Home from Home | Insuring your second property
“There is a world elsewhere”
– William Shakespeare
We all need an escape from the ‘everyday’ at times.
A peaceful holiday home by the UK coast, or an overseas property may be a cherished bolthole for you and your family, but when it’s time to return to everyday life, how can you be sure your holiday home is protected?
Insuring your holiday home
While you may consider your bolthole to be a home, a typical Home Insurance policy will not cover a property that is not your main residence. Some may make concessions if you happen to insure your main residence with them, but more often than not a specific ‘Holiday Home’ policy will be required.
Whilst normally more expensive – reflecting the increased risk from theft or leaking pipes that are presented by lower levels of occupancy – a bespoke Holiday Home contract will afford accommodation of, and greater flexibility for these circumstances. For example, assuming a home insurer agrees to cover your second property, it will potentially be offered with a requirement that the house is inspected every seven days. Given the house is unlikely to be around the corner, this will not be feasible unless you have a neighbour you can ask to do so for you, or you pay someone to inspect it on your behalf. Comparatively a Holiday Home policy will generally allow a longer period between inspections, often as long as 30 days. Some products will also allow for the property to be hired out as a ‘holiday let’ should you want to allow paying guests to stay.
If your property is overseas, it can often be advantageous to insure it locally, as premiums may be more attuned to the specific area and the insurer may have a local network of contractors they can call upon in the event of a claim. This is usually dependent on the insurer agreeing to offer you cover as a non-domiciled resident and now, a non-EU resident as well. There is also the possible downside of the language barrier, particularly if you aren’t fluent in the local tongue and they don’t have English speaking claims staff or policy documents in English. The different regulatory treatment and application of local laws is also a concern for some. If this is the case for you, there are a number of UK insurers that are happy to provide cover for holiday homes based in Europe.
If you happen to have a specialist ‘High Value Home’ policy for your main residence in the UK, it’s likely you can add your second property to this policy. This affords you the benefit of a UK-based insurer, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), who will provide documents and claims support in a manner you can easily understand.
What do insurers require?
Should you decide to insure your holiday property, it is important to make sure you have familiarised yourself with the terms and conditions. There will undoubtedly be specific requirements to help manage certain risks which you must adhere to, to ensure your cover remains valid. The most common example is a requirement to turn off the water supply or maintain the central heating at a minimum temperature when leaving the house unoccupied over winter months. This is intended to help reduce the risk of leaking pipes which can cause catastrophic damage if they remain undetected for days or weeks.
Even if not required under insurance criteria, there may also be certain actions you wish to take to help protect your second home against significant damage and disruptive repairs. Leak detection devices are becoming increasingly popular, particularly systems that will shut off the water for you if they detect a problem. This adds a secondary line of defence if you have opted to maintain the heating and not turn off the water supply. Smart home devices, such as smoke detectors, burglar alarms and security cameras that are linked to your mobile phone are also commonplace and readily available, allowing you to keep an eye on your house wherever you are in the world.
In need of assistance?
If you have a holiday home and need assistance with your insurance, please get in touch. Our experts can provide any advice you require, with no confusing call centres, no automated systems, and no frustrating delays, just helpful, expert assistance that puts you first.
Do you rent out a property?
If you have a house or houses that you rent out on a permanent basis, we can help. We also offer bespoke Property Owners policies designed to protect your property, your rental income and your liabilities as a landlord.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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Lloyd & Whyte Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England No. 03686765. Registered Office: Affinity House, Bindon Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 6AA. Calls may be recorded for use in quality management, training and customer support.
