Holiday Home Insurance Policy Issues

Your holiday home, whether used for your own private use or for rental purposes, is an asset that will need protecting. As well as the structure of the building and the contents inside, you will also need to make sure that you have adequate liability insurance in place, to protect you against claims for acts of negligence that may be levied against you. In the main, your holiday home insurance , will protect you against all the usual perils, you would expect to find under a standard home insurance policy. You should check you policy wording carefully, as you will need to make sure that it contains all the perils required to secure a mortgage on the property ( if in deed you do have a mortgage). Your lender may want their name to be listed on the schedule of insurance, which is not a problem.

In certain European countries, it is a little more complicated, other laws apply and you may need extra forms of liability cover or even be asked to include certain perils that are not usually covered under a UK policy. If you deal with a specialist company, they should be aware of the individual needs of particular country and be able to advise you accordingly.

Like most forms of home insurance, holiday home insurance is no different in that insurers, in the main, calculate their premiums based on a number of factors, including the location of the building and the sums insured required. Buildings insurance premiums are often surprising in that, you may have a property located in an area that you consider is low risk, (such as in the county) but the insurers  place a higher premium on the property than you expect. There is of course factored in the ” holiday home usage”, premiums are generally higher that standard homeowners insurance as their is a greater risk of a claim. Insurers have access to reams of statistic (and of course their own previous claims data) Factors they take in to consideration when  calculating the building portion of the premium, include, the geology of the land on which the property is located including the structure of the soil( this can help determine the likelihood of subsidence) also its proximity to  seas & rivers and the likelihood that the property may have an increased chance of being hit by a weather related incident. Some insurers will charge a premium based on the rebuilding cost, others will give you a blanket sum insured based on the number of bedrooms. You can help reduce your premium by taking an excess ( the first portion of the loss you are prepared to pay). If you accept a voluntary excess, always check what the total excess will be as some polices will also have a built in compulsory excess and you have to add the two together.

If you require to insure the contents of your property and it is a good idea to do so , to ensure you have adequate liability insurance in place, you will need to calculate their replacement cost as new. Depending on the location of the property, you may have to have certain security ,measures in place. As with the buildings,  the premium charged for contents insurance is usually based on the sum insured.

If you are having paying guests or even friends stay at your property then, including liability insurance is a must. Uk insurance polices will include liability cover and the premium for it is factored in to the premiums charged under the core sections of the policy. The amount of offer will  usually vary between 1 & 5 million pounds. Different levels apply to European countries, so you will need to check.

Because holiday homes are not as occupied as frequently as normal domestic dwelling houses, you may find that your insurance policy comes with certain restrictions or stipulations, Most of these relate to the security and the up keep of the property and also deal with the prevention of burst pipes during the winter months. Make sure you study, the policy terms and conditions most carefully, most of them are common sense and are designed to help reduce both the likelihood and severity of any claims.

At Assetsure.com you can find out more about holiday home insurance and understand some basic holiday home investment tips.