Rent Guarantee Insurance for Landlords

Protect Your Rental Income

Rent guarantee insurance pays your rent if a tenant stops paying, and usually covers the legal costs of getting your property back. It gives landlords a safety net when things go wrong.

We work with the UK's leading rent guarantee insurance providers. Submit your details and get a competitive quotation.

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• ✅ Covers unpaid rent ✅ Legal expenses included

  ✅ For private landlords ✅ Quick online quote

What Is Rent Guarantee Insurance?

It's different from landlord buildings or contents insurance, which covers damage to the property. Rent guarantee cover is about income. For landlords with a mortgage on the rental, a few months of missed rent can be hard to absorb, which is why many take it out.

What Does Rent Guarantee Insurance Cover?

• ✅ Unpaid rent, up to a monthly limit, often until you get the property back
• ✅ Legal costs to recover the property through the courts
• ✅ Sometimes, a share of rent after the tenant leaves while the property is relet
• ✅ Sometimes, costs to pursue the tenant for the debt

Limits, excesses and the length of cover vary a lot between policies, so check the schedule before you buy.

What Isn't Covered?

• ✅ Arrears that started before the policy began
• ✅ Tenants who weren't referenced to the insurer's standard
• ✅ Damage to the property, which is a landlord insurance matter
• ✅ Empty periods with no tenant in place
• ✅ Claims where the landlord broke tenancy rules, such as not protecting the deposit
• ✅ Disputes the landlord knew about when the policy started

Conditions You Usually Need to Meet

Insurers expect the tenancy to be set up properly. Missing one of these can mean a claim is refused:

Read the GOV.UK tenancy deposit rules if you're unsure. An unprotected deposit can weaken your case and your claim.

How Much Does Rent Guarantee Insurance Cost?

Premiums are usually charged per year, per property. The price depends on:

• ✅ The monthly rent and the limit you choose
• ✅ The excess, often the first month of arrears
• ✅ How long rent is paid for in a claim
• ✅ Whether legal expenses are included
• ✅ The tenant's reference result

As a rough guide, many policies cost a small percentage of the yearly rent. Compare the cover, not only the price.

Is Rent Guarantee Insurance Worth It?

A guarantor is the main alternative. A guarantor promises to pay if the tenant doesn't, but you may still need to chase them. Insurance pays you directly and covers legal costs, so many landlords use both.

Rent Guarantee for HMO Landlords

Short answer: HMO rent guarantee insurance works on the same idea as standard rent guarantee cover — it pays rent when a tenant stops paying and usually includes legal expenses — but it is not the same policy. Many standard single-let policies exclude HMOs or only cover them with a specific HMO endorsement, so HMO landlords usually need cover written for multi-let properties.

An HMO is a property let to three or more tenants from two or more households who share facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom. Larger HMOs — in England, five or more tenants from two or more households — usually need a mandatory HMO licence from the local council. Rules differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so check the local rules for your property.

How HMO cover is different

✅ Cover is usually per tenancy, not for the whole property at once
✅ If one room tenant stops paying, the claim is usually only for that tenant's rent — rent from other rooms that is still being paid is not claimed
✅ Empty rooms are usually not covered — as with standard policies, empty periods with no tenant in place are excluded
✅ Legal expenses usually apply per tenancy, for example to pursue possession for that room's arrears
✅ Premiums are usually charged per tenancy or per room, so the total for an HMO is usually higher than for a single let

Check the policy schedule before you buy: does it cover all rooms and all tenancies in the property, or only the tenancies you name? Does it cover a joint tenancy differently from separate room-by-room tenancies?

Conditions HMO landlords usually need to meet

In addition to the standard conditions above, HMO cover usually requires:

✅ A full reference for every tenant, to the insurer's standard, before their tenancy starts — one unreferenced tenant can affect a claim for that room
✅ An HMO licence, where required, in place with its conditions met — an unlicensed HMO can mean a claim is refused
✅ Each tenancy's deposit protected in a government-approved scheme, with prescribed information served for that tenancy
✅ Safety certificates for the whole property, plus HMO fire-safety requirements met
✅ Right to Rent checked for every adult occupier before the tenancy, in England
✅ Arrears reported quickly, per tenancy — do not wait until several rooms are in arrears

An unprotected deposit, a missing licence or a missed safety certificate can weaken your possession case as well as your claim.

Is HMO rent guarantee insurance worth it?

Short answer: it is often worth considering for HMO landlords because turnover is higher, arrears can come from more than one tenant, and possession costs can arise more than once. At the same time, because other rooms usually keep paying, a single default does not always mean the whole rent stops — so compare the total premium for all rooms against the risk of one or two rooms in arrears plus legal costs.

It may be less needed if you have strong cash reserves, long-standing tenants with a clean payment record, or guarantors for every room. Many HMO landlords use both a guarantor and insurance, as insurance pays you directly and covers legal costs.

Tell the provider it is an HMO when you request a quote — how many rooms, how many tenancies, and whether it is licensed. A quote given for a single let may not be valid for an HMO.

The Renters' Rights Act and Rent Arrears

In England, the Renters' Rights Act has changed how landlords regain possession. Section 21 "no-fault" evictions have ended, so landlords now rely on Section 8 grounds such as rent arrears. Possession for arrears can take longer, which is one reason more landlords now look at rent guarantee and legal expenses cover. Check the current rules and notice periods with your insurer or legal adviser.

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