As HomeLet landlord and tenant insurance agents, we have just received the mid summer edition of their newsletter for agents - "workingtogether".On the cover is a great "English seaside" photo of the back of four stripped deckchairs (without occupiers) on a pebble beach rather like you would find at Brighton.
For this blog I can only offer you beach huts that I photographed on my first visit to Southend-on-Sea yesterday.
As is normal in the newsletter is a forward by HomeLet's John Boyle who is the Managing Director. He reports that HomeLet has been referencing tenants for over ten years now - how time flies by, I remember the lettings agency I was working for in that year that was the run up to the millenium was Letsure. At that time a competitor, now a competitor under the same ownership of Barbon Insurance Group Ltd.
They now have 250 members of staff involved referencing tenants. John also talks about the recently introduced lower price tenants contents insurance product called "Homelet Tenant's Contents Insurance +".
Apparently it is not only tenants they are currently protecting, in the first half of 2009 they paid out over £1.5 million in Rent Guarantee Claims and legal costs. John says the figure is significantly higher than in 2008 and reiterates the difficulties faced by both landlords and letting agents.
Unemployment is rising at the fastest rate since records began in 1971 (seems interesting they only started then) and economists are predicting that it could be up to five years after the recession ends before employment returns to stable levels. Taking this into account, it seems clear that rent arrears will only continue to rise as more and more tenants face difficulties in the job market. John finishes up saying that Rent Guarantee is so essential as it not only protects the landlor's income, but it can also be used as a sales tool on an agents "let only service"
It looks like John Boyle and his team at HomeLet are working very hard to help, landlords, tenants and their letting agents.
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