Holiday Home Insurance - is it needed?
If you have a holiday home or a second home it is important that you have adequate holiday home insurance.
Holiday home insurance needs are quite different from your regular home insurance and therefore a standard home insurance policy is unlikely to include the cover needed.
As a holiday home you are likely to spend more time away from it than your primary residence. Quite often home insurance policies stipulate that a house must not be left unattended for long periods of time, perhaps more than 30 days. This is because if they are they are more vulnerable to burglary and weather damage, particularly in winter with the more prevalent risks of burst pipes and flood damage. Whilst holiday home insurance policies recognise this absence from the property be aware of the stipulations made in order to provide you with insurance cover eg draining off the heating system or turning off the electricity. There are some policies that are less stringent than others so check what is being offered.
You will need building and contents insurance. Don't forget to include accidental damage by guests if you are renting out the property and of course include cover for the swimming pool if you have one.
If you intend to rent out your holiday home when you are not using it then you will need to ensure your holiday home insurance covers public liability insurance. Consider the implications if one of your guests injures themselves whilst renting your holiday home and then claims costs from you. Without the necessary insurance cover this could be a major issue for you.
If you intend to employ people to work at your holiday home, for example cleaners, caretakers or gardeners then you will need to ensure you have adequate employers liability insurance.
If you are renting out your holiday home you should also have adequate legal expenses insurance. For instance you may have a situation in which you are in dispute with a tenant or past tenant about rent or damage to the property. This legal protection will cover the payment of legal fees should you need to take any steps in the way of legal action to recover unpaid rent or resolve issues regarding deposits.
There's also the potential that your property will be damaged by a tenant to a point that you cannot use it for your next holiday or your next guests cannot use it. What about if your guests cancel a visit at the last minute and you cannot get alternative guests to cover the rent? Holiday home insurance can provide cover for both these scenarios.
If your holiday home is overseas, perhaps in France, Spain or Portugal for example, there are additional insurance considerations for your overseas holiday home eg earthquake cover.
So having a holiday home is no doubt wonderful but having the right holiday home insurance for it is certainly needed, or at least to be very carefully considered.
