Legal question concerning renting a house

[singlecoil]

Last year my wife and I wanted to rent a house. We saw one we liked, and spoke to the agents. They wanted to ‘reference’ us. That was OK but the form required the contact details for my wife’s employers. We didn’t want her boss to know that we were leaving (a fact that they would have deduced) so the agents said OK, pay us two months rent worth of deposit, and six months rent in advance and you can have the house.
We paid the money and moved in. When the six months were up, the agents wanted another six months rent, or that we be referenced for paying monthly. I objected, not to the reference, but to the £117.50 fee they were asking. In the meantime we paid the rent monthly. Eventually the fee question was resolved and the referencing went ahead.
Then it transpired that the agents were not sufficiently happy with our finances and that we should either have a guarantor that met their requirements, or pay the six months in advance.
Apparently the reason for all this is that the landlords (an English family that live and work abroad) want to buy ‘Landlord’s Rent Guarantee Insurance’ and that in order for this to happen we have to satisfy the insurance company’s requirements.

Assuming that we refuse to comply, and continue to pay monthly on time, and continue to look after the property very well ( a fact that they acknowledge) are they really likely to try to evict us? Would seem a bit daft to me. They would need a court order, wouldn’t they, one that we could fight?

[randlemarcus]

Presuming that you are on an assured shorthold tenancy agreement, then they say bye bye, you go. You cant fight it, even if they want you out for having ginger hair.
Might be worth asking if you can overpay by x per month, so you are 6 months up in a year or similar?