LV= has revised its income protection plan to support people living in rented accommodation.

Income Protection for Renters pays a monthly benefit to renters if they are unable to work due to illness or accident. This could be used to support rental payments or day-to-day living expenses to help make sure they can stay in their home.

About 4.5m households live in the private rented sector. People aged 35-54 are the largest group of renters and are also more likely to be family units, with 38% of renters having dependent children.

The LV= Income Protection Plan for Renters builds on LV=’s existing income protection plan and provides flexible benefits and support for families. Features include:

• New Guaranteed Increase Option: This allows customers to increase their amount of cover if a landlord increases their rent or they move to a new property
• Parent and child cover: lump sum payment of six times monthly cover, up to £25,000 if a policyholder’s child is diagnosed with a specified condition.
• Unemployment payment holiday: policyholders won’t have to pay their premium for up to six months if they become involuntarily unemployed.
• Death benefit of up to £10,000.
• A Member Care Line providing legal advice about their tenancy and landlord disputes.

Policyholders can select from a choice of waiting periods and increase their amount of cover if their rent increases or they move to a new property using the new rental guaranteed increase option.

Debbie Kennedy, director of protection at LV=, said: “Millions of families live in rented accommodation and our research indicates that many worry about what would happen if injury or illness meant they couldn’t work and pay their rent.

“Dealing with a landlord is not the same as dealing with your bank or building society and in some cases you can find yourself in a default situation far quicker than expected when renting. It is important that our protection plans meet customer needs and our rental proposition provides this flexibility of cover.  Policyholders can change their amount of cover easily if their rent increases or if they move to a new property, and their cover moves with them without any further underwriting if they buy a house.

“Policyholders will also benefit from the LV= helpline that provides free legal advice to renters who have disputes with their landlord.”