When your income is reliant on other people being able to pay their rent on time every month, one of the biggest nightmares for every landlord is having a tenant who is unable (or simply won’t) pay their rent.
While many landlords cover their property with home insurance, few will take the additional step of purchasing rent guarantee insurance for these situations.
Below, we’re going to take a look at exactly what rent guarantee insurance is – and whether you really need it as a landlord.
What is Rent Guarantee Insurance?
Landlords rent guarantee insurance protects you if your tenants fail to pay their rent or for service charges.
Some buildings insurance policies do cover you for missed rent, but this is only the event of an accident such as a fire or other damage to the property. If your tenant falls into debt or simply refuses to pay your rent, rent guarantee insurance is what you need to protect yourself.
What Does it Cover?
Rent guarantee insurance covers you for missed rent (this typically has to be at least one month)
Your policy will typically cover you for:
- Rent that your tenants have not paid
- Legal fees and expenses
- Expenses for accommodation etc while you try to repossess your property if needed
Do I Really Need It?
Rent guarantee insurance provides the peace of mind that should you be unlucky enough to have a tenant who cannot or will not pay their rent, you have the policy to protect your income.
Starting from £61.50 for six months worth of cover, rent guarantee insurance is not overly expensive for the protection it provides – and will be well worth the investment should you fail to receive your rent for several months.
What Else Can I Do If My Tenant Fails to Pay Their Rent?
Of course, your rent guarantee insurance is not a permanent solution – ideally, you want your tenant to either start paying their rent or to evict them and find a new tenant.
This process can be long-winded, not to mention expensive if you need to take them to court (which again, is where rent guarantee insurance is so useful with cover for your legal expenses).
Take a look at this guide to dealing with a tenant who has fallen into arrears for a better idea of how to handle this situation.
If you are a landlord and haven’t protected your income with rent guarantee insurance yet, get a quote for your rental property today – our policies are available in both 6 and 12-month duration and have zero excess or hidden fees:
Earlier this year, the Department for Transport announced that from 2019, people with ‘hidden disabilities’ will also be granted blue badge parking permits.
Blue badge parking permits enable holders to park closer to their destination, and are given to anyone who cannot make a journey without ‘risk of serious harm to health or safety’. In the past, blue badge permits have only been available to anyone who is ‘disabled or [has] a health condition that affects your mobility’.
What do the changes mean?
The changes to the Blue Badge scheme are the biggest overhaul of the system in 40 years and mean that people with less obvious conditions, such as mental health illnesses, will have the same right to park in disabled bays.
The changes come after a consultation that was conducted in January this year, in which an eight-week trial featuring 6,000 responses highlighted that people with mental health problems also struggle with travel issues the same as physically disabled people.
Who will these changes include?
The changes will mean the Blue Badge scheme can also apply to people with ‘hidden disabilities’, which includes things such as mental health issues and physical disabilities that don’t necessarily mean the use of a wheelchair, mobility scooter, or crutches are needed.
Hidden disabilities include:
- Depression
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Autism
- Anxiety
- Bipolar
- Crohn’s disease
- Coeliac disease
- Epilepsy
- Chronic pain
What’s next?
The changes to the Blue Badge scheme won’t come into effect until 2019, so until then the current regulations to apply to the scheme.
If you or someone you care for has mobility issues or a disability, apply for a Blue Badge here.
At Surewise.com, we believe in providing insurance policies to help people live life confidently. If you have a disability and use a mobility scooter, check out our mobility scooter insurance to protect yourself in case of an accident, theft, or damage.
If you are a carer for someone with a disability, get a quote for our carers insurance to cover yourself when you do your job.
Are you moving home soon – or just desperately in need of more room around the house?
Decluttering your home is a fantastic idea whether you’re moving, renovating, or just in need of a good clear out – below, we’ve listed the biggest benefits and how to get started.
1. Safety
If you have a cluttered home, it can be difficult to navigate rooms, not to mention spotting potential problems with your home including mould, damp, or general wear and tear.
Starting one room at a time, focus on clearing the clutter from your home to give you more space to move around, easier access to any issues with your home, and to also improve health conditions such as asthma and eczema.
2. More Space
Clutter can quickly spread, leaving you with less space and empty surfaces. Rather than consider moving home – an expensive and stressful endeavour – simply decluttering your home can give you far more space in your home for your family to enjoy.
If you want more space, but can’t decide what items you need to get rid of, self-storage is a great option for keeping your belongings safe and secure, but out of sight until you need them.
3. Find Items You Value
It’s easy to forget about items you really value when your home is overly cluttered. Set aside a weekend to declutter key areas in your home, whether that’s your wardrobe, bedroom, kitchen, garage, or another room that needs addressing.
Then, you can sort your items into keep, donate, and throw piles. Simply going through the items in one area can help you to remember what goes where, and may even help you to re-discover some much-loved items that you had previously forgotten about.
4. Increase Your Home’s Marketability
If you’re looking to sell your home in the near future, having a cluttered home can seriously de-value your home’s marketability.
Clear out your clutter and place some of your items in a secure self-storage facility to create more space in your home. Messy homes will often struggle to get your asking price, or may even produce no offers at all – so decluttering can be a real help here.
Where to start?
If you’ve decided your home is in need of decluttering, it can be overwhelming to know where to start.
Consider finding a self-storage facility near you to hold your belongings while you focus on clearing out those you don’t need.
If you are decluttering prior to a house move, this can be especially helpful to keep the belongings you want safe until you are settled in your new home.
If you choose to store your belongings in a storage facility, make sure they’re covered even when they’re out of sight.
Get a quote for your self-storage insurance today, covering your stored belongings for accident, damage, theft, and more.