During these difficult times, we’re continuing to offer you the best possible support we can, while balancing this with our responsibility to the health and well-being of our people and our local community.

This means, from Thursday 26 March, our office opening hours will be changing to 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. We’ll also be closed on Bank Holidays.

Should you need to claim, please continue to call 0345 601 1060 where you’ll be transferred to your insurer.

We appreciate your understanding.

In these difficult and uncertain times, our priority is to protect our most financially vulnerable customers.

We recognise that the situation regarding COVID-19 may be putting a strain on your finances.

In order to support the most financially vulnerable we’re making some changes to the insurance we’re able to offer you, whilst ensuring you’re able to maintain your cover and protect you and your home.

If you’re concerned about keeping up with your insurance payments, our team will be able to review your current policy and discuss the various options available to you. This includes a review of your current policy with one of our trained advisers to see if we’re able to balance your needs and affordability while still ensuring you have adequate protection.

As always, Paymentshield continue to not charge a cancellation fee should you decide your existing Paymentshield policy is not for you.

Whilst we understand poorer quality insurance products which may be less expensive can be tempting in the current economic climate, it is important you ensure your insurance policy provides you with an adequate level of cover that suits your needs, or you could be left financially worse off.

If you’re currently facing financial difficulty, our dedicated team of advisers can help guide you through the process. Please speak to one of our customer services team by calling 0345 601 1050.

We recognise the ongoing Covid-19 situation is putting a strain on many people’s finances at the moment and we’re eager to put solutions in place to help protect our most financially vulnerable customers.

This means, in addition to already supporting customers who are struggling to keep up with their payments with a review of their current policy, for those facing extreme financial hardship, we’re providing an option to switch to a new policy which will enable you to defer your payments by taking advantage of a payment free period for the first three months. This option will be available for Home Insurance, Landlords Insurance, and Tenants Contents policyholders.

We’re making this option available because we believe it is the right approach to ensure we can temporarily relieve the financial burden on our most vulnerable customers whilst still helping to make sure the things that matter most to them are properly protected.

If you’re concerned about keeping up with your insurance payments, our team will be able to review your current policy and discuss the various options available to you.

As always, Paymentshield continue to not charge a cancellation fee should you decide your existing or new Paymentshield policy is not for you.

If you’re currently facing financial difficulty, our dedicated team of advisers can help guide you through the process. Please speak to one of our customer services team by calling 0345 601 1050.

Paymentshield has responded to the latest guidance by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which regulates us to ensure we’re offering you support if your financial circumstances have changed because of COVID-19 and you’re experiencing temporary financial distress.

This means extending our existing support beyond those customers who have a credit agreement with us, such as those paying for their annual Home Insurance policy over 12 months rather than in one lump sum, to customers with monthly policies with us such as our MortgageProtector (Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance) and IncomeShield (short-term income protection) policies.

We’ve always adopted a supportive approach to customers who may be in financial difficulty to help provide information about your policy and payments and provide you with options to help make the best choice for your current needs and budget.

We plan to continue to take a supportive approach if you’re experiencing financial difficulties and will be happy to discuss your options to make temporary changes to your insurance coverage which may help you manage your finances in the short term. We’ll also ensure we take the time to help you customers consider your overall needs in the longer term including any potential risks of underinsurance.

However, where you feel there is no option other than to cancel your policy because of your financial situation, or if you feel it no longer meets your needs, we’ll continue respond to all cancellation requests without charge.

In addition, we’ll now also offer the option to defer your payments up to 3 months where you feel this would provide temporary relief. However, this option would mean increased monthly payments after the deferred payment period for the remainder of the policy and therefore may not be appropriate for customers who are concerned about their longer-term financial situation.

We intend to stay close to the evolving guidance of the FCA and make sure we do what’s practically possible to support you during this continued period of uncertainty.

To ensure our Home Emergency provider, Coplus, are able to continue to provide help for the most urgent home emergencies in these challenging times, the deployment of tradespeople will be limited to situations that present a risk to health and safety, or to maintain essential living facilities.

Each claim will be assessed on a case by case basis, with particular regard to vulnerability, however, the following list is indicative of where emergency support will still be deployed:

• Any issue where there is a risk of injury or serious property damage

• Complete loss of power or lighting in the home, or loss of power to kitchen appliances

• No usable bathing facilities available to the customer (usually one bath or shower unless there are special circumstances)

• No usable toilet facilities available to the customer (usually one facility unless there are special circumstances)

• No water supply to the property

• Blocked drains (this work can usually be completed externally)

• Unsecure property

This approach will apply until the current government restrictions are updated. For any claims which would normally be classed as emergency but they are unable to provide support for at this time, a claim will be created and a tradesperson will still be deployed at a later date. Customers will be asked to call back after the loosening of restrictions to progress the repair.

For customers without heating, we'll offer reimbursement of the cost of temporary heaters (up to £40).

As much as we love hearing from our policyholders, you don’t need to let us know you’re working from home. Administrative and clerical duties are covered by your policy as is any business equipment you are legally responsible for up to your contents insurance limit.

You should always call the Home Emergency helpline (0345 601 1060) in the first instance. Our Home Emergency partner, Coplus, hasn’t experienced any challenges with supporting our policyholders in claiming. We remain in consistent contact with them during this uncertain time and will continue to assess and plan accordingly. In the event of a Home Emergency claim, work should only be carried out by an approved tradesperson whom is qualified and instructed by the helpline to undertake emergency work.

If you’re a Paymentshield policyholder without Home Emergency cover, you can still use the helpline (0345 601 1060) to help find a tradesperson. However, whist we can help put you in touch with a tradesperson you would need to cover the cost of the call out, parts and labour.

Providing your situation meets the terms set out in your policy booklet and the appointed solicitor believes there’s a reasonable prospect (greater than a 51% chance of winning), you should be able to recover losses or damages. We recommend using the Legal Expenses Helpline (0345 601 1060) to discuss any potential claim.

We understand your concern during this uncertain time and really hope this doesn’t happen to you. Any claims for unemployment will be paid for existing customers in line with the terms and conditions of the policy. We recommend reviewing your policy booklet to understand what your policy covers you for and how to make a claim for unemployment should you need to. Temporary or voluntary redundancy or a reduction in working hours by your current employer is not covered.

We're currently not accepting new IncomeShield policies to be purchased. MortgageProtector policies can still be purchased but only to cover accident and sickness.

If you're an existing customer, we'd like to assure you that you're not affected by the changes in availability of these products and can continue to claim in line with the terms and conditions of your current policy. Details of how to make an accident, sickness or unemployment claim, along with the information you'll need to make a successful claim are provided in your policy booklet and confirmation of your chosen qualification period can be found on your Certificate of Cover.

Sickness illness caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19 ) is not excluded under our policies so if you were affected by the virus in such a way that meant you were too unwell to work for a prolonged period of time (30 days or more) you would be able to claim following your chosen qualification period . Details of how to make an accident and sickness claim are provided in your policy booklet and confirmation of your chosen qualification period can be found on your Certificate of Cover.

Latest government advice suggests most people will only experience mild symptoms and policyholders should be aware that the current recommendation of 14 days self-isolation is not covered, as 14 days is not a long enough period of being unable to claim under sickness cover.

The Act increases the amount of notice that must be given, in relation to rent arrears, to a tenant for possession of the property from four weeks to three months, with provision to increase this further. Therefore, whilst notice of possession can still be issued, no court proceedings can start until the three-month notice period has passed.

We’re aware of a number of county courts closing; advising that they will suspend or postpone possession hearings. We’re also aware of county court bailiffs refusing to attend properties to evict tenants, where those tenants are known to remain in occupation of the property. It will therefore take longer for possession of any property to be obtained.

All other terms and conditions of the policy still need to be met with regards to referencing and documents to supply (see your policy terms for full details of what is needed).

We appreciate this is a difficult time for everybody and that landlords don’t want to unnecessarily evict their tenants. The government has set out its intention for landlords and tenants to mediate, to reach an amicable and mutual agreement to deal with any rent arrears. This is coupled with financial assistance being made available to both businesses and the public, intended to reduce the risk of tenants falling into rent arrears in the first place.

No, the policy will only pay out Rent Guarantee Insurance (if your policy includes it) if a claim to evict your tenant has been accepted.

If the tenant is in breach of the tenancy agreement i.e. non-payment of rent, then that is an insured event and must be reported within the notice period set out in your policy. This will typically be within 30-45 days of the event.

If you’ve agreed a payment holiday with your tenant and is formalised by an addendum to your Tenancy Agreement, this is not an insured event and we do not need to be notified. This does not prevent a claim being made if your tenant fails to keep to the new agreement.

Following the implementation of the Corona Virus Act 2020 we’ll continue to cover rent guarantee claims, and legal expenses to evict tenants during the period of the Act, as long as there remains the prospect of successfully evicting the tenant at a future point in time.

You should continue to notify us of any new claims in the usual way and you can contact your claims handler who will be able to provide a status update on any existing claims.

Yes. We are continuing to invite renewals of existing Paymentshield policies.