What is holiday home insurance?

Holiday home insurance is similar to normal household insurance except for one key difference, that it can cover your property when it is unoccupied for long periods of time.

You may also lend or let your holiday home out which again makes it a different risk to a standard home insurance property.

Can’t I just take out a normal household property for my holiday home?

No, as your property is likely to be unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days most standard home insurance policies will exclude cover. So, you will need to take out a specialist holiday home insurance cover.

Also, if you let out a property as a holiday home, a typical home insurance won’t be appropriate as perhaps the property is unoccupied for long periods or the home owner doesn’t live at the property.

If you rent out your holiday home

Holiday let insurance is a specialist form of cover for anyone who rents out their holiday home.

A holiday let insurance policy should protect you against accidental damage and offer public liability cover so that you have peace of mind when welcoming paying guests

Holiday let insurance is designed to protect you, your property and any holidaymakers who rent it out in the event of any accidents or damage.

What do I need to think about when buying holiday home or Holiday let insurance?

• Buildings insurance - provides cover in case of fire or other incidents. Make sure the value of the policy is enough to cover the cost of rebuilding your home. Please note: that if you have a mortgage on your holiday home/holiday let then you might be required as part of your mortgage to have the buildings insured.
• Contents insurance: provides cover for all your furniture, utensils, TV’s, paintings etc – think of how much it would cost to replace all the items in the property.
• Property owner’s liability: Protects you against any potential lawsuits for injury following an accident on, or linked to, your property from a member of the public, for example visitors, renters or generally anyone on or near your property.

It is also worthwhile considering installing extra security precautions such as a burglar alarm as holiday homes are generally empty more often than normal homes, they could be more likely to be broken into.