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Rent Guarantee Insurance

Get cover for unpaid rent

Cover purchased as part of Legal Expenses add on. Qualifying criteria apply. Restricted claims for existing tenants in the first 90 days when product first purchased. Residential landlords only.

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0345 303 1763

Rent Guarantee Insurance

No matter how carefully you vet your tenants, problems with unpaid rent can still happen. If your tenants have stopped paying rent, you may need to evict them at the same time as keeping up with your monthly mortgage payments.

To help take away the stress of rent arrears, our optional Rent Guarantee insurance pays the unpaid rent while your tenants or ex-tenants are still in your property. As a new customer or at renewal, all you need to do is take out our optional Legal Expenses cover and add Rent Guarantee to it. You’ll also be covered for the costs of repossessing the property.

Once you get your property back, you may find it needs repairs for it to be let out again. The cover will pay 50% of the rent you had previously received whilst letting it out while the repairs are happening for up to three months or until the property is let, whichever happens first.

Get a quote online
or call us on 0345 303 1763
Get a quote online call us on 0345 303 1763

The benefits of Rent Guarantee:

  • There’s no limit on the number of claims per year
  • No excess
  • £250,000 limit per claim
  • Claims can be made once the rent has been overdue for at least one calendar month
  • The cost for insuring a single flat or house for 12 months’ cover is £71.50 (inclusive of IPT at 10% as at 1 May 2017)

Add Rent Guarantee to Legal Expenses cover

You must take out Legal Expenses to be able to add Rent Guarantee to cover your rent arrears.

  • Our core Legal Expenses cover pays up to £250,000 for legal costs and expenses in dealing with disputes that can come with renting out your property:

    • Employment disputes and compensation awards
    • Legal defence
    • Property protection
    • Contract disputes – excludes contract disputes with your tenants
    • Debt recovery
    • Statutory licence appeal
    • Personal injury
    • Tax protection
    • Repossession
    • Dilapidations and maintenance
    • Eviction of squatters
    • Rent recovery – covers the legal expenses involved in legally pursuing unpaid rent, not the unpaid rent itself.

  • How to get our Rent Guarantee insurance?

    As a new customer or at renewal, all you need to do is take out our optional Legal Expenses cover and add Rent Guarantee to it.

    How to qualify for Rent Guarantee insurance

    Your property must be residential and in the UK. You need to have a reference for each tenant and each guarantor from a licensed referencing service before the tenancy begins. It must include:

    1. A written reference from previous managing agent or landlord
    2. A written reference from an employer (or any other financial source)
    3. A credit history check that includes the Enforcement of Judgments Office, County Court Judgments and bankruptcy

    There also needs to be a detailed inventory of the contents and condition of the property. The inventory must include supporting photographs and the tenant must have signed it. Plus, you must keep clear and up-to-date rental records.

    What Rent Guarantee does not cover

    The policy wording has the full terms and conditions, but the following key circumstances aren’t covered:

    • Rent arrears for any residential premises not in the UK
    • Rent arrears if you haven’t got satisfactory references before the tenancy starts or if the property is not let under a specific letting agreement defined by the Housing Act 1988 or the Housing Act (Scotland) Act 1988 or The Private tenancies Order 2006 in Northern Ireland
    • Contract disputes about your tenancy agreement
    • Any disagreement with your tenant(s) within 90 days of first buying Rent Guarantee when the tenancy agreement began before the start date of this cover
    • Rent arrears for commercial or mixed use premises
    • Rent arrears once the property is re-let

  • Once the tenant has not paid rent for 30 days and the relevant Section 21 or Section 8 notice has been issued, then you can claim.

    You must inform our legal expenses cover provider DAS as soon as possible. The claims handler then will inform you within five working days whether the claim is covered or if more information is needed.

    If the claim is covered, you’ll be provided the details of the solicitor assigned to your case and what to expect next. Any claim reported after 90 days after the date of the rent not being paid when expected is not covered.

    Examples of some of the documents we need when you claim:

    • A copy of the tenancy agreement
    • A schedule of how much rent is owed
    • Copies of any references you have
    • Any emails, faxes or letters sent to do with the dispute
    • If it’s applicable to the claim, then a copy of dilapidations inventory and/or schedule of dilapidations – this details breaches of the lease that are to do with the condition of a property during the tenancy or when the lease ends.
    • Copy of any notices for possession – usually this will be a Section 8 or Section 21
    • Confirmation of your Direct Line for Business policy schedule
    • A Deposit Protection Certificate
    • Proof of ownership of the property

    Find out more about the eviction process

Get a quote online
or call us on 0345 303 1763
Get a quote online call us on 0345 303 1763

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Direct Line insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England and Wales No 1179980. U K Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, registration number 202810. Calls may be recorded.

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