LMI, your strategic
pathway for clients.
Accelerate your client’s property
goals with help from LMI.
Accelerate your client’s property goals with help from LMI.
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- Tools & Resources
- LMI toolkit
How Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) works.
LMI is an insurance policy that a lender takes out to protect itself against the risk that the home buyer or investor default on their loan repayments and the lender is unable to recover the full outstanding loan amount from the sale of the security property.
Although LMI protects the lender, not the home buyer or investor, it plays an important role in making loans accessible, enabling clients to purchase a property sooner with less than a 20% deposit.
Positioning LMI.
Introducing LMI early, alongside other pathways, helps clients compare their options and make informed decisions aligned to their long-term goals.
By positioning LMI upfront, the conversation shifts from focusing on the cost of LMI to a more important question: what is the cost of waiting?
LMI can support a broad range of clients including investors and upgraders who may benefit from entering the property market sooner.
Benefits for clients may include:
Buy now with less than a 20% deposit
Start building equity in the property
Strengthen financial wellbeing and security
Help bring the buy now vs wait conversation to life with Helia’s Home Deposit Estimator to show how different deposit scenarios can help them enter the property market sooner.
Client ready LMI resources.
Resources to support and enhance client conversations.
Tools & calculators.
Estimate, compare and consider available options.
Elevating deposit conversations
with the Home Deposit Estimator.
Bring the 'buy now vs wait' conversation to life.
Compare scenarios in real time with clients.
New course: LMI essentials.
Grow your knowledge and business.
Confidently use LMI as a strategy to support clients into home ownership sooner and grow your business. The course equips you with:- Practical insights into how LMI works When and how to use it to elevate client
- When and how to use it to elevate client conversations and position within your lending strategy
- How it compares to alternative options for clients with smaller deposits.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs).
LMI is not portable because it is specific to the original lender and loan. Each lender has its own credit policy, risk appetite and approval framework, which means risk cannot be transferred between lenders.
The LMI fee is calculated based on these individual factors at the time of approval. When a loan is refinanced, a new LMI policy may be required if the loan exceeds the new lender’s loan-to-value ratio (LVR) threshold.
A home buyer may be eligible for a partial refund of the LMI fee paid if the home buyer repays their loan within the first two years.
| Age of policy | Refund percentage |
|---|---|
| Less than a year | 40% |
| 1-2 years | 20% |
Refund eligibility and amounts vary by policy. Refunds don’t apply where repayments are missed or the loan is in default.
Helia’s underwriting standards and guidelines are available via The Hub
The guidelines cover all key policy requirements such as:
• Maximum LVRs
• Acceptable property types and land sizes
• Eligible income and employment types
• Mandatory documentation
• Variation procedures and consent requirements.
Only certain loan variations require Helia’s consent, as outlined in the Variations section of the underwriting standards and guidelines. These typically involve changes that may impact the original risk assessment of the insured loan.
Some variations do not require Helia consent, include:
• Product conversions
• Notification of a borrower’s death
Before submitting a variation request, please review the underwriting standards and guidelines.
Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) proposal checklist
Document required to be sent to Helia for LMI proposals submitted via email or eLMI portal (except e-form).
• A completed Helia LMI proposal form
• A copy of the completed loan application
• A copy of the serviceability calculation used in your loan assessment
• Full valuation report, or approved alternative, no more than 90 days old (only required if Valex ID not provided)
• Lenders supporting notes. If outside of Helia's LMI underwriting standards and guidelines, supporting comments outlining the strengths of the LMI proposal is also required.
Note: The loan application must satisfy your credit policies and all associated regulatory requirements. Helia reserves the right to request more detailed information or supporting documents for any LMI proposal. In addition to the documents detailed above, other documentation is obtained as part of your loan approval process. They do not need to be sent to Helia unless requested or considered appropriate under your duty of disclosure, however, must be retained on the lender file.
For further information, please refer to the LMI underwriting standards and guidelines.
For enquiries, please contact the Helia Customer Service Centre:
• Phone: 1300 661 118
• Email: underwritingsupport@helia.com.au