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Rent Guarantee – Everything you need to know

British Estates - Rent guarantee
Picture of Donald Smith
Donald Smith

Founder and Co-owner

Rent guarantee is a form of insurance or guarantee provided to landlords to protect them against the risk of tenant default on rental payments. It offers financial security by ensuring that landlords receive their rental income even if the tenant fails to pay.

Rent guarantee primarily benefits landlords by providing them with financial protection against tenant default on rental payments.

Here’s everything you need to know about rent guarantee:

  1. Purpose: The primary purpose of rent guarantee is to safeguard landlords’ income and mitigate the financial risks associated with non-payment of rent by tenants.
  2. Coverage: Rent guarantee policies typically cover the unpaid rent and, in some cases, legal expenses incurred by the landlord in the event of tenant eviction. The coverage may vary depending on the specific policy and insurance provider.
  3. Tenant Screening: To qualify for rent guarantee insurance, landlords often need to ensure that their tenants pass certain screening criteria, such as income verification, credit checks, and references. These requirements may vary depending on the insurance provider.
  4. Policy Terms: These policies usually have specific terms and conditions, such as a maximum coverage limit, a waiting period before a claim can be made, and a minimum duration of the tenancy agreement.
  5. Claim Process: In the event of tenant default, landlords need to follow the prescribed claim process outlined by the insurance provider. This typically involves notifying the insurer within a specified timeframe and providing necessary documentation, such as proof of the unpaid rent and eviction notices.
  6. Exclusions: Policies may have certain exclusions, such as rent arrears arising from unauthorised subletting, deliberate property damage, or non-compliance with legal requirements. It’s essential to review the policy documents carefully to understand what is covered and what is not.
  7. Premiums: Landlords are required to pay regular premiums to maintain rent guarantee coverage. The premium amount is determined based on factors like the rental income, location, and the tenant’s profile. Premiums can be paid monthly or annually, depending on the insurance provider.
  8. Insurance Providers: Rent guarantee insurance is offered by various insurance companies and providers. It is advisable to compare different providers, their coverage, terms, and premiums to choose the most suitable policy for your specific needs.
  9. Additional Coverage: Some insurance providers may offer optional add-ons or additional coverage, such as legal expenses cover, malicious damage protection, or rent guarantee for vacant periods. These can provide enhanced protection but may come at an extra cost.
  10. Legal Considerations: This insurance is not a substitute for legal compliance. Landlords still need to adhere to relevant rental laws and regulations and follow proper eviction procedures if necessary.

It’s important to note that the information provided here is a general overview of rent guarantee and may not cover all the specifics of every policy or jurisdiction. It’s advisable to consult with insurance professionals or experts in your region for detailed information tailored to your individual circumstances.

Contact one of our expert advisors for more information or look at our amazing landlord packages

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Negotiating Tenancy Renewals

The best time to contact your tenants is 12-16 weeks before the end of their lease. The objective is to allow yourself plenty of time to renegotiate lease terms with your tenants while also knowing in advance if you need to prepare to remarket your property.

Rent Collection & monthly Direct Debit

Rent collection service – involves collecting and chasing rent from tenants. As rent collection can be stressful and time-consuming, especially if you have a tenant who consistently makes late payments, using a rent collection service can save landlords time and money. We aim to pay all collected rents on the same day of receipt (as per bank clearance rules, weekends and bank holidays are paid on the next working day)

24/7 Live Chat Support

With 24 hour customer support You can receive help and find answers to questions 24/7 and in real-time.

Dedicated Property Manager

We will assign you a dedicated property manager, who will be in charge of assigning property in order to generate and maintain high-quality services.

Legal & Eviction advice

You must follow strict procedures if you want your tenants to leave your property.

Evicting tenants is something that landlords never want to do. Sometimes, as landlords, we may not have any choice but to evict a tenant, for example, if they’re not paying the rent.

On other occasions, our circumstances may have changed, and we may need to ask tenants to leave to make it easier to sell one of our buy-to-let portfolio properties, or even because we need to move into it ourselves.

No matter what your reasons as a landlord for wanting to evict tenants, there are clear processes that you must follow to ensure that the action you are taking is correct and enforceable.

Property Legal disputes advice

Property disputes can be extremely unpleasant and stressful. At British Estates, we understand how difficult it is to be involved in a disagreement relating to your home and we will do all we can to advise you about the issue as quickly as possible.

Health & Safety Advice

To ensure that tenants have a safe, pleasant place to live, the law requires private landlords to fulfil numerous responsibilities.

These mainly relate to the upkeep and safety of the building, but also include duties that ensure fairness and privacy for the tenant.

We guide you through all the legal responsibilities of private landlords, to make it clear what the landlord must do and what the tenant can reasonably request.

It also therefore clarifies what the tenant is responsible for, as both have to do their part in maintaining the property.

Complimentary re-advertising

Complimentary re-advertise your property if a tenant leaves the property before the tenancy agreement expires.

Repairs & Maintenance Management

Repairs Management – When you sign up with us, one of the things we’ll discuss is how you want to manage the ongoing maintenance of your property or properties.

Together, we must ensure your property meets and is maintained to the standards required by law and by our Local Authority clients.

We also know from experience, that well maintained homes cost less in the long term, so it’s important for protecting your investment.

To keep things simple, we can carry out all repairs on your behalf. We have a team of in-house multi-skilled operatives, as well as specialist gas and electrical engineers who are trained and qualified to keep your homes safe, well-maintained and compliant with legislative standards.

Or, if you prefer, you can take responsibility for carrying out repairs yourself. In this case, it is our responsibility to inform you about repairs that need doing and to ensure they are carried out.

Digital tenancy agreement

Once a draft is approved, a professional tenancy agreement is sent to all parties to be signed and stored securely online. No printing is required.

Holding deposit service

Landlord must protect tenant deposit under the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. This scheme makes sure tenant will get their deposit back when moving out if they looked after the property and paid their rent.

Tenant fully referenced

Tenant referencing is a way of finding out and confirming information about a prospective tenant.

This includes income validation, and references from previous landlords as standard.

It confirms that this information (such as how much tenants earn) is correct, and it helps to decide whether the tenant the right fit for your chosen property.

This helps you to make an informed decision on whether to rent your property to that individual.

Referencing can help build trust that a tenant will pay their rent on time, treat the property with respect and not be a nuisance to neighbours or others.

Advert on Rightmove, Zoopla & OnTheMarket

The biggest benefit of advertising rental properties on Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket is undoubtedly the number of people who use these platforms.

Those platforms are similar in design and function, with only a few small quirks between them, but the latest figures show just how popular they are.

People using Rightmove , Zoopla or OnTheMarket are possibly the single largest audience of interested people you can access online as a landlord, so it’s no surprise that these platforms are incredibly popular.

The whole property advertising process is usually faster when using Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket.

As the portals have so many visitors, there are a lot more people from your area looking for properties and as a result, properties don’t take as long to fill.

Rent Guarantee

What is Rent Guarantee Insurance for landlords?

For landlords, it’s no surprise that rent arrears and tenant debt can be concerning. Rent Guarantee Insurance (also known as Tenant Default Insurance or Rent Protection) makes sure that the landlord is covered in the event of rent going unpaid and also that any subsequent action needed is taken care of.

This includes any legal costs that may be incurred by the landlord. Having a policy like this is in line with the latest eviction laws, which state what landlords need to be aware of in terms of tenancy notice. For example, if a landlord is planning to evict a tenant, the tenant can stall the hearing if they can prove they can start making their payments.

This process can sometimes take a long time, which can result in the landlord losing income.

Property Repairs Cover

Landlord Home Emergency Cover provides protection for costs incurred for any contractor carrying out emergency repairs to your rented property.

This cover for rental properties is included in our Complete Platinum Plan and is also available as an add-on to the Silver or Gold Plans.

Give yourself total peace of mind – with up to £500 of cover for every incident.

Whether it’s a burst pipe, broken boiler, busted lock or even all three – you’ll have a network of trade professionals ready to help.

You or your tenant can call the emergency helpline any time of day, every day of the year – including Christmas Day.

24/7 emergency helpline for landlords and tenants No excess payment required

Calls answered with courtesy in a UK-based call centre

Full UK coverage with thousands of tradespeople