According to a story published by the Guardian newspaper on the 15th of June 2019, one in ten British adults – some 5.5 million of the population – own a second home.
Many of these properties are used as holiday homes and altogether represent nearly 1 trillion in value. Some of these properties are overseas, and property professionals like Simon Conn (simonconn.com) can help with residential overseas mortgages; legal services for property purchase abroad; property tax advice and various other services regarding overseas mortgage .
Each of these holiday homes needs similar protection to that offered by standard home insurance – but with the particular safeguards provided by specialist holiday home insurance.
Like anyone else, owners of holiday homes are looking to save money on their property insurance – here are some of the ways you might do so:
Holiday home insurance
- remember that holiday home insurance is different from standard home insurance;
- that is because the risks faced by a holiday home are different in their nature and scope to those of a property in which you are living permanently;
- a holiday home may remain vacant for much of the year, for example, and if it is let to paying guests you may incur the risks and liabilities of any other landlord for injuries or property damage sustained by your tenants and their visitors;
- so, holiday home insurance is a specialist type of insurance and, if you want to save money on its purchase, consult a specialist provider to arrange suitable and cost-effective cover;
Building insurance
- save money on your holiday home insurance by ensuring that the total building sum insured is accurately based on the likely reconstruction cost in the worst-case scenario of it being destroyed in a major event – such as a fire;
- it might be tempting that you over-estimate this cost and over-insure the building – with the result that you may a bigger premium than is necessary;
- holiday homes may also have external structures – such as outbuildings, swimming pools, and garden walls – that also need the protection of adequate insurance cover;
- save money on the possible expense of reinstating these in the event of any damage by ensuring that they are included in your holiday home insurance;
Landlord liability insurance
- if you let your holiday home for any part of the year, remember that you take on the responsibilities and liabilities of any other landlord, for example, if they have stopped payments, you will need to be quickly on top of that, and send them a past due rent notice, find out more about this by visiting american-apartment-owners-association.org;
- if one of your paying guests or tenants suffers an injury or has their property damaged, they may hold you – as the landlord – liable and sue for compensation;
- without adequate landlord liability indemnity insurance, you are likely to be seriously out of pocket if you need to settle any such claim;
Protect your mortgage
- if you are buying your holiday home with the help of a mortgage, the lender is almost certain to insist that adequate building insurance remains in place at all times;
- without the necessary holiday home insurance, therefore, you risk breaching this condition – and face the prospect of the considerable expense involved in the loss of that mortgage advance;
Security
- the more you do to mitigate the greater risks of loss or damage to a holiday home, the more you are likely to save on the cost of your holiday home insurance;
- physical security may be backed-up, for example, by the regular presence of a caretaker or visits to the property to ensure that everything is in order.
Saving money on your holiday home insurance is likely to be a question of recognising the special circumstances of such a home away from home – and one that may be unoccupied for significant parts of the year or otherwise let to tenants.
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