Tenant default insurance
Join over 58,000 landlords with tenant default cover from £6.23 per month*
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,717 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Why is rental default insurance important?
Every year, millions of tenants default on their rent payments. Rental default insurance, which we call tenant default cover, is a type of rent protection backstop for landlords. If your tenant defaults on rent – whether it’s their first missed payment or they’ve got a history – this insurance can cover you for owed rent, up to £50,000.
- landlord insurance tenant default – easy to add on to your standard policy
- 12 months of rent covered and all tenant types considered
- no excess to pay and no waiting around – claim from the first missed payment
Tenant default insurance for landlords – what’s covered?
Tenant default insurance is designed to give landlords a layer of protection, in case their tenant defaults on rent payments. For example, if your tenant was made redundant and fell behind with their contracted rent, you might decide to issue an eviction notice and claim back the money you’re owed, up to £50,000.
Thinking about claiming? Make sure you let us know about any potential claim within 90 days of the first rental arrears.
£50,000 of missed rent
12 months of rent
Cover during repairs
Legal advice helpline
No excess
We’ll consider all tenant types
£50,000 of missed rent
What does this include?
- up to £50,000 in rental arrears, with no limit on your monthly rental amounts
- tenant still in the property? We can pay your claim while they’re there, if necessary
We don’t put any limits on the amount of rent you’ve agreed with your tenant. Rental default insurance is designed to cover it, up to a total value of £50,000 across your policy’s term.
When would I need this?
- your tenant is made redundant and contacts you to discuss their options. You set up a payment plan with them, but don’t receive any rent for two months.
- after contacting your insurer, you decide to serve an eviction notice and recover the £4,200 you’re owed in rent, using your landlord insurance (tenant default was added to this when you set it up).
12 months of rent
What’s covered?
- up to £50,000 in rental arrears, across a 12 month period
When would I need to make a claim?
- your tenants are late on their rent and have only paid part of last month’s agreed amount. They’ve stopped returning your calls so you contact your insurer – you’ll need to serve an eviction notice before your tenant default insurance can kick in
- one of your tenants runs a shop and has had a poor financial year. You’ve tried to set up a payment plan to help them keep on top of the rent, but after five missed or partial payments you decide to serve an eviction notice and claim the rent you’re owed
Cover during repairs
What’s typically covered?
- 50% of your monthly rental amount for three months, if your tenant causes intentional damage and the property is assessed as being uninhabitable
- soiled carpets, walls, and fittings
- severe damp and access issues, following malicious damage
When would I need to make a claim?
- tenants at your property have caused severe, intentional damage to your property, after you serve an eviction notice due to six missed payments. They’ve torn up the carpets, smashed three windows, and kicked holes in each door.
- you’re quoted a month’s work by a contractor to fix the damage, and decide to use your rental default insurance to claim 50% of the rent you’ll miss.
Legal advice helpline
What does this include?
Access to a panel of solicitors, ready to offer legal advice on a wide range of services, including:
- contractual disputes
- employment issues and concerns/disputes
- tax, furlough, and employee contract queries
When would I need this?
- during a routine inspection, your tenant lets you know they’ve decided to quit their job and become self-employed. You decide to get some very initial legal advice, in case they experience financial problems and have trouble paying the rent
No excess
How does this work?
There’s no excess on our tenant default insurance – we don’t ask you to cover any part of the rental arrears before we step in. There’s also no need to wait for a certain number of missed payments before contacting us, you can claim from the first time it happens.
We’ll consider all tenant types
How does this work?
This type of rent guarantee depends on your tenants and how likely they are to manage their rent payments. When deciding on your claim, we’ll consider all tenants who pass certain credit checks, but may exclude others.
Who might not be covered?
Typically, unemployed tenants, students, or people on state benefits are more likely to fail a credit check, as they’re more at risk of defaulting on their rent.
We’ll look at each case individually though, and some higher-risk tenants who’ve paid rent upfront or who have good references from a previous landlord may be covered.
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of landlord insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does tenant default insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £6.23 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
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How we work out example prices: Prices are based on payment over 12 months as of 17/11/2022 and are inclusive of Insurance Premium Tax (IPT). If you pay in a lump sum or by Direct Debit, extra fees may apply.
Example tenant default insurance quotes, real prices
£32.14 /month
£285.7 /year
Renting a semi-detached house to a young couple
- Residential
- Semi-detached house
- 3 bedrooms
- 1 bathroom
- Built between 1980 and 1989
- 1-2 years
- Occupied
- Based in Bradford
Landlord buildings
£150,001 to £175,000
Property owners' liability
£2,000,000
Tenant default
Included
£61.69 /month
£548.38 /year
Renting a flat house to a small family
- Residential
- Individual flat in purpose built block or building
- 2 bedrooms
- 1 bathroom
- Built between 1945 and 1979
- Over 5 years
- Occupied
- Based in Sale
Landlord buildings
£200,001 to £250,000
Property owners' liability
£2,000,000
Tenant default
Included
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 22/04/2021). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your property. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
How it works
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Only pay for what you need
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How do claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.
£39 million in claims paid out in 2022
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022
The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
Example claim
Having insurance through Simply Business has saved landlords thousands of pounds when a tenant defaults on rent.
Verity saved more than £8,900
After months of chasing for late rent Verity (not her real name), attempted to post a letter to her tenants through the letterbox, but found it had been covered over. The legal helpline included in her tenant default insurance provided immediate advice, and her policy covered the lost rent.
Insurance payout
£8,957.00
Covering the cost of tenant default
Verity’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Verity’s policy terms
Chosen by 800,000 small businesses and landlords
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 315,000 landlord customers now trusting us to provide their insurance.
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,717 reviews
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Rental default insurance FAQ
Whether you’re new to buying landlord insurance or you’ve been letting your property for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about tenant default meaning and other landlord topics. You can also check out our landlord insurance FAQs.
Tenant default insurance (also known as ‘rental default insurance’) is a popular landlord protection. It can cover the income your property generates, if your tenants can’t pay their rent. Sadly, millions of UK tenants default on their rent every year, often due to their own financial difficulties – our tenant default cover is designed to protect against this, up to a total value of £50,000.
If you’ve included tenant default cover in your landlord insurance policy, keep in mind after speaking to your insurer, you must serve an eviction notice to your tenants before a claim is paid
The first step will usually be a call to our UK-based claims team helpline for guidance on how to proceed. From there, most cases begin with an eviction notice to your tenants using a Section 21 or Section 8 notice, or both, to claim on your policy. Once you’ve served notice, our claims team can guide you through the process of recovering your lost rent.
Rent guarantee and tenant default cover are often misunderstood as being the same thing. Both of these covers are designed to protect a landlord’s income if their tenant stops paying rent – however, there are key differences which you should be aware of before adding either protection to a landlord insurance policy.
Tenant default cover is designed to pay you the rent you’re owed if you decide to evict tenants who are behind on the rent. Among other things, you’ll need to serve a Section 21 or Section 8 notice, or both, to claim on this type of cover.
Rent guarantee insurance is a different form of protection. It can include cover for properties left unoccupied for a period of time between tenants, as well as instances where the property is uninhabitable due to renovation work, malicious damage, or disasters like fire and flooding. It’s often an option you can discuss with a letting agent who specialises in managing the property for you.
Simply Business provides tenant default cover as an option for your landlords’ insurance policy, but we don’t currently include rent guarantee in our quotes.
You aren’t legally required to take out a specific landlord policy, but remember – a conventional home insurance policy won’t cover you for rental activities, and a mortgage lender will usually demand you have specific landlord cover in place, before you let your property.
Popular covers include property owners’ liability and contents insurance, for accidents on your property, plus buildings cover to protect the property itself.
You can add a range of other important covers to your landlord insurance policy, all while keeping it simple with a single premium and a single renewal date. You might consider these covers:
As we’ve outlined above, there’s currently no legal obligation to take out a dedicated landlord insurance policy. However, a home insurance policy won’t cover you for the specific risks you and your tenants face, and a mortgage lender will usually require you to have buy-to-let insurance in place too, before renting out your property.
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of landlord insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions.
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