Anybody used Only My Share for their children at uni?

[notanothernana]

Hi. My dd is off to uni soon and was unable
to find a house, with friends, with a sole tenancy. She's obviously at risk of having to pay more (and as guarantors ultimately us) if someone leaves or defaults on their rent.

Only My Share charge a £99 one off payment and then cover up to £10k if the above situation arises.

Looking for feedback on this, or any tips would be hugely appreciated.

TIA

I would be interested to hear about it too as my DS and his housemates (although in fact parents as guarantors) were faced with £3600 of unpaid rent from one of the tenants. After a lot of talk and effort from others the girl paid up but I was quite worried for a while.

Yes, you do hear horror stories.

I will probably just pay the £99 but no-one seems to have heard of them, including the estate agents. They have a sister company that provides guarantors.

Look them up on companies house. How long have they been registered?

Was your DD insisting on a sole tenancy within a shared house? That’s very unusual for a student house.

i have guaranteed my DCs’ rent several times and each time the tenancy agreement made it clear that my guarantee was limited to DD’s share only. Maybe check with the letting agent?

My sons' 5-people tenancy was definitely joint liability and there wasn't an option of changing it. I would have much prefer to be responsible only for DS's rent.

Suggest you read the T&Cs carefully. There are a few of these types of schemes now. The one I looked at last year was much less attractive when I looked at the T&Cs. They were essentially offering an arbitration service, rather than guaranteeing cover, and one clause said they would only progress a case if there was a greater than 50% chance of success.

I decided not to bother in the end.

Even if it is limited to their share only, it may be more than you expect. For example, if 5 students have a joint-and several contract, and one moves out, the landlord/agent will chase them (or their guarantor) for money owed. However, if they cannot recover it easily, the other 4 students will be liable to cover it. Therefore, your DD's "share" of the rent/costs is now 25%, rather than 20%.