Move iQ, the consumer-facing property service led by Phil Spencer, has teamed up with a lettings sector insurance provider which could mean additional fees for agents and other intermediaries.

Spencer and Move iQ are working with Legal & General and together they’ve created a new adviser toolkit, designed to help agents and all intermediaries to work more closely to assess the need and benefit of rental protection for tenants.

It includes features such as benefit calculators, guides, sales aids, links to workshops and L&G’s latest webinars. 

There are also six educational videos to accompany the service, highlighting the benefits of rental protection for letting agents, intermediaries and the consumer, covering topics such as handling tenants who cannot pay rent, and insurance protection.

“Ensuring our lives and homes are protected is just as important to renters as it is to home owners and this insurance product does exactly that” says Spencer, who is also a monthly contributor to Estate Agent Today.

Richard Kateley, head of intermediary development at Legal & General, adds: “The rental market is a hugely underdeveloped one and an area where financial advisers can add a lot of benefit for renters. If I was buying a home I would probably be directed to a financial adviser to talk about the risks of not keeping up repayments. Yet if I rented a home, the chances are I would get none of that information. 

“There is a common misconception that because someone chooses to rent they have a low income and can’t afford cover. In reality, renting today is much more about a lifestyle choice and not being tied down to one place; or not yet having a full mortgage deposit.

“It is much less about disposable income and low wages. I hope as a provider we can help advisers develop this market place and make sure that we work to put renters in a much more informed position about their biggest asset – which is of course themselves, and their ability to earn an income.”

You can see the first of the Move iQ/Legal & General consumer videos below. Videos addressing letting agents can be found on the Legal & General adviser site here.