Property Let legal expenses insurance

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What does it cover?

Property let legal expenses insurance could cover a number of different issues, including:

  • Repossession of a property from tenants;
  • Property damage disputes caused by tenants;
  • Eviction of squatters living in a property without permission;
  • Rent recovery where payment is overdue by more than a month;
  • Rent arrears payment when a tenant is still in residence;
  • Legal defence criminal prosecutions relating to the letting of a property or defence of an appeal under disability discrimination legislation.

It also gives you access to a legal advice helpline and our legal document drafting service, for advice and information on a range of personal legal issues.

Legal helpline Document drafting

What isn’t covered?

It’s important to bear in mind that policy cover and limitations can vary between different providers. Typical exclusions and limitations include:

  • Claims relating to registering rents, reviewing rents or any matter relating to rent tribunals;
  • Claims relating to subsidence, mining or quarrying;
  • Any costs and expenses, hotel expenses or storage costs incurred before an agreement  to pay them;
  • Any claim reported more than 90 days after the date the policyholder should have known about the insured incident;
  • Rent arrears where tenant references were not properly sought at the start of the tenancy;
  • Property damage where the value of the damage in dispute is less than the specified limit in the policy;
  • Claims made where the policyholder didn’t enter into the tenancy agreement during the period of insurance.

Different levels of cover

We offer a number of different products; for example, more comprehensive policies will offer extra areas of cover, including cover for contract disputes and tax protection.

If you want to know more about what we offer and discuss which of our property let products would be suitable for your customers, please get in touch.

Property Let FAQs

Peace of mind for landlords

Commercial legal expenses insurance

Providing your business with legal help and support, commercial legal expenses insurance could be a valuable addition to your business insurance policy.

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Motor legal expenses insurance

Motor legal expenses insurance could be a valuable addition to a motor insurance policy, providing you with a range of legal help and support.

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  • Property Let FAQs
Where can I buy property let legal expenses insurance?

It is usually sold as an add-on product to a buildings and/or contents insurance policy for landlords. You should check your policy documents to see if you have cover before buying this type of product as you may already be covered.

Will it cover hotel expenses if I can’t move back into my property?

If you are trying to get a possession order to evict your tenant(s), some policies may cover hotel expenses up to a limit of a maximum number of days; typically this is around 30 days. For specific limitations you should check your policy documents.

My tenant is not paying their rent, how can this product help me?

Most policies will help you recover rent whether the tenant has vacated the property or is still in residence. Different policies will vary on what they can do; your policy could cover the legal costs of recovering the rent, and it may also pay your rent arrears if the tenant is still in the property. Your policy documents can tell you what your policy will cover.

Certain policies may set out specific limitations such as the period of rent arrears need to be more than 30 days, or cover limitation preventing claims within the first 90 days of the cover. You should check your policy documents for any specific limitations.

How soon could the policy help me to recover overdue rent?

If your tenant falls into arrears your policy can start to help once the arrears reach 30 days or more in age. Most policies will not cover you if a dispute over rent is already in place before your cover starts. You should check your policy documents for any specific limitation on cover.

Where legal advice lines are included within the policy, you can call for expert legal advice without any time restrictions to gain advice and guidance.

Will the policy cover my rent arrears if a tenant damages the property and I can’t re-let it until it’s fixed?

Dependant on the policy, there may be limitations to the amount in value of rent arrears that your policy will pay, this could include up to a set percentage of the monthly rent and the maximum period of time which you may be covered.