Lender's Mortgage Insurance (LMI) is usually required if you have a Loan to Valuation Ratio of more than 80%. That is, if the amount you need to borrow is greater than 80% of the value of the property because you have a deposit of less than 20%. If you are refinancing your home loan you have probably been repaying your current loan for long enough to have built up an equity of more than 20% in your home, and it's therefore less likely that you will need to pay LMI. But if you do still have an equity of less than 20% (because you may want to increase your loan amount in order to release some equity as cash or for debt consolidation) you still have the option of asking a family member (such as a parent) to guarantee your loan.