From what I've heard from friends/family that have mortgages, here in the UK the mortgage company stipulates that you have to get life insurance in place to cover the remaining loan amount before they approve your mortgage.
That's not at all true. Banks will be very happy to sell you life insurance, for sure, and may make it sound important - but the only insurance requirement is on the building itself, and even then the cost of rebuilding it, not the value of it.