Holiday Home Insurance

Let’s take a closer look at the different types of insurance available:

Public liability insurance for holiday homes

Although public liability insurance is not compulsory, it is very highly recommended. Without it, you could find yourself paying out huge sums of money to guests who experience an accident or cause accidental damage to your property. Holiday at Home insist that Public Liability Insurance is taken out to the sum of £5mllion and is indeed a clause within our contract.

We don’t like to think about anything unfortunate taking place, however people do suffer accidents when using the stairs for example, some properties also have open fires/wood burners which can prove a hazard if the guest has never used them before. Perhaps you can think about any potential hazards that you might have in your property?

Things to consider:

Guests
Ensure you check that your contents insurance covers against paying guests, and not just by family members. This seems like an obvious point, but some insurers only cover for second-holiday homes, and not for commercial letting.

Pets
There’s no doubt that the demand for pet-friendly holidays is ever increasing. If your property accepts pets, then you’ll want to be sure that your contents insurance will also cover any damage caused by your furry guests.

Individual items 
Some individual items are only insured up to a certain amount, and the breakdown of appliances may not be covered. Let’s say you’ve invested in a fantastic new coffee machine  and within the first week of the high season, a guest damages or breaks it. You’ll want to make sure you can easily replace these items at no extra cost if they get damaged. Or at least be prepared to pay to replace them if they are not covered.

Key points for buildings insurance for holiday lets

External structures
Make sure that you factor in structures such as garages, outbuildings and sheds in your policy. If you fail to mention them, you won’t be covered if anything happens.

Under-insuring
If you understate the cost of reconstructing your property to save money on premiums, you may end up being underinsured.

Winter warranties
If you can’t visit your property often enough to comply with the minimum occupancy terms, or you have insufficient bookings, then the property could be lying empty. Check to see if your insurer has any inoccupancy restrictions over the winter.

General wear and tear
This is generally not covered by Insurers and you need to be aware of this due to holiday lets often suffering wear and tear from the regular turnover of guests.

Changes or improvements
If you make changes like adding a hot tub or extra construction, don’t wait until your renewal date to advise your insurer. Although you may see your premium rise, you won’t be covered should anything happen in the interim.

As mentioned above, all holiday home insurance policies are different. However, there are some common exclusions you should check with your policy provider. Many providers also offer add-ons that are not included as standard but can be included for an extra charge.

You might want to consider the following areas:

Legal expenses

• This isn’t always included as standard. This covers legal fees, compensation and appeal costs incurred because of a wide range of legal disputes in which you may become involved as a holiday homeowner.
• You may want to consider making sure you are covered for property infringement, eviction of overstaying guests and consumer and residential tax protection.
• Cover can be anywhere between £50,000 to £100,000+.

Loss of income

Loss of pre-booked rental income can be covered by some insurers. There are occasions when the property may not be habitable for guests, and you may lose the bookings that were due to go in or be forced to cancel all of your upcoming bookings. In this event, you’ll want to make sure that you are covered for any loss of income. This can generally be anywhere from £25,000 to £100,000 or more, and it will depend on what your policy is willing to cover and how much premium you pay.

Emergency travel expenses

If you live abroad but are required to travel back to oversee any issues, you may be able to get travel expenses paid. If you live outside the UK, this can be a very important part of your policy. It’s worth checking this out if you manage your holiday home remotely.

Alternative accommodation

We don’t like to think about pipes bursting whilst a guest is in the property, but if something like this occurs you will need to check if your insurance will cover the cost incurred to move the guest to alternative accommodation.

Employers’ liability insurance

If you are employing staff such as cleaners, you need to take a moment to consider whether you require employer’s liability insurance.

Holiday at Home highly recommend Boshers who specialise in all aspects of holiday home insurance. Please click on the highlighted link to be taken directly to their website and mention that we have recommended you.