From 6pc to 9.5pc - The latest changes to IPT. Buildings and Contents insurance and Rent Guarantee insurance have both been affected.

Transcription

1 LA Magazine Nov/Dec 2015 Inside this months issue Right to Rent - Are you ready? Landlords or agents who fail to carry out these checks correctly could be liable for a fine of up to 3,000 per occupier. How to Rent Guide - Tenants know their rights A new on-the-move guide which gives tenants in the private rental sector the ability to access their rights at their fingertips. From 6pc to 9.5pc - The latest changes to IPT Buildings and Contents insurance and Rent Guarantee insurance have both been affected. Earn commission & Protect your tenants Introduce your Tenants to Let Alliance for specialist Contents & Liability Insurance and earn additional income for your business! #FindTheTeam Win a luxury Christmas hamper each week by joining our fun Christmas campaign.

2 2 Right to Rent Are you prepared? by Joanna Dickens The Home Office has announced the expected rollout of The Immigration Act 2014 from 1st February 2016 in England. It is expected that the changes will come in as part of other legislation for Scotland and Wales very soon. All landlords and letting agents in England who allow a tenancy will be required to make ID and Right to Rent checks on all adult occupiers. The new scheme makes it mandatory for anyone who rents out private property in England to see and make a copy of evidence that any new adult occupier has the right to rent in the UK, be this continuous or time limited. Landlords or agents who fail to carry out these checks correctly could be liable for a fine of up to 3,000 per occupier. Under Section 22 of the Immigration Act 2014 a landlord must not authorise an adult to occupy a property as their main or only home under a residential tenancy agreement unless the adult is a British Citizen, Swiss national, from a European Economic Area or has other proof of the right to rent in the UK. Landlords should carry out right to rent checks for new tenancy agreements to determine whether tenants have the right to live in the UK legally. How can Let Alliance help? All our letting agent customers have access to our Right to Rent Global Reference & Rent Guarantee service via our Vision system. This service is available now. Here is a list of what Let Alliance will do in addition to our Express & Ultimate References. ID Validation via optical character recognition software Home Office checks Residency confirmation Financial Sanctions check Politically Exposed Persons check Follow-up checks for time-limited certification Protection against any penalty that may be applied by the Home Office if the tenant has successfully passed a Global reference and is then found not to the have right to rent You can find further Right to Rent information on the following websites:

3 3 Right to Rent Don t be at risk, choose Option 2 The information below details the differences when completing your own Right to Rent checks or choosing the alternative Let Alliance Global Reference service. Option 1 Letting Agents carry out their own Right to Rent Check Option 2 Letting Agents choose Let Alliance Global Reference Establish who will be living in the property as all adult occupiers need to be checked Follow the acceptable documents list to request the appropriate document(s) from the occupiers If the applicant does not have any acceptable documents, you need to request a Home Office Check Certify (in the presence of the holder) that the document is a true likeness and scan the document into your server with the date certification took place Retain documents for 12 months after the tenancy ends Set reminders for any Time Limited Right to Rent certification to prompt you to carry out a follow up check (follow up checks need to be conducted on all time limited certifications at the date of expiry of the document or 12 months, whichever is the latter) Potential Risk for Agent You need to establish if a document is a true copy with the naked eye Potential to not collect the correct documents Maximum penalty of per illegal occupier Documents are not stored for the correct time period You need to remember to carry out follow up checks You select a Global Express or Ultimate Reference (with or without Rent Guarantee) and input the applicant as normal You upload identification and certify on the Let Alliance Vision system You may use visual audio to verify the document with the occupant if it is not viable to see the original in the presence of the holder. (You MUST see the original in the presence of holder before check in) Let Alliance use optical recognition software to certify that the document uploaded is genuine Let Alliance check if the applicant is registered on the Financial Sanction list or if they are Politically Exposed Let Alliance verify if the applicant has the Right to Rent and details the findings on the final report Let Alliance Takes the Risk Let Alliance use optical recognition software to ensure all documents are genuine Let Alliance will notify you if the wrong document has been uploaded and give guidance on what is needed No financial risk to you as Let Alliance will guarantee to pay ANY fine imposed after the applicant has successfully passed a Global Reference Documents are stored securely on our systems with the date of certification For further information on our specialist service, please contact our Customer Development Team on and we will be more than happy to discuss this further with you.

4 How to Rent Guide Tenants know their rights by Andy Halstead 4 We always like to keep our customers informed about what is going on in the market. Therefore we just wanted to provide you with links to the new How to Rent information leaflet created by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Housing Minister Kris Hopkins launched a new on-the-move guide which gives tenants in the private rental sector the ability to access their rights at their fingertips. Mr Hopkins said that encouraging a new generation of well-informed tenants with easy access to useful and understandable information would help raise the game of any landlords who are unaware what is expected of them. The launch comes as the government confirmed plans to require all letting agents to publish a full tariff of their fees both on their websites and prominently in their offices. Anyone who does not comply with these new rules will face a fine a much stricter penalty than currently exists. Download the How to Rent guide here!

5 5 From 6pc to 9.5pc - The latest changes to Insurance Premium Tax by Paul Pearce, Head of Insurance Sales HM Revenue & Customs have increased the level of Insurance Premium Tax as from 1st November 2015 Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) is a tax on general insurance premiums. The rate has been increased from 6% to 9.5% and affects policies ranging from motor to pet insurance. Most importantly for our industry the changes will extend to Buildings & Contents Insurance and Rent Guarantee Insurance. Mr Osborne sought to justify the increase by arguing that the cost of premiums had fallen for many families, and that Britain s insurance premium tax was well below that of other countries Germany, for example, levies 19pc. The Chancellor said that the move would affect only one-fifth of all premiums, but the British Insurance Brokers Association slammed the move as a stealth tax on insurance policies that would hit millions of ordinary households. The Government has been working with the industry to reduce the cost of insurance for consumers including a summit chaired by the Prime Minister. It therefore seems counterintuitive to be taking measures which will add to the cost effectively taxing protection, said Steve White, BIBA chief executive. Let Alliance always puts our customers first. We have already written to all tenants who have purchased Contents and/or Liability Insurance policies from us and we are informing all Landlords who have purchased Buildings and/or Content Insurance policies of the increase. If you have any questions regarding this, please call our Insurance Team on and we would be happy to help.

6 6 Earn commission & Protect your tenants by Paul Pearce, Head of Insurance Sales Introduce your Tenants to Let Alliance for specialist Contents & Liability Insurance and earn additional income for your business! All tenants will have contents and valuables when they move into a new rental home however many are unaware they can protect against accidental damage, fire, theft, floods etc. Why not introduce them to Let Alliance for specialist Contents and/ or Liability Insurance? Policies are often recommended by landlords and letting agents to help protect the landlord s fixtures and fittings and effectively protect the tenants deposits as damage penalties could be claimed back from the insurance. A simple choice of two products: 1. 10,000 Tenants Contents Plus 2,500 Tenant Liability, Nil Excess - Insurance Preium from under including IPT per month. 2. 2,500 Tenant Liability, Nil Excess - Insurance Premium of 5.17 per month including IPT Let Alliance pays a 20% commission credit for each sale generated which is paid for the life of the policy! The more sales, the larger the monthly commission credit payment. All insurance credits are visible on your monthly invoice. 10 Contents Insurance sales per month = 2,718 Per Annum 15 Contents Insurance sales per month = 4,077 Per Annum 25 Contents Insurance sales per month = 6,795 Per Annum * Credit Commission of paid over a 12 month period is based on a Tenant Contents Insurance policy being purchased by the policyholder for (inc. IPT) premium per month. Credit Commission is paid monthly at a rate of 20% of the premium minus the IPT It s as easy as Inform tenants to tick Yes on their reference application declaration to confirm they are happy to receive a call from one of our friendly Insurance Team based in our Chester head office. We ll call them 24 hours after a completed reference, provide a quote and answer any questions We also provide Product Sales Aid documents. You can download these from within our Vision system Document Library Insurance Downloads page or call our Insurance Team on Alternatively, you can give your tenants our details; Call to speak with our Insurance Team 3. Finally your tenant can visit instant-tenant-quote-access to purchase a policy online

7 7 Merry Christmas from the little helpers at Let Alliance! The Christmas countdown began on December 1st with Let Alliance s #FindTheTeam campaign. Each week a different member of the management team will be hidden on a page of the Let Alliance website. The campaign began with Head of Customer Development, Joanna Dickens flying on the Global Reference page, if you are on our mailing list we will give you little clues on the teams location throughout the campaign. Each Monday in the run up to Christmas a selected participant will win a luxury Christmas hamper. To enter simply click the moving animation and if you have access to Twitter let us know the location with the hashtag #FindTheTeam Notice anything different about your Account Manager? visit the Meet our Team page Contact us Customers at the heart of it headoffice@letalliance.co.uk H.O. General Enquiries Building & Contents Insurance Rent Guarantee Claims letalliance chester Let Alliance Limited