"Tenants won’t have the natural trigger of a mortgage application to consider the protection that can be so vital should the worst happen."
The launch follows a successful pilot with Mortgage Advice Bureau and will now be exclusively available to all Legal & General intermediary partners.
RPP is designed to pay out a monthly benefit, which could be used to help pay the rent, bills or other financial commitments, in the event of a valid claim.
The plan offers three choices through a single application: rental income protection benefit, rental life insurance and rental life insurance with critical illness cover.
RPP also includes a suite of additional benefits, such as Legal & General’s rehabilitation support and nurse support services. Tenants also have the opportunity in certain circumstances to increase the amount of cover if their rent increases, without answering any new medical questions.
The full roll-out also includes the launch of a new feature which gives policyholders who no longer rent a property as a result of taking out a mortgage the option to change their policy to an income protection benefit plan.
Craig Brown, director of Legal & General Intermediary, commented: “The rental sector is growing, but unlike those who have taken their first step on the housing ladder, tenants won’t have the natural trigger of a mortgage application to consider the protection that can be so vital should the worst happen.
“At Legal & General, we know that rental payments are every bit as important as mortgage payments in a household’s finances. We are proud to be the first provider in the market to launch a dedicated rental protection product exclusively to intermediaries following positive feedback on our pilot. UK rental prices are expected to increase by 15% over the next five years and nearly a quarter of UK households are expected to be in privately rented accommodation by 2023. These are couples, young professionals and families, thousands of whom are vulnerable to the financial implications of a critical illness diagnosis, long-term sickness or death of a loved one. It is therefore vital that financial services companies provide the solutions needed for this underserved market.”
