, it’s worth understanding your options before you do.
If Bill Pay is being described as income protection, that’s a red flag so it’s worth slowing things down.
💬 If you want a clear, no-pressure recommendation on how to structure cover properly, you can start with our short financial questionnaire.
Thanks for reading
Nick
Editor’s note: First published 2020 | Rebuilt February 2026 to reflect how banks, insurers and underwriting actually work today.
Written by Nick McGowan, QFA RPA APA
Nick is a qualified financial advisor and founder of Lion.ie, an independent Irish life insurance and income protection brokerage based in Tullamore.
He’s been helping people get fair, transparent cover for over 15 years — and was named Protection Broker of the Year 2022.
If you’d like straight answers (without the sales pitch), learn more about Nick here.