These terms are for landlord customers receiving rent protection on our Essential and Complete plans. They form part of our wider Terms of Business and should be read alongside applicable letting plan terms, website and platform terms, user terms and privacy policy.
In addition to LetsProtect, the Essential and Complete plans include rent protection. Rent protection ensures that subject to these terms and our wider Terms of Business, lettingaproperty.com will pay you the monthly rent shown in the tenancy agreement in lieu of non-payment of rent from your tenant.
Limits of indemnity
Essential plan
The monthly rent shown in the tenancy agreement up to a maximum of £2,500 per month with the maximum liability of rent protection payable under the Essential plan being £10,000 or 6 months’ rent, whichever is the lesser amount.
Complete plan
The monthly rent shown in the tenancy agreement up to a maximum of £2,500 per month with the maximum liability of rent protection payable under the Complete and Complete Plus plans being £15,000 or 12 months’ rent, whichever is the lesser amount.
The payments will be made to the maximum length of time specified above, or until the landlord gains possession of the property - whichever is sooner.
For the avoidance of any doubt, the property is considered back in the landlord’s possession once the tenants have surrendered the tenancy and left the property.
Rent arrears due from the tenant under the tenancy agreement are covered under rent protection. If you decide to intervene and negotiate a payment plan with your tenant without prior consent in writing from lettingaproperty.com, you will not receive rent protection benefits.
Rent protection process
Essential plan rent protection process
If your rent payment is not paid or is partially paid by your tenant on the rent due date, we will inform both you and your tenant that payment has not been received. If the tenant subsequently pays the rent or remaining rent, this will be sent to you, minus any funds or fees owed to us. Fees are payable in full on first payment of rent if partial rent received.
One month unpaid
If the rent has not been paid by the tenant and you have confirmed that the tenant is still in possession of your property, we will continue our internal rent-chasing procedures. We will inform your tenants that should rent remain unpaid for two months, we will begin legal proceedings.
Two months unpaid
If a subsequent rent payment (two months) has not been paid by the tenant and you have confirmed that the tenant is still in possession of your property, we will begin to prepare a section 8 notice (for non-payment of rent).
We will then confirm the following with you:
- The tenant still occupies the property
- No rent payment has been received directly by you
- No other arrangements have been made between you and the tenant
You must then take the following steps:
- You sign a Section 8 or applicable notice to gain possession of your property from your tenant
- You send us copies of your in-date Gas Safety Certificate, Electrical Installation Condition Report and EPC and confirm all certificates have been handed to your tenants.
- You confirm there are no outstanding maintenance issues in the property that are delaying the rent payments.
Once we have the above information, we can send a copy of the Section 8 notice for all landlords to review and sign before sending this to the tenants via Royal Mail 1st Class Signed For post.
The Section 8 notice includes the relevant grounds for eviction (in this case, for non-payment of rent).
Once the notice is signed, we will pay your first month's rent protection payment. Continued payments will be paid monthly, up to the maximum payment amount specified in your letting plan, or until the tenant fully pays off their arrears or gives up possession of the property – whichever is sooner.
Below are all the terms of the Essential Rent Protection. It's crucial that you thoroughly read and understand these terms.
1.1. Our Essential Rent Protection benefit can only be applicable to a fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy of a minimum term of 12 months and is not applicable to a periodic Tenancy unless You agree to an advance payment to Us of a minimum of six months monthly plan fees of £89 per month (including VAT). This is a non- refundable charge once rent has been received and paid and cannot be pro-rated as insurances and benefits have been secured in advance.
1.2. We agree to indemnify the Landlord against rent arrears due from the Tenant
under the Tenancy Agreement providing that:
a) Rent is only payable during the Period of Tenancy or until vacant possession has been gained;
b) The tenancy deposit is protected by lettingaproperty.com
c) The tenant has NOT already paid rent directly to you
d) The tenant is not withholding rent payment due to maintenance and repair issues they have reported to you (the Landlord)
e) The Landlord signs the Section 8 notice for non-payment of rent.
1.3. Our Essential Rent Protection benefit ensures, subject to these terms and Our terms and conditions, that We will pay You, in lieu of the Tenant's non-payment of rent, for the monthly rental shown in the Tenancy agreement up to a maximum amount of £2,500 per month for a maximum of 6 months (£10,000) or up until the time the property is back in the landlords possession, whichever is sooner.
1.4. Covered under Our Essential Rent Protection benefit is rent arrears due from the Tenant under the Tenancy agreement subject to the following conditions:
1.5. Where vacant possession is secured between unpaid rent payments due in accordance with the Tenancy agreement, rent protection payment will be calculated on a pro-rata basis;
1.6. We will not offer Our Essential Rent Protection benefit under this section should You intervene and decide to negotiate a payment plan with the Tenant without the prior consent in writing from Us.
1.7. Should We agree to commence the Essential Rent Protection benefit, We will be required to issue and serve the appropriate statutory and contractual notices
to re-possess the property after the tenant is a full two months arrears from the initial non-payment of rent.
1.8. A section 8 notice will be signed and served according to the grounds in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988.
1.9. Our Essential Rent Protection benefit will only apply once the above- mentioned notices are served to the tenant. Upon the confirmation that the notices have been sent, Your Essential Rent Protection benefit will be honoured and You will be paid your first rent payment.
1.10. Where Lettingaproperty.com have guaranteed the rent to you under the Essential Rent Protection, we will deduct the Tenancy deposit to offset against the amount owed we have paid to you.
1.11. In the event that You have received any overpayments of rent We reserve the right to recover these costs from You.
1.12. Our Essential Rent Protection benefit will follow a process where in the first instance a Landlords’ first rent payment has not been received by Your Tenant on the due date, we will inform both You and Your tenant, in writing, that we have yet to receive payment and require it. Should subsequently a full rent payment or partial rent payment be made, this will be passed onto You minus any monies or fees in full to Us.
1.13. Our Essential Rent Protection benefit will continue in instances where Your Tenant is two full months in arrears with Your rent, we will inform both You and Your tenant and We will draw up a Section 8 Notice with the relevant grounds for eviction and send this to You, the landlord, for Your signature. This will be sent to Your tenant once this has been signed.
1.14. Therefore, our Essential Rent Protection benefit will aim to pay You your first month’s rent payment within 1 month and 2 weeks from the date of Your tenants first non-payment of rent occurred and a full two months rent is still outstanding, on the basis that you can meet the requirements in point 1.2.
1.15. We will maintain Your monthly rent payments up until the Tenant has fully paid their rent arrears or the tenant has been evicted or has given up possession or the Rent Protection limit of 6 months payment has been reached, whichever event happens soonest.
Complete plan rent protection process
If your rent payment is not paid or partially paid by your tenant on the due date, we will inform both you and your tenant that payment has not been received. If the tenant subsequently pays the rent or remaining rent, this will be sent to you, minus any funds or fees owed to us. Fees are payable in full on first payment of rent if partial rent received.
One month unpaid
If the rent has still not been paid by the tenant and we have confirmed that the tenant is still in possession of your property, we will initiate a payment for this one month's rent - referred to below as a 'rent protection payment' – this will be paid to you within five business days of the rent due date. It may then take a further three days for monies to be received, to account for BACS payment processing.
Two months unpaid
After the first initial rent protection payment, any further rent protection payments will be initiated within five business days upon written confirmation from you, of the following:
- The tenant still occupies the property
- No rent payment has been received directly by you
- No other arrangements have been made between you and the tenant
You must then take the following steps:
- You send us copies of your in-date Gas Safety Certificate, Electrical Installation Condition Report and EPC and confirm all certificates have been handed to your tenants.
- You confirm there are no outstanding maintenance issues in the property that are delaying the rent payments.
If your tenant is in two full months of rent arrears, we will inform both you and your tenant and draw up a Section 8 notice with the relevant grounds for eviction. You will be asked to sign this notice and we will send it to your tenant.
Once the notice is signed, we will pay your second month's rent protection payment. Continued payments will be made up to the maximum payment specified in the letting plan, or until the tenant fully pays off their arrears or gives up possession of the property - whichever is sooner.
Below are all the terms of the Complete Rent Protection. It's crucial that you thoroughly read and understand these terms.
1.1. Our Complete Rent Protection benefit can only be applicable to a fixed term assured shorthold tenancy of a minimum term of 12 months and is not applicable to a periodic tenancy unless You agree to an advance payment to Us of a minimum of six months of your monthly plan fees. This is a non- refundable charge once rent has been received and paid and cannot be pro rata as insurances and benefits have been secured in advance.
1.2. Our Complete Rent Protection benefit ensures, subject to these terms and Our website terms and conditions, that We will pay You, in lieu of the Tenants non- payment of rent, for the monthly rental shown in the tenancy agreement up to a maximum amount of £2,500 per month for a maximum of 12 months (£15,000)
or up until the time the property is back in the landlords possession, whichever is sooner.
1.3. Lettingaproperty.com will guarantee rent payments to you under the Complete Rent Protection on the following basis:
a) Rent is only payable during the Period of Tenancy or until vacant possession has been gained;
b) The tenancy deposit is protected by Lettingaproperty.com
c) The tenant has NOT already paid rent directly to you
d) The tenant is not withholding rent payment due to maintenance and repair issues they have reported to you (the Landlord)
e) The Landlord signs the Section 8 notice for non payment of rent.
1.4. Covered under Our Complete Rent Protection benefit is rent arrears due from the Tenant under the tenancy agreement subject to the following conditions:
1.5. After the initial rent payment, any further rent protection payments will be made within five (5) Business Days from the day the payment is due in accordance with the tenancy agreement, once confirmation is received that the Tenant(s) has not vacated the property and no rent payment has been received;
1.6. Where vacant possession is secured between unpaid rent payments due in accordance with the tenancy agreement, rent protection payment will be calculated on a pro-rata basis;
1.7. We will not offer Our Complete Rent Protection benefit under this section should You intervene and decide to negotiate a payment plan with the Tenant without the prior consent in writing from Us.
1.8. Should We agree to commence with Our Complete Rent Protection benefit, We will be required to issue and serve the appropriate statutory and contractual notices to re-possess the property after 31 days from the initial non-payment of rent.
1.9. A section 8 notice will be signed and served according to the grounds in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988.
1.10. Our Complete Rent Protection benefit cover ceases once vacant possession has been gained.
1.11. We will deduct any tenancy deposit, from the last payment to You, in the event of a claim if it is not required for proven dilapidations cost to the property, clearly indicated from the Inventory and schedule of condition at check out.
1.12. In the event that an End of tenancy Inventory and Schedule of condition is not taken by an accredited AIIC Inventory clerk at the end of the tenancy, and rent is owed by the tenant, We will deduct the full deposit amount as a non-payment of rent.
1.13. In the event that You have received any overpayments of rent We reserve the right to recover these costs from You.
1.14. Our Complete Rent Protection benefit will follow a process where, in the first instance, Your first rent payment has not been received by Your Tenant on the due date, we will inform both You and Your tenant, in writing, that we have yet to receive payment and require it. Should subsequently a full rent payment or partial rent payment be made, this will be passed onto You minus any monies or fees owed in full to Us.
1.15. Our Complete Rent Protection benefit will continue in instances where Your first rent payment has not been received by Your Tenant, we will proceed to pay this one months’ rent payment within 5 working days once we have confirmed that Your Tenant is still in possession of Your Property.
1.16. Our Complete Rent Protection benefit will continue in instances where Your Tenant is now two full months in arrears with Your rent, whereby we will inform both You and Your tenant and We will draw up a Section 8 Notice with the relevant grounds for eviction and send this to You, the landlord, for Your signature. This will be sent to Your tenant once this has been signed.
1.17. Our Complete Rent Protection benefit will continue whereby once we have received a copy of a signed Section 8 notice from You and We have submitted a claim to Our insurer, We will send over the second months’ rent payment.
1.18. We will maintain Your monthly rent payments up until the Tenant has fully paid their rent arrear or the tenant has been evicted or has given up possession or the Rent Protection limit of 6 months payment has been reached, whichever event happens soonest.
Serving notice and gaining possession
For rent protection payments to be made, we will require your signature and permission to issue and serve statutory and contractual notices 31 days from the first non-payment of rent.
A Section 8 notice and accompanying Form 3 will be used to gain possession of properties let under an assured tenancy, an assured agricultural occupancy or an assured shorthold tenancy under one of the grounds in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988
Where vacant possession is secured, in accordance with the tenancy agreement, any upcoming rent protection payments will be calculated on a pro-rata basis. Rent protection will end once vacant possession has been gained.
Costs and excess
Where applicable, the tenancy deposit amount and any unpaid subscription fees due will be deducted by lettingaproperty.com from the tenancy deposit.
If there are proven dilapidations in excess of £500.00, damage costs must be claimed through the LetsProtect cover if there are not any sufficient deposit monies after lettingaproperty.com costs.
If a professional inventory, carried out by an accredited clerk, is not carried out at the end of the tenancy to prove such damages, and rent is owed by the tenant and already paid in advance to the landlord, lettingaproperty.com will deduct the full deposit amount as non-payment of rent.
If any outstanding rent is owed by the tenant and we have already paid your rent in advance, we will claim a deduction from the tenancy deposit for any outstanding rent before other repayments, such as damages, are considered.
If you have received any overpayments of rent, we reserve the right to recover this from you.
If lettingaproperty.com enforce a Rent Recovery Judgement against the tenant and you have been covered by our Rent Protection and paid in advance, this rent debt is payable back to lettingaproperty.com by your instruction via our solicitors from the court.
By instructing lettingaproperty.com, you agree that in the event you receive rent protection payments, your rights to recover funds from the tenant shall be passed onto us. Any balance of recovery will be paid to you after all costs relating to court fees, possession and debt proceedings, and rent recovery have been deducted.
Other information
If your tenant falls into and remains in rent arrears, we have the right to discuss all options and procedures with you. Failure to comply with our request to discuss these matters will cancel your rent protection benefit.
Within the policy period, if there are any defaults of the monthly rent, payments may be made monthly, in arrears. There are certain conditions that need to be met that can be discussed in this situation.
Payments made under rent protection are subject to us being able to begin a claim with our legal cover and begin the process of eviction. If you do not give your approval in writing for this claim to be submitted, your rent protection will be void.
If you give permission for us to submit a claim for eviction but then decide not to proceed with eviction, any rent protection payments made by us to you must be repaid in full.
If rent protection payments are made, you will be required to give permission for possession and/or rent proceeding to be made in your name or ours against the tenant.
In the event of a counterclaim by the tenant, all payments under rent protection will be held back until the court order that rent was lawfully due. You will be required to fully fund the legal action to defend a counterclaim and we shall not be liable for any costs of proceedings or subsequent court orders.
Excess
If any outstanding rent is owed by the tenant and we have already paid your rent in advance, we will claim a deduction from the tenancy deposit for any outstanding rent before other repayments, such as damages, are considered.