Holiday home insurance explained

Holiday home insurance – it may be a new world of onerous contracts, terms & conditions and potential excesses, but it’s something we recommend.  Want to know the reasons why?  Read on and our guide can tell you more.

What is holiday home insurance?

While it’s similar to your standard home insurance – there are some important differences, so let’s start with the basics.  Holiday home insurance is split into two types; buildings and contents.

Buildings insurance covers the structure of your holiday lettings property against fire, flood, storm damage, burst pipes, subsistence and some other events.  It could also foot the bill for costly repair and rebuilding works.  This usually includes outbuildings, gates & fences and if you’re lucky enough – a swimming pool and so on.

Your contents insurance covers anything in the property that isn’t nailed down.  From sofas and TVs to curtains and carpets.  If you’re letting your property with Osprey Holiday Cottages, we always advise you consider accidental damage protection too.  This will protect your belongings against guests who may not be as careful as you.

Where to start with your policy…

Finding insurance for holiday lettings can be trickier than you think.  It’s the same for second homes too.  You can’t just buy a standard home insurance policy without telling your insurer that you want to cover a property that isn’t your main home.

In extreme cases, it could lead to the insurer refusing to pay out in the event of a claim.

Always make sure you get the right level of cover and check the small print.  For buildings insurance, get an idea how much it would cost to rebuild.  Some insurers offer limitless cover but the majority set a limit.

So why are holiday homes more difficult to insure?

Holiday homes are not more difficult to insure per se, just different.  Insurance companies see holiday lettings as a bigger risk than your main home.  This is because they’re typically left empty for periods of time, particularly over winter, which makes them an easy target for thieves and squatters.

Another concern can be that the owner isn’t around to check up on any weather-related damage.  Here at Osprey Holiday Cottages, we offer out-of-season and even in-season property checks as part of your contract.  So if roof slates disappear in a storm, or a pipe bursts in winter, we can stop things going from bad to worse.  Not all holiday lettings management companies offer this service.

Most standard home insurance policies exclude claims for properties for more than 30 days at a time, so again – check the small print.

Letting your house out to paying guests presents the other main difficulty.  There’s further risk of damage from the occupants rather than the weather.  So this is why you need a specialist holiday home insurance policy that covers occasional use, and the lettings that come with it.

Do I need any other insurance for my holiday home?

Yes.  If you’re letting out your property, you’ll need to have public liability insurance too.  This type of cover will usually cover legal costs and expenses if anyone gets injured while staying in your holiday home.

There are other optional policies too, such as for those who want extra cover for loss of income, following a fire or flood.

Lastly, there’s legal expenses cover.  Typically these cover legal fees up to £50,000, but limits differ per insurer.  We recommend this as it covers any disputes you may have with tenants and in some cases, adjacent properties.

Again, be sure to read your policy carefully before signing on the dotted line.  Most companies will insist you have the correct wind and door locks or they may refuse to cover you for break-ins.

 

Where can I get insurance?

Osprey Holiday Cottages are delighted to team up with Pikl Insurance.  Pikl are an award winning, specialist broker that provides insurance for the sharing economy.

According to research conducted by Quality in Tourism, 58% of guests that stay at paid accommodation expect the property they are staying at to be appropriately insured.  Despite this expectation however, many owners that rent out holiday properties do not realise that their standard insurance may be inadequately suited to covering claims caused by paying guests.  As a result of this, Pikl have developed an insurance ‘Top-Up’ that can cover you whilst you have guests stay at your property.

Find out more on our dedicated page to get a quote and buy Holiday lettings insurance.