Arrivals are close and the guarantor column is still red
Thousands of students booked in spring. Each one needed a UK guarantor, an alternative such as a guarantor service or rent paid upfront, or an exemption under your policy. In August, the column in your export still shows hundreds without one. The student has forgotten, the parent never received the email, or the form came back without the second page.
So the lettings team starts ringing parents. Some are abroad. Some have never heard of the booking. Some sent the form to an address that nobody checks.
Why guarantors lag behind bookings
The guarantor is a second person who has no relationship with you. The booking system knows the student and sends reminders to the student, who passes them on or does not. Forms are often PDFs signed by hand, so they return as phone photos with missing pages, and someone has to open each one to see whether it is complete.
- Reminders go to the student, not to the guarantor.
- There is no record of whether a guarantor was even asked, only whether a form arrived.
- Returned forms are checked by eye, so incomplete ones sit in a folder marked done.
- International students who cannot have a UK guarantor need a different route, and they are mixed in with everyone else.
- Your policy on alternatives exists, but it is applied case by case at the desk.
The cost of leaving it to August
Late chasing lands on the lettings team at their busiest point. On arrivals day, students without a guarantor or alternative cause queues and awkward conversations at reception. If your policy is to let them in anyway, you carry the rent risk without the security you asked for. If it is not, you have an upset student and parent on the phone while the queue grows.
How we build guarantor chasing
- When a booking is confirmed, the tracker asks the student for their guarantor's name, email and phone number through a short form.
- The guarantor receives their own message with an e-signature link to your guarantor agreement, so they sign without printing anything.
- Reminders go to the guarantor and to the student on a schedule you set, and stop the moment the form is signed.
- Uploaded documents such as proof of address are read and checked for the fields your policy requires, and anything missing is sent back with a clear request.
- Students who say they cannot provide a UK guarantor are routed to your alternatives, such as a guarantor service or an upfront payment option, with their own reminders.
- Your team works from one list: signed, in progress, alternative chosen, and no response, sorted by arrival date.
- When the guarantor is complete, the status is written back to your booking system so reception sees it at check-in.
| Status | What the team sees | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Guarantor details not given | Student has not replied | Reminder to student |
| Sent to guarantor, not signed | Date sent, reminders so far | Reminder to guarantor, then a call |
| Signed, documents missing | Which document | Automatic request to guarantor |
| Alternative chosen | Which alternative | Follows that route's checks |
| Complete | Tick on booking | Nothing |
Whether a guarantor is needed, what counts as an acceptable one and what alternatives you offer are set by your own policy and advisers.
A calmer August
By the summer, the list your team works from is short and specific: these students have no guarantor and these guarantors have not signed. Calls are made to the few who need one, not to everyone. On arrivals day, reception sees a clear status on each booking and nobody is sent to a back office to find a form.
Is this your summer?
- Guarantor forms are still missing in large numbers close to arrivals.
- Reminders go to students who do not pass them on.
- Forms come back unsigned, incomplete or as blurred photos.
- Staff ring parents one by one to chase.
- International students without a UK guarantor are handled inconsistently.