"While buy-to-let landlords must ensure they have property, liability, and rent guarantee insurance in place, it’s also important to consider professional landlords personal guarantee insurance."
- Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Insurance Services
With house price values increasing and recent rate cuts to buy-to-let mortgages, professional landlords searching for a new mortgage deal are being reminded of personal guarantee risks.
Purbeck Insurance Services, provider of personal guarantee insurance to professional landlords, has seen the average personal guarantee demand from mortgage lenders rise to £424,140 to date in 2024, for applications made under limited company structures. This is up from £320,298 in 2023.
Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Insurance Services, said: “Limited company buy-to-let mortgages have their advantages but can also pose a serious financial risk. A level of risk that would not be covered by rent guarantee insurance.
“Timing is everything in the mortgage market and further reductions to the base rate could be off the agenda given the recent rise in inflation. If landlords are looking to remortgage to take advantage of the fall in rates or plan to expand their portfolio as the property market recovers, they should know that that they will, in most cases, be asked to sign a personal guarantee as a condition of the mortgage. The mortgage lender is then provided with direct recourse to the professional landlord’s personal estate should the landlord fall into arrears and there is a shortfall following property repossession by the bank.
“Cutting that risk is key given ongoing uncertainty in the property market. While buy-to-let landlords must ensure they have property, liability, and rent guarantee insurance in place, it’s also important to consider personal guarantee insurance. This type of insurance will cover 80% of an outstanding mortgage if repayments fall into arrears and the lender seeks to take action to recover the property.”
