Human Guarantor vs Guarantor Insurance: What Landlords Should Know
A human guarantor is a promise. Husmus Rent and Tenant Shield Guarantor are contracts.
If you are deciding between a human guarantor and an insurance-backed one: a human guarantee gives you the right to sue one person, which means a county court claim, months of waiting and no certainty of recovery. Husmus Rent and Tenant Shield Guarantor give you an insurance policy covering up to 12 months of unpaid rent, up to £5,000 of damage beyond the deposit, and legal and eviction costs, with a claim you can submit from day 7. It could also cost you nothing if the tenant chooses to pay for it.
When a landlord asks for a guarantor, they are asking the right question: if this tenant stops paying, who makes me whole? The instinct is sound. The remedy usually is not.
For years, human guarantors have been the norm. Most landlords have never tested a guarantee. They accept a signed deed at move-in, file it away, and assume the money is safe. The landlords who have actually tried to collect from a guarantor tell a different story, and it is worth hearing before the next tenancy is signed.
What is a tenant guarantor actually liable for?
A guarantor agrees to cover everything the tenant owes: unpaid rent & damage beyond the deposit. In a joint tenancy, a standard deed makes the guarantor liable for every tenant in the property, not just the one they know. A parent guaranteeing their child’s room in a three-bed share is, under most deeds, guaranteeing all three tenants.
Since the Renters' Rights Act took effect, every tenancy in England is periodic and open-ended. There is no fixed term for the liability to expire with. A guarantor now signs up for as long as the tenancy runs, which could be years.
Why good tenants cannot find a guarantor
To qualify to be a guarantor, referencing standards typically require a guarantor to be earning around three times the annual rent, with a clean credit history, willing to be credit checked and willing to be sued if things go wrong and usually be a UK homeowner .
Read that list again and count how many people in your own life would pass it and say yes.
Tenants who lack a guarantor are not always weaker applicants, they just don’t fit the referencing standards. A doctor with a CCJ from a parking ticket, a self-employed contractor with strong but fluctuating earnings, a mother returning to work after a maternity break, a graduate whose parents rent: not all of them can conjure a UK homeowner willing to underwrite years of open-ended liability.
Landlords who insist on a human guarantor are not selecting for reliable tenants. They are selecting for tenants with a specific kind of family.
Can you actually enforce a guarantor agreement?
Here is what most landlords miss: a guarantee is not money, it is a right to sue.
When rent stops, the guarantor does not always simply transfer money over. The guarantee only works if the guarantor can be found, still has the means, and still has the will to pay for someone else. Think about it, it is not their housing at risk and the cost of living is a challenge for even the more affluent. The landlord writes to them, waits, chases, and eventually issues a county court money claim. That takes time and costs fees. Meanwhile the arrears keep growing and the mortgage keeps leaving the landlord's account.
Guarantor deeds also fail on technicalities more often than people expect. A deed drafted around a fixed term may not cover the periodic tenancy. A rent increase agreed without the guarantor's fresh consent can discharge the guarantee entirely. Solicitors see these documents fall over in court regularly, and the landlord only finds out at the exact moment the money is needed.
What Husmus guarantor insurance does instead
Husmus Rent and Tenant Shield Guarantor replaces the person with a regulated insurance policy. Husmus is FCA regulated and the cover is backed by A-rated carriers. The tenant can buy it, so the landlord gets the protection at no cost to them, and the cover is contracted and protected by FCA rules rather than a relative's goodwill.
The policy covers landlords for up to 12 months of unpaid rent, up to £5,000 of damage (with pet damage available as an add-on), and legal and eviction support if it comes to that. A claim can be submitted from day 7 of a missed payment. If Husmus assessed the tenant before issuing the policy, a compliant landlord's claim is accepted automatically, there is no dispute stage, because the insurer and the referencing are the same company.
The policy also does something no human guarantor can: it protects the tenancy itself. When a tenant hits genuine hardship, a two-month debt-free resolution period pays the rent while they get back on their feet, without arrears piling up against them. The landlord stays paid, the tenant stays housed, and nobody's parent gets a solicitor's letter.
Side by side: the rent stops. What happens next?
| Human guarantor | Tenant Shield Guarantor | |
|---|---|---|
| What the landlord holds | A right to sue one person for rent and damage | A policy with A-rated insurers covering 12 months rent and £5,000 damage |
| Cost to the landlord | Free | Free, if the tenant pays the premium |
| Legal and eviction costs | Landlord's problem | Covered |
| Getting paid | Chase the guarantor to demand payment. County court claim if payments are not made | Claim accepted automatically for Husmus-assessed tenants, paid within days |
| Recovery | Variable | Guaranteed, where the landlord meets the policy conditions |
| Claim timings | Variable | Claims can be made from day 7 |
| If the deed is flawed | Guarantee may be worthless | Not applicable |
| If the guarantor cannot pay | Landlord absorbs the loss | Not applicable |
| Genuine hardship case | Family relationship destroyed, arrears mount | Two months paid debt-free while the tenancy recovers |
The bottom line
A human guarantor feels safe because it costs nothing at the start. The cost arrives at the end, when the promise has to be enforced against a person who may be unwilling, unreachable or unable to pay.
Landlords do not need someone who has promised to pay. They need to actually get paid. Tenant Shield Guarantor is built for that.
Common questions
Is guarantor insurance as safe as a human guarantor?
Safer, in the sense that matters. A human guarantee is a promise backed by one person's willingness and ability to pay. Tenant Shield Guarantor is an insurance contract backed by A-rated carriers, and for a tenant Husmus has assessed, a compliant landlord's claim is accepted rather than argued over.
Can my tenant buy Husmus Tenant Shield Guarantor?
We accept tenants who have already passed a tenant reference with us or with a 3rd party referencing company. We accept tenants who have verifiable income (employment, self-employment, benefits, pensions, independent means).
Can I still ask for a guarantor as well?
You can, though it defeats the purpose. If the cover already protects your income, requiring a guarantor on top narrows your applicant pool for no additional protection.
How quickly would I be paid?
A claim can be submitted from day 7 of a missed payment, with payment typically following within 14 days.
What if my tenant already has a guarantor lined up?
Then you have a choice rather than a problem. Compare what each one actually delivers when the rent stops, which is what the table above sets out.
Does the tenant or the landlord pay for it?
For Tenant Shield Guarantor, the tenant does. Landlords who prefer to buy the cover themselves can do so through Rent Shield, and can absorb the premium or pass it to the tenant.
Tenant Shield Guarantor is available to all tenant types: employed, self-employed, students, retired, on benefits, of independent means, or any combination of those.