Builder offers insurance for laid off homebuyers.Firm using plan to help instill in·still v. To pour in drop by drop. in  stil·la tion n. consumer confidence Barratt American Inc., a British homebuilder with several projects in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , is offering mortgage insurance for homebuyers who lose their jobs. Company officials said they hope the move will instill confidence in prospective buyers. Lower prices and interest rates aren't enough to lure today's fearful breed of consumers, they said. "Drawing on our experience (in Britain), we perceive a lack of consumer confidence as one of the principal reasons people here put off home buying," said Michael Pattinson, president of Barratt American. "If we can somehow mitigate their fear of losing their jobs, I think we'll have an opportunity to increase sales." Last week, Barratt's sales staff started offering a mortgage protection policy that works like this: If the homebuyer is laid off within a year of buying a Barratt home, an insurer secured by Barratt will pay a maximum of $2,500 a month -- for up to one year -- to cover mortgage payments. The policy kicks in after the buyer has been unemployed for 30 days. The policy does not cover people 65 or older or homebuyers who are self-employed. Barratt is not the only company offering this type of policy in Southern California. The California division of Florida-based Arvida Co. will offer buyers the same insurance coverage within a few weeks, said Rod Gilliland, vice president of sales and marketing. The company's flagship property in Southern California is Coto de Caza, a 4,000-acre planned community Noun 1. planned community - a residential district that is planned for a certain class of residents residential area, residential district, community - a district where people live; occupied primarily by private residences east of Mission Viejo Mission Vi·e·jo A community of southern California southeast of Irvine. It is mainly residential. Population: 96,300. in Orange County. Gilliland said his sales staff must be careful not to present the unemployment mortgage insurance in such a way that it will spur what it is designed to allay al·lay tr.v. al·layed, al·lay·ing, al·lays 1. To reduce the intensity of; relieve: allay back pains. See Synonyms at relieve. 2. : a buyer's fear of being laid off. "We'll present this to buyers as a 'by-the-way' program where if anything happens to you, you're covered for a year." Like the Barratt program, the Arvida insurance policy will not add to the price of homes. Arvida will pay a $750 mortgage insurance premium per house when escrow closes. Pattinson declined to say how much his company was paying in premiums. Both companies' policies are underwritten by Lloyd's of London Not to be confused with Lloyds Bank or Lloyd's Register. Lloyd's of London is a British insurance market. It serves as a meeting place where multiple financial backers or “members”, whether individuals (traditionally known as . LePage is a staff reporter for the San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. Business Journal |
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