Rent Guarantee insurance

It’s up to you whether you get tenant default cover. But having it means your rental income is covered should your tenants fall behind on their payments.

The cost of living has put a strain on many people’s finances, and if your tenants struggle to pay this could leave you in a tricky position. That’s especially true if the rent payments form part of your income, or you have a mortgage in place on the property that the rent helps to cover.

Rent arrears can build up if your tenants haven’t been able to pay for months, and any repossession and eviction proceedings can also take a while. In these situations, landlords can find themselves hoping that their tenants choose to move out well before the process has run its course.

With landlord policies sold through us that include tenant default cover, you also get up to £50,000 towards your legal expenses. This includes access to legal advice should you need to repossess your property and evict the tenants.

The cost of your insurance policy varies depending on certain factors, including:

• The size and type of property

• Where the property is: Some areas are viewed as higher risk than others

• Your tenants: Some tenants are viewed as higher risk than others

• The level of cover you choose: The higher the amount of rent you need to cover, the higher the price is likely to be

It depends on the provider, so be sure to check if an excess may apply when you make a claim.    

When you get a landlord insurance quote through our site you can add rent protection insurance as an optional extra – although we refer to it as tenant default insurance.

To get a quote for landlord insurance you’ll need to share information including:

• The location of the property

• The property’s size, including the number of rooms

• The property type

• The status of the tenants, for example if they’re employed, students or retired

• If you carry out background and identity checks on tenants. You should also tell us if you get independent references and credit checks on tenants or their guarantor.

To add tenant default insurance to your quote, you must:

• Carry out background, identity and credit checks on your tenants

• Include legal expenses cover

You must have satisfactory references for the tenants from the start of the tenancy, otherwise your cover may be invalid. It’s also vital that your property is let with an assured shorthold tenancy, or an assured tenancy if it’s in Scotland.

Tenant default cover replaces your lost rent, but legal expenses insurance covers legal costs relating to your tenant and the tenancy.

If you buy landlord insurance through us, you have to buy legal cover in order to get the rent guarantee policy.

Legal cover gives you access to a legal and tax advice helpline, which provides unlimited legal and tax advice on any issue related to letting out your property. It can also help cover fees for other tenant-related issues, for example if the tenant has damaged your property.

Page last reviewed: 07/08/2026

Reviewed by: Nicola Morgan