This follows figures that were recently released by the Office for National Statistics. These showed that the number of people out of work in the UK rose by 244,000 to 2.22 million in the first three months of 2009.
Bevan Mottram, Partner from Mottram Lettings said: “This is the largest quarterly rise in the jobless rate since 1981 and many landlords are understandably concerned about the effects the recession is having on their tenants’ ability to pay the rent. With the British Chambers of Commerce predicting that unemployment in the UK could reach 3.2 million by the second half of 2010, things could still get a lot worse.”
According to research conducted by the National Landlords Association 44 per cent of landlords experienced rental arrears between October 2008 and March 2009. Further more, only 50 per cent of landlords attempted to recover the loss of rent through the courts.
“Given the current economic climate an increasing number of landlords are facing rental arrears, but many landlords are simply unaware of the protection that’s available to them. At Mottram Lettings we work in partnership with HomeLet, one of the UK’s leading insurance providers to the lettings industry, to supply a range of insurances that protect the rental income of our landlords” says Bevan.
“We can offer landlord’s Rent Guarantee and Legal Expenses insurance, which not only covers missed rental payments for up to up to 12 months but also 50 per cent of the rent for up to three months after vacant possession has been obtained while a new tenant is found. This also provides cover for any breaches of tenancy and covers the entire property no matter how many tenants live there.
“Evicting a tenant through the courts can be an extremely stressful and time consuming process. But it doesn’t have to be this way, when a landlord has Rent Guarantee and Legal Expenses insurance HomeLet’s legal experts handle the entire eviction process from beginning to end on behalf of the landlord.
“Recent figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that repossessions on buy-to-let properties have already increased in 2009. Many landlords have already fallen victim to the recession and at the very least I’d urge those who aren’t already covered to consider the protection options that are available to them”
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Notes to Editors
•HomeLet is the UK’s largest tenant referencing, Rent Guarantee and specialist insurance provider for the lettings industry and offers landlords a wide range of products through its network of almost 5,500 letting agents across the UK.
•HomeLet is a trading name of Barbon Insurance Group Limited.
•Website: www.homelet.co.uk
•For more information about this press release please call Bevan, Partner on (0114) 2780 589 or visit www.mottramlettings.com | 
