What does tenant default cover?
Tenant default covers the monthly rental payment if your tenant doesn’t pay. We've partnered with Simply Business to compare insurers and find a policy to suit your needs. All policies differ, but if you buy through us you get:
- Up to £50,000, with no monthly rental limit
- Lost rent for up to 12 months
- Up to £50,000 towards legal expenses
You don’t have to pay an excess if you need to claim on tenant default cover when bought through us.
Because tenant default covers the property and not the tenant, you should still be covered if new tenants move in, as long as:
- The new tenants have passed the usual checks
- There’s a new tenancy agreement in place
You can get tenant default insurance alongside legal expenses insurance when you compare quotes with us. Legal expenses insurance covers:
- Repossessing the property
- Evicting tenants
- Recovering missed rent payments (known as rent arrears)
- Access to legal advice
Along with legal expenses cover, you also need to have property owners’ liability insurance when you get tenant default insurance.
Property owners’ liability insurance provides cover if a tenant or visitor seeks compensation for injury or for damage to their possessions at your rental property. You can choose between £2 million and £5 million of property owners’ liability cover.
What's not covered by rent guarantee insurance?
There’s certain things that rent guarantee insurance doesn't cover:
- Commercial properties
- Selling the property
- Certain types of tenant
- Tenants moving out
- Tenants were already behind on rent payments (in arrears) before you bought the policy
- More than one tenancy agreement at a single property
- Commercial properties: Places like offices or workplaces. When you get a quote, select 'commercial insurance' to add rental income protection to your policy.
- Selling the property: Your tenant default payments stop when you put the property on the market, since it’s assumed no rent is meant to be coming in.
- Certain types of tenant: For example students or the unemployed are often not covered as they’re viewed as being at a higher risk of defaulting.
- Tenants moving out : This includes if the tenants leave voluntarily or are evicted. You aren't covered while you find a new tenant.
- Tenants were already behind on rent payments (in arrears) before you bought the policy: When your tenants fall into arrears, you usually have around 60 days to make a claim on an existing insurance policy. You can't buy a policy to cover an issue that's already happening.
- More than one tenancy agreement at a single property: If you have multiple tenant agreements, you need a separate policy for each tenancy to stay covered.
Contract disputes aren’t included as part of tenant default cover. But they’re usually covered by the legal expenses insurance.
When you start the policy could also affect when you can claim. If you got your insurance before the tenancy agreement was signed, you’re usually unable to claim on the policy for 90 days. This varies between providers, so check before you buy.
Who is Simply Business?
Our trusted partner Simply Business is one of the UK’s largest providers of landlord insurance, covering 315,000 landlords. They’re a certified B Corporation and their customers rate them 4.7/5 on Feefo.
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