 TITLE: How Are Homeowners Insurance and Mortgage Insurance Different? CONTENT: While homeowners insurance covers you if something goes wrong with your home, mortgage insurance protects the lender if you're unable to pay your mortgage. If you run into a situation where you can't make your mortgage payments, the mortgage insurer will take over, which guarantees that the loan gets paid.\nIn most cases, you don't have a choice of whether you pay mortgage insurance: If you can't make at least a 20% down payment on your home purchase, the lender will require it.\nThis is no small consideration. The national median price for a single-family home in the first quarter of this year was $274,600, according to the National Association of Realtors. A 20% down payment works out to nearly $55,000. For many would-be buyers, that's a huge barrier to homeownership. So while it can be costly, mortgage insurance is often worth the price for borrowers who need it to get into their desired home. END