The money is not yours. It is in your account.
Cover for estate and letting agents: the client money you hold, the compliance duties that come with it, and the keys to properties that are not yours.
Estate and letting agent insurance
Usually includes
Professional indemnity
Client money
Fidelity & dishonesty
Cyber & data
Public liability
Employers’ liability
One
conversation.
You explain the business once, and we take it from there.
Bespoke service
for your business
No two businesses are the same, so we start with yours rather than with a template.
Everything
quoted together.
Your advice, the data you hold and the office behind it, priced in one go rather than piece by piece.
Know your cover
What is estate and letting agent insurance?
Agency work is unusual because so much of the risk is not yours to begin with: rent and deposits belonging to landlords and tenants, keys to properties you do not own, and compliance duties you carry out on somebody else’s behalf. Cover is built around professional indemnity and client money, with cyber alongside because a diverted completion or rent payment is now one of the most frequent losses in the sector.
It covers the advice
Professional indemnity responds to a claim about a valuation, a tenancy or the management of a property.
It covers the money
Rent, deposits and float held on client account, which belongs to somebody else.
It covers the access
Keys, inspections and contractors entering properties you are responsible for.
Who it’s for
Whatever you manage.
✓
Sales estate agents
Market appraisals, marketing and progressing sales to completion.
✓
Letting and management agents
Tenancies, rent collection and repairs on a landlord’s behalf.
✓
Block and leasehold managers
Service charges, communal areas and long leaseholder relationships.
✓
Student and HMO specialists
Higher turnover, licensing duties and shared occupancy.
✓
Short-let and serviced accommodation
Frequent changeovers with guests rather than tenants.
✓
Independent and single-branch agents
Owner-run agencies handling sales, lettings and management themselves.
What we cover
Cover built around your agency.
We ask what you manage, how much client money you hold and under which schemes before we approach anyone. Then show you what’s available, and you decide what fits.
Professional indemnity
The claim that your appraisal, tenancy work or management caused a client a loss.
Client money
Rent, deposits and float held on client account. Losing it is a different event from advice going wrong.
Fidelity & dishonesty
Theft of client money by someone inside the business, which the money section may not reach.
Cyber & data
The diverted completion or rent payment, and the tenant and landlord data you hold.
Public liability
Injury or damage during viewings, inspections and while contractors are on site for you.
Employers’ liability
Required by law from your first employee, including weekend and viewing staff.
Office & contents
The branch, the fit-out, the window display and the keys held on site.
Business interruption
The income lost when the branch or the management systems stop working.
Legal expenses
Recovering unpaid commission, tenancy disputes, and defending a complaint to your redress scheme.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by estate and letting agents, from a single-branch independent to an agency with a management portfolio and a block department. Not every part will apply to every agency, so tell us how you’re set up and we’ll show you what’s relevant.
Worth knowing
Check the details before you choose.
Client money protection is not insurance
Scheme membership and redress registration are separate obligations that sit alongside cover rather than being provided by it. Tell us which schemes you belong to.
Fidelity is a different section from money
Theft by an employee is often handled separately from money going missing, and one does not automatically include the other.
Compliance duties transfer to you
Deposit protection, safety certificates and tenancy paperwork carried out on a landlord’s behalf become your exposure when they are missed.
Diverted payments are now the common loss
A spoofed email redirecting a completion or a rent run is a cyber and crime event rather than a professional one. It is worth knowing which section responds.
Every agency is different.
A sales-only branch and a managed portfolio don’t carry the same risk, so we ask different questions for each.
Sales agency
Lettings
Property management
Rent collection
Block management
Leasehold management
Service charges
Student lettings
HMO management
Short lets
Serviced accommodation
Inventories
Deposit handling
Market appraisals
Property viewings
Key holding
Sales agency
Lettings
Property management
Rent collection
Block management
Leasehold management
Service charges
Student lettings
HMO management
Short lets
Serviced accommodation
Inventories
Deposit handling
Market appraisals
Property viewings
Key holding
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
Client money comes first
How much you hold, in what account and under which scheme is the conversation. We start there rather than with the office.
02
Money and dishonesty are different
Funds going missing and an employee taking them sit in different sections. We check both are answered.
03
Compliance is your exposure now
Duties you perform for a landlord become your exposure when they are missed. We set that out for insurers properly.
04
We present the risk right
Managed portfolio size, client money held, scheme membership and claims history. How it’s framed changes what you pay.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free review of your estate and letting agent cover and costs.
On a policy that ignores the client account? Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
We go through the policy you have now, so you can see what it does and doesn’t cover against the client account, which needs its own protection separate from your professional indemnity.
We point out the terms that catch agents out most often, how fidelity and dishonesty cover responds to a diverted payment, so you can check yours.
We approach insurers on our panel who write estate and letting agent risks, and come back with what they’ll offer.
We explain each option in plain English, including what it doesn’t cover.
If it’s not a risk we can place, we’ll tell you straight away rather than leave you waiting.
No obligation to switch. You decide what fits.
Rather not wait? Call us on 0333 091 3663
Good to know
Estate and letting agent questions, answered straight.
What insurance does a letting agent need?
Is client money protection the same as insurance?
What is the difference between client money cover and fidelity?
Who is liable if a completion payment is diverted?
Am I liable for compliance the landlord should have done?
Does a market appraisal count as a valuation?
Are we covered for holding keys?
Do short lets change the cover?
Vara Commercial Insurance · 0333 091 3663
Vara is a trading name of Koral AI Operating Company Limited. Vara is an appointed representative of Innovative Risk Labs Ltd, under Firm Reference Number 1060955. Innovative Risk Labs Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under FRN 609155. We are registered in England and Wales under Registered Company Number 17256222. Registered office: 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.