Holiday Home Insurance

It is estimated that up to 500,000 people in the UK own a holiday home abroad, with some of the favourite destinations being France, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain. Therefore, as overseas home owners they will undoubtedly be faced with the task of finding a good quality holiday home insurance to cover their property. With such a rash of overseas holiday investment shows on TV these days it is no surprise that the sales of overseas property has literally gone through the roof.

Along with the excitement of owning a second home abroad and watching their villa slowly increase in value, there are some essentials which an overseas property owner will need in order to safeguard and best protect their assets.

Holiday Home Insurance is probably the most important one and is designed to satisfy the need of overseas home owners who often do not live in their Holiday Homes on a permanent basis. Overseas Holiday Home Insurance offers cover for buildings, contents or a combination of both.

With the second home and overseas ownership market positively booming, we are now seeing holiday home ownership in virtually every corner of the world. It is not only for holiday homes in the old favourites like France, Spain , Portugal, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Malta and Portugal for example, but also for more distant destinations such as South Africa, Florida and even Australia.

The Benefits of having Insurance for your Holiday Home

It's true, you may be able so speak fluently in the native language where your holiday home is located and opt for buying a home insurance policy abroad, but the benefits of buying in the UK far outweigh the risks of buying abroad. For example, a Holiday Home Policy bought in the UK may have a claims service supported by local representatives abroad. This means you don't have the language difficulties of liasing with a foreign insurance company, and also means your claims will be handled in the UK.

The policies will be issued in English, so there will be less chance of missing something important in translation. Don't forget the legendary small print, this is exceptionally important to be understood and therefore actually being able to read it in English will make your life a lot easier.

Buying Home Insurance abroad can also give far less cover for your money. For example, a policy bought in the UK specifically designed for overseas home owners can sometimes give emergency travel cover as standard. Also, any taxes required to be paid to the relevant country will be included in the final price of the premium and will be arranged on your behalf by the Insurance provider.

Often you will find Holiday Home Insurance will also cover you for renting or letting your property. A lot of overseas home owners like to utilise the income potential of their investment and let them out as holiday homes, and many of these special overseas policies will in fact cover you to do this.

Some will even insure you for loss of income if you let your property out on the rental market and a catastrophe happens. Unforseen circumstances such as fire or flood damage can render your holiday home uninhabitable to holiday guests, therefore all your future rental income from your advanced villa bookings can be lost almost overnight. A number of policies will allow you to claim for loss of rental income and even pay for alternative accommodation for your displaced clients. This can be very reassuring if you like to maintain a professional image with your rental business.

Things to be aware of with Holiday Home Insurance

Some policies do not cover the holiday home when it is left unoccupied, so check this out thoroughly in the small print.

In the details it may also stipulate that your holiday home must not be left unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days. It might also say you need specific window locks and security measures, or that it must be visited weekly or have the water drained from pipes during quiet periods when there are no guests.

All these can be very limiting and a headache to arrange from hundreds of miles away, so ensure you read the small print carefully and leave yourself no room for nasty surprises.

Also, if you intend doing holiday letting or renting to friends then the insurance policy needs to have adequate cover to enable you to do this safely. Check that the Holiday Home policy you buy actually covers you for every likely scenario that you might encounter as an overseas owner.

Overseas holiday homes that are used entirely for family holidays are not usually crammed with the latest expensive gadgets, so a contents insurance policy for these will be relatively cheap and easy to organise. On the other hand, if you use your holiday home for rental purposes then arranging good quality contents insurance is a must. Not only will the property have more in the way of equipment and gadgets, but there is more scope for damage to equipment by a constant stream of visiting guests.

By the season end your villa may have seen scores of people passing through its doors, so just by the law of averages there will undoubtedly be some breakages along the way. Here a comprehensive home contents policy is essential and will cover you for all eventualities, right down to the smallest of incidents like a damaged microwave.

Be aware that not all countries are as low risk as the UK for natural disasters. Do check your holiday home insurance covers you for any of nature's surprises. This includes ensuring you are adequately covered against hurricane and earthquake damage if your property is in one of those zones.