Landlords’ Legal Expenses Insurance

Reviewed by

Emily Young

Content & Digital Marketing Executive

What Is Landlord Legal Expenses Insurance?

Landlord legal expenses insurance can help landlords get access to legal support, in relation to their let property, when they need it. Our landlord legal expenses insurance is an addon to our home insurance policies and can only be purchased with one.

Property Let Legal Expenses 

Property let legal expenses insurance could provide legal advice and representation for a number of different issues, including: 

1. Repossession of a property from tenants 
2. Disputes relating to property damage caused by tenants 
3. Eviction of squatters living in a property without permission
4. Rent recovery for overdue payments  
5. Rent arrears payment when a tenant is still in residence during the eviction process 
6. Legal defence of criminal prosecutions relating to the letting of a property or defence of an appeal under disability discrimination legislation 

It also gives you access to legal and tax advice helplines and a legal document template library, for advice and information on a range of legal issues. 

Do I Need Landlord Legal Expenses Cover? 

While it isn’t essential, Landlord legal expenses cover could save you a significant sum of money if you ever find yourself facing a legal dispute in relation to your let property, or in a position where you wish to pursue a claim. It can offer peace of mind that you will be covered for the cost of legal advice and representation in numerous circumstances (subject to claim limits), including repossession, property damage and rent recovery.  

Benefits include no upfront solicitors’ fees, as your insurer will pay the fees directly, and access to a legal advice helpline.  

To put things into perspective, look at potential scenarios you could find yourself in. If, for example, you have a dispute with your tenant and are trying to lawfully repossess the property but they are not paying their rent, Landlord legal expenses can help cover the rent arrears as well as the legal costs during the repossession process. Legal bills can mount up quickly, reaching the thousands. By having the appropriate insurance in place, you will have some cover for these costs.    

Landlord Legal Expenses Cover Levels

All Homeprotect policies come with our Basic legal expenses insurance as standard, provided at no cost to our customers. However Basic legal expenses will not cater for any matters relating to the letting of your property.  

For landlord-specific legal matters, we have an upgrade option, Landlord legal expenses, which increases the amount you can claim for, as well as extending the type of legal situations you can claim for.  

Compare cover levels using the table below. 

There are exclusions and limitations to the cover, including: 

• Issues that started before the date your cover begins (or in the event of a dispute with your tenant within 90 days of taking out cover, if the tenancy started before you took out this policy) 
• Legal costs paid out before your claim gets accepted 
• Claims which lack reasonable chances of success (in other words, where the lawyer appointed for you does not believe you will be more likely than not to win your case) 
• Costs which exceed your policy limit for any one claim 
• Fines, penalties, compensation or damages you are ordered to pay by a court or other authority 
• Any matter to do with rent, rate or land tribunals, rent assessment committees or rent officers 
• Any claim reported more than 90 days after the date you should have known about the insured incident 
• The use of your own lawyer. Our insurer will appoint a preferred lawyer or other professional for you. You may choose your own lawyer when legal proceedings start or if there is a conflict of interest, but you’d only be covered for the hourly rate which our insurer would have paid their preferred lawyer (currently £100 per hour) 

Additionally, you are not covered for: 

1. Repossession claims where:
   • Your property is not let under an assured shorthold, short assured or an assured tenancy under the 1988 Housing Act, Housing (Scotland) Act, a private residential tenancy under the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, a standard contract under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, or The Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 
   • You have not provided the tenant with the correct notices 
2. Property damage claims where the amount in dispute is less than £1,000 
3. Rent guarantee claims: 
   • Unless you are seeking repossession of the property and have obtained satisfactory references for the tenant at the start of the tenancy 
   • Which exceed more than 12 months’ unpaid rent in total (or any shorter period specified under the policy), for any one claim 
   • Which accrue in any period during which court action for possession of the property is not possible because of legislation, or government or court guidance or rules
4. Tax protection claims relating to: 
   • Business activities other than letting your property
   • Criminal investigations 
5. Contract dispute claims: 
   • Where the amount in dispute, including VAT, is £100 or less (Landlord cover) or £250 or less (Basic cover) 
   • Where you haven’t entered into the agreement during the period of insurance 
   • Relating to a loan, mortgage, pension, borrowing or investment 
   • Basic Legal Expenses only: relating to building work or design where the contract value exceeds £5,000 including VAT  
6. Hotel expenses after a maximum of 30 days or costs exceeding £150 per day 
7. Storage costs after a maximum of 4 weeks or costs exceeding £10 per day 
8. For full details of cover and exclusions please refer to the policy booklets links towards the bottom of this page. 

For full details of cover and exclusions please refer to the policy booklets links towards the bottom of this page.