Landlords can insure against tenants defaulting on rent

New product offers cover up to the value of 11 months’ rent or €48,000

Irish landlords can now protect themselves against tenants defaulting with a new insurance product which covers up to 11 months defaulted rent.

RentAssured.ie is targeting the State’s estimated 305,000 landlords who own approximately 400,000 private rental homes across the country.

Cover is available up to the lesser of 11 months’ rent or € 48,000, and RentAssured says the average premium will cost 2 per cent of the annual rental income. This means, for example, that someone earning €1,500 a month on their property will pay €360 a year for the cover.

Despite record rents and a tight supply of properties available for rent, RentAssured will be hoping that there will be enough landlords looking to protect themselves should their tenants default.

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Robert Kelly, director of RentAssured.ie, says the new product may help stop the flow of landlords leaving the sector. “By enabling them to negate the risks of defaulted rental income, we can help reduce the number of landlords leaving the rental home sector and underpin the supply of the country’s available stock of homes for rent.”

The platform also offers a suite of services, including tenant checks by Stubbs Gazette; rental dispute assistance (worth up to € 5,000) and malicious damage cover up to the value of one month’s rent for the repair of any malicious damage. Landlords can insure their rental income “within minutes” subject to tenants clearing the Stubbs Gazette credit check.

The policy is underwritten by a subsidiary of LAMP Group Limited (UK), a Gibraltar-regulated company, operating in Ireland under freedom of services.

Fiona Reddan

Fiona Reddan

Fiona Reddan is a writer specialising in personal finance and is the Home & Design Editor of The Irish Times