All bonafide letting agents will reference prospective tenants in order to establish whether they will be able to afford to pay the rent and to make sure that they have not defaulted previously on any such payments.  Unfortunately, this referencing is only a snapshot of that tenants ability to pay at that point in time, which can of course change if they are made redundant or if they become long term sick for example.

 Should these circumstances arise and a tenant becomes unable to pay the rent or starts struggling to pay, the letting agent should have a robust arrears protocol in place to ensure that such problems are established as early as possible and that the landlord is advised accordingly.  This protocol should include formal reminder letters, email and/or text messages sent to the tenant, trying to contact the tenant, their employer or next of kin by telephone and also visiting the tenant at home or work in order to establish the extent of the problem.

 Most tenants will of course notify the agent on receipt of the first reminder if they are having problems paying, however, there are a small minority that tend to stick their head in the sand and hope that the problem will just go away.  It is these circumstances that test the agent and a formal arrears procedure is essential to make sure that any problem is established early on and that the landlord is informed in good time.

 In many cases, a good agent is able to spend time resolving the problem by effectively communicating with the tenant and either arranging a repayment program with them or by persuading them to move out sooner rather than later in order to stop any further rent arrears accruing.  However, there are occasions where whatever the agent does, the tenant takes no notice and stays in the property incurring further rent arrears.  Although these circumstances are few and far between, it can happen and it is for this purpose that Rent & Legal Protection Insurance may be put in place at the start of a tenancy to ensure that you get paid even if the tenant does not pay.

 Provided the ingoing tenant is referenced correctly, Rent & Legal Insurance will typically pay all rent arrears for up to a 12 month period or until the tenant moves out (subject to one months rent as an excess), whichever is the earlier.  This type of policy will also pay any legal fees and court costs if it is necessary to take the case to court in order to gain possession of the property, which can on occasion be in excess of £1000.00 in costs.

 PWR Property Consultants are specialists in the management of residential property and have invaluable experiencing in solving arrears issues.  You can be sure that our arrears protocol is very robust and if required we can also provide Rent & Legal Insurance for piece of mind.