Insurance as guarantor for a student without one - private sector Uni halls - any recommendations or advise please?

[ACrushOnJimmy]

Can anybody please recommend or advise on insurance available to cover the rent on private sector halls for a first year undergrad from a low income family about to start Uni without a guarantor?

The insurance available to buy through the Uni is no good in this case, because the limit is just over a thousand pounds less than the annual rent on the accommodation the student has been allocated. They can't change the allocation and private sector halls are all that is available.

Needing to take out the maximum fees and maintenance loans, this student is already going to come out with massive debts at the end. I'd hate them to miss out on their hard-won place because they don't have a guarantor.

Time is short and it's an area I have no experience of.

Thanks in advance.

Is a guarantor required by the accommodation provider? What does the contract actually say? What’s the difference between the loan and the rent- how was this going to be covered? Could the student get a job and save the £1k differential between the cover and the total cost? What’s the actual risk of defaulting?

Presumably there won't be a difference between the rent and the loan. The accommodation provider wants a guarantor in case the student doesn't pay the rent. The student could drop out and go to Acapulco with the student loan cash and not pay the rent.

Is there a room swapping option @ACrushOnJimmy ? Can she swap to university owned accommodation. This is usually sorted between the students.

What’s the actual risk of defaulting? That doesn't make any difference and the OP can't do it and the student can't get the accommodation without the guarantor.

Yes, there has to be a guarantor for the rent in case the student does not pay it for any reason or leaves/has to leave before the year is up. Rent can be paid annually in advance to avoid the need for a guarantor but that isn't an option for this student obviously. The loan is paid to the student in 3 separate termly instalments, so they could only pay termly in advance which isn't acceptable without a guarantor - hence the requirement for insurance instead.

The University doesn't have any of its own accommodation so it's this or nothing unfortunately.

Has she spoken to the accommodation officer at the university? She can't be the only student in this situation.

Also she could look on the student room.

I’m aware what a guarantor is for!! Just never heard of this for student accommodation- as others have indicated seems very discriminatory against certain students. The NUS might be a good call (for sources of info and also re discrimination aspect). Also the University admissions team who will no doubt have had to field questions about this previously.

Just never heard of this for student accommodation.

I thought it was the norm now.

I'm a guarantor for my daughter, but a quick look on the Student Room website brings up www.housinghand.co.uk. A few threads on there where people use it. It seems to need a co-signatory but that person doesn't need a credit check etc.

Not for either of my kids but they were in Uni owned/run accommodation so maybe that’s the difference. We’ve had to be guarantor for off campus private rented student houses

Ask the uni student support/accommodations team if they have a scheme for students in this position.

They need to speak to the university, they will have dealt with this before. Each university has different schemes

All that the private Unite halls in Liverpool required me to do was sign to say I'd be guarantor. No need to show income or anything. Couldn't this students parent/ guardian do that?

Hi @ACrushOnJimmy thanks for starting this thread. I'm wondering about this too - single mum having to guarantee son's accommodation (first year) and also, what has got me really spooked, daughter, in shared house in London, where she is the only student (postgrad). She has funding, which can't prove yet, and as the others have jobs they don't need guarantors. So I'm the only guarantor for the house, and you'd think that would be just for my daughter's share. But no, in the contract the guarantor underwrites all 4 in hte house, for the two years of their tenancy... It has been nightmare enough for them getting the house, so I have signed my bit, and would hope to dispute it if they sought to claim for someone elses child, but in the meantime I'm wondering about legal insurance to fight my corner.

Also found this www.guarantorinsure.co.uk/ though the restrictions on what they cover very restrictive and haven't found any feedback on them.

Has she spoken to the accommodation officer at the university? She can't be the only student in this situation.
Yes, Uni just said they have the one guarantor insurance but it doesn't cover this, or most, of the accommodation. Most of the accommodation is about the same price as, and some more than, the allocated one. If the student managed to swap to a cheaper one at this late stage, they would be in completely the wrong location for their campus and in locations they wouldn't feel that safe or supported in. For lots of reasons they need to be in the accommodation allocated.

All that the private Unite halls in Liverpool required me to do was sign to say I'd be guarantor. No need to show income or anything. Couldn't this students parent/ guardian do that?
I don't know what this one expects to see. It would be a huge risk though to sign, because having to cover well over £6k if it all went wrong would be a problem for many people and hugely damaging or impossible for others.

Ask the uni student support/accommodations team if they have a scheme for students in this position.
Yes, it's the insurance they arrange costing the student about £200 paid upfront, but it only works for the cheapest, furthest away accommodation.

Yes, all the halls there are private sector and all require a guarantor, some a deposit too.

as others have indicated seems very discriminatory against certain students.
Doesn't it just? In these days of trying to encourage kids from all backgrounds to attend Uni, let's slap the poorest with the biggest debts and force them into only the cheapest accommodation in less safe areas well away from their Campus and course mates. And let's give them the worry of an extra couple of hundred pounds to find for insurance for this - because, let's face it, they are the most likely not to have a guarantor - before they even start. Why on earth didn't the Uni arrange a cover level for all the accommodation? Maybe not the absolute top level price, but to cover a selection of the others in all locations for fairness to the less advantaged students.

I'm a guarantor for my daughter, but a quick look on the Student Room website brings up www.housinghand.co.uk. A few threads on there where people use it. It seems to need a co-signatory but that person doesn't need a credit check etc.
I saw an ad for Housing Hand which said it started from about £500 a year! Is the co-signatory somehow co-liable - I would assume so or why get them to sign?

Also found this www.guarantorinsure.co.uk/ though the restrictions on what they cover very restrictive and haven't found any feedback on them.
I'll have a look at this, thanks, (though it doesn't sound too hopeful), and also student room and NUS as suggested by other pps.

It sounds like you definitely need insurance, @redmapleleaves1 as that seems to be a big risk for you. I will come back and post anything else I find in case it's helpful for you too.

Jimmy McGill?
😊

If so me too.

As for your dilemma, some universities will guarantor some accommodation for a fee?

What's the guarantor stipulation on this accommodation.

I've come up against different rules for different letting places.
One yr it was home owner required (not me)
The next it's been proven income of over £25k. (Also not me)

Both times had to ask a grandparent.