Rent Protection & Legal Services Insurance
An Introduction to Landlord Insurance
We have a dedicated insurance team with decades of experience in the insurance industry, which strives to provide market-leading insurance products and services. They pride themselves on the service they provide, whether agent, landlord, or tenant. Our suppliers are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority.
WHICH INSURANCE PROVIDER DO WE USE?
The provider we use varies depending on the value of the rent and type of insurance you want. Needless to say they are all recognised brands. The insurance is taken out in Ezytrac's name and in favour of your property. So we will take care of lodging claims for you.
WHAT IS RENT PROTECTION AND LEGAL EXPENSES INSURANCE
Rent Protection and Legal Expenses Insurance does exactly what it says on the tin - it protects the income (rent) of a property that has been let to a tenant. Sometimes things can go wrong - even when you’ve taken measures to protect yourself.
Rent arrears can be disastrous for a landlord, who might rely on this income to pay a buy-to-let mortgage. We’ll often settle a dispute in rent arrears or damage to a property outside of the legal system and, by taking out our insurance policy, we handle the time-consuming task of making a settlement. With our policy, landlords will always get the income they expect and, if they need legal representation to recover it, our policy can help.
Policy Benefits
NIL EXCESS
Rent Protection and Legal Expenses Insurance policies come with nil excess as standard, so landlords will benefit from 100% of rent owed, should they need to make a claim.
UP TO £100,000 LEGAL EXPENSES COVER
We’ll cover the costs and expenses of legal proceedings, including the cost of appeals, and also provide legal representation from one of our trusted partners. We’ll appoint a legal representative for the duration of the proceedings and support throughout the process.
RENT PROTECTION AND RECOVERY
We’ll pay rent arrears whilst a tenant or ex-tenant still occupies the property. After vacant possession has been obtained, we’ll continue to pay 75% of the rent until the property is re-let for at least of two months. We’ll also cover the costs and expenses of recovering rent from a tenant or ex-tenant, if the rent has been overdue for at least one month.
PROPERTY DAMAGE COVER
Should a property sustain physical damage of £1,000 or more during the tenancy caused by the tenant, we’ll cover the costs and expenses for pursuit of a civil dispute against the tenant, to rectify the damage.
EVICTION OF TENANTS OR SQUATTERS
If there are squatters or ex-tenants in the property without the landlord’s consent, our policy will assist with the costs of eviction.
STANDALONE LEGAL EXPENSE COVER
The landlord can claim for legal expense cover to evict a tenant, should the tenant breach any part of their tenancy agreement that requires the pursuit of a civil dispute.
90-DAY CLAIM WINDOW
We offer a 90-day claim window, providing plenty of time to organise a claim from the date of the first rental payment missed by a tenant. Our claims process is really simple and all communications to the landlord are sent automatically, when a claim is submitted.
AUTO-RENEWAL PROCESS
Our policies are set to auto-renew as standard, so you don’t have to worry about the arduous task of finding new policies for properties when the policy ends, you can continue to provide landlords with consistent service and peace of mind.
What's the Difference Between Our Insurance and Other Policies?
Our Rent Protection and Legal Expenses Insurance Policy is nil excess as standard, and covers eviction of tenants or squatters legal proceedings, property damage, contract disputes, and legal defence, should you need it. Full details will be provided with your certificate.
Did you know we also have a robust referencing service that assesses tenants’ eligibility against the criteria of our Rent Protection and Legal Expenses policy? So you will know before accepting a tenant that your property qualifies for insurance.
Policy Criteria
Our Rent Protection and Legal Expenses policy is directly linked to our referencing criteria.
A tenant must have passed, conditionally passed, or have an acceptable guarantor for a Rent Protection and Legal Expenses policy to be available on the property.
Our criteria for referencing is made up of four components: identification, residential history, income and affordability.
Identification
We require all applicants to supply a valid form of ID as part of our criteria.If they are applying to rent in England, the ID must also satisfy Right to Rent requirements or exemptions e.g. diplomats, foreign military personnel, etc. We accept the following formats:
• A clear image of the ID should be provided
• The copy should include the whole photo page of the ID, including the MRZ code on passports and visas
• Applicants should avoid glare and obstructions to the image: for example, fingers and thumbs
• Both the front and back of immigration visas and permit cards should be submitted
Residential History
• Currently renting (as tenant or lodger or licence)
• Homeowner
• Living with friends and family•Living in short-term accommodation (such asa hotel or an AirBnB)
• Living in employer-provided accommodation or homeless
• Living in student halls of accommodation
Income & Affordability
As part of our referencing process, each prospective tenant and guarantor is subject to a series of complex checks to assess their creditworthiness.Reference checks are powered by Equifax, a global leader in credit reporting, search for credit repayment history and adverse credit databases, and establish whether the applicant genuinely lived at their declared address(es).
If a potential tenant has no adverse credit history and they can be located at their supplied address, then they will pass.
If we are unable to locate a prospective tenant at any of the addresses listed, they will be a conditional pass. They are then required to present in person, to their agent, a hard copy proof of address.We assess an applicant’s income to check that they are capable of covering the costs of the rent for the duration of the tenancy.
We apply the same assessments to guarantors, so that we are able to confidently say that they can pay, in the event that the tenant defaults on payments. We use a measure called an “affordability ratio” to make this calculation. The affordability ratio differs between tenants and guarantors.
The claim process is the most important part of a Rent Protection and Legal Expenses policy. We have developed a unique system that automates much of the journey to reduce workload and minimise any stress brought on by the risks covered. To ensure as much flexibility as possible, the claim window is 90 days.
All the relevant documents you would need to file a claim with the insurer are captured through Ezytrac’s pre-tenancy process, so, if you need to file a claim, all the documents are ready to go.
You can say goodbye to printing, searching for crucial documents only to find they aren’t where you thought they were, or spending precious time on hold trying to submit your request over the phone.
Once a claim is submitted, the insurer will automatically contact you and notify you that the process is underway. If the case includes rent arrears, we will also automatically contact any applicable tenants and guarantors to explain what the next steps are and advise on the best course of action.
* All criteria as detailed within the Policy Wording must be met to validate a claim.
Should the claim be for rent arrears, the insurer will make the initial payment to Ezytrac, no later than five days after accepting the claim, and pay the rent until vacant possession is obtained (or you reach the £100,000 limit of indemnity).
Whichever feature of the policy you are claiming on, we will manage all of the relevant legal processes and cover the associated costs as detailed within the Policy Wording, up to the limit of indemnity.
During the process, Ezytrac will be assigned a dedicated Claims Manager whom they will have direct access to, ensuring transparency and easy communications.
Policy Renewal Process
Our Rent Protection and Legal Expenses policy will auto-renew. This reduces the amount of administration you have to carry out whilst ensuring there is no gap in cover - leaving you potentially exposed should a risk arise.
For all Rent Protection and Legal Expenses policies, you will be notified 31 days in advance of the live policy end date that the product will renew. The email will include the current policy details, and confirm the new policy start and end dates. At this stage, if you want the cover to continue, you do not need to take any action.
Should this policy be included in your tier, cover will automatically apply and be renewed.
If you don’t want cover to renew, you will have the option in the email to opt out of the process, so any protection in place would cease as of the end date of the original policy.
Mid-Tenancy Policy Transfers
We appreciate it is not just new landlords that will want to benefit from our Rent Protection and Legal Expenses product. We therefore operate a Mid-Tenancy Policy transfer process, which allows the service to be offered to existing landlords without the need to re-reference the tenants currently occupying the property.
On the basis that the tenant passed referencing with a pre-approved third party provider and didn’t fall into arrears during the tenancy, your existing landlords may be able to benefit from the protection. This means you can offer an enhanced service to your current landlords, whilst introducing a substantial new revenue stream to your business. Each Mid-Tenancy Policy transfer is subject to conditions within the policy and our Insurance team will work with you to ascertain whether such conditions can be met.
We will also support the marketing and communications regarding such a transfer, meaning your workload is reduced.
If you are interested in understanding more about this process, please do not hesitate to speak to our team.
Rent Protection & Legal Services Insurance
Ezytrac does not provide this policy and is not regulated with the FCA. Our chosen provider will be regulated with FCA as required. You can check this information on the Financial Services Register by visiting www.fca.org.uk/register. The FCA is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services.