Whilst the UK Government has taken a number of steps to help families tackle the potential economic damage caused by the coronavirus, including mortgage holidays for those who might struggle, millions of rental households in the UK market could suddenly find it incredibly hard to manage basic financial obligations such as paying rent or bills.
Canopy, a FinTech start-up, focused on making money go further for renters, is offering tenants the option to replace their cash deposits with its deposit replacement insurance policy, which will provide added protection for life events e.g. critical illness or job loss.
In light of COVID-19, Canopy wants to ensure that its policies are available to as many of those renters in need as possible. As such, Canopy has significantly reduced the cost of its insurance premium. As opposed to a renter being required to pay a full five weeks rental as a cash deposit, Canopy’s premium costs 10% of the amount covered (i.e 10% of eight weeks rent) for a 12-month tenancy agreement, 15% for a 24-month tenancy and 20% for a 36-month tenancy.
Canopy’s cover also offers an extra three weeks of protection to landlords i.e. eight weeks cover as opposed to the standard five weeks with a cash deposit. Furthermore, Canopy will contribute £10 from each policy sold until the end of June 2020 to frontline NHS workers and homeless charitable organisations in support of the life-saving work currently being undertaken.
Tahir Farooqui, Founder and CEO of Canopy commented: “We started Canopy to contribute towards a society which promotes rental and financial inclusion, where tenants have a better relationship with money, are able to meet their financial goals and live a healthy financial life.
“Due to the profound impact COVID-19 is having on the lives and livelihood of renters, we feel that now is a crucial time for all in the market to shift from a mindset of ‘selling’ to one of ‘supporting’ lettings agents, landlords and tenants to the best of our abilities. The measures we take today will hopefully contribute towards bringing hope and support to the millions of renters and create a true sense of solidarity and community.”
