If you are considering or already own a holiday home overseas, you may be wondering about how you get the property insured and what levels of cover and protection you will require.

There are a range of products available for UK residents that own a holiday home overseas. This means that you are able to read and buy a product underwritten in the UK with all the benefits that come with, including:

• No language barriers – policy wordings are in English
• Product Protection – Cover is provided in the UK by a UK insurer
• Exchange rates – As the product is UK product, you pay for it in Pounds so you know how much it will cost you each month. There are no nasty exchange rate surprises.
• Understanding – you will be able to fully understand the legal insurance requirements and will be able to see exactly what your insurance covers.

Holiday home insurance can be a bit of a minefield if you try and get local insurance cover there is the language barrier and not understanding the full legal requirements for insurance. For example, holiday home owners in Turkey have to have compulsory Earthquake cover as part of their insurance.

Most people that own a holiday home are doing so for investment purposes and to have that bolt hole in the sun, so making sure you have the right cover levels will give you peace of mind.

There are also differences between normal home insurance and that for holiday home insurance. The main ones being:

• Legal liability cover for employees – You may not think it but that about cleaning staff that freshen up after each visit. Do not assume that your management company cover that under their insurance.
• Vacant restrictions – What if there long periods where the property is empty? Will your insurance cover it?
• Outbuildings and Swimming pools – These can be covered but can be exempt under certain risks

As you can see, it is not a simple case of popping and buying something off the shelf in the country your home is located in. Looking for a UK insurance broker will be a good way to give you peace of mind and also comfort in that you will be protecting your investment adequately. It will also mean that when you need it, dealing with someone in English is a great advantage if your language skills are not up to it.

Currently you can get holiday home insurance for properties in these countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Cyprus (North), Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom.