There is so much to do there ..

• from rubbing shoulders with the stars at the annual Cannes film festival, to exploring medieval towns and villages a little further inland;
• from sun bathing by the pool or on the beach to popping across to Corsica;
• window shopping in Monaco to going to the Grand Prix;
• rollerblading along the promenade to enjoying some local specialities (though those of you with children who are fussy eaters will be pleased to know that even somewhere as sophisticated as Nice has not, but, at the time of writing, two McDonalds!

It needn’t be expensive, either, and accessing the Cote d’Azur is easy:

• many low cost airlines fly direct to Nice (less than two hours from London Gatwick);
• catch a Eurostar from London, change at Paris and experience the ever changing scenery on the five hour train journey down to Nice;
• take your tourer or motorhome with you and go via Le Shuttle (don’t forget to make sure you have continental caravan insurance so that your holiday isn’t ruined by a breakdown);
• again, take Le Shuttle and take a leisurely drive to Nice, stopping off for a few days enroute and enjoying the sights and sounds of different places.

Accommodation-wise, while it is true that there are some very expensive hotels in the South of France – especially those with sea-views – there are also cheaper ones a little inland.

You may also wish to consider camping or staying in a holiday chalet – there are many “Parcs” dotted along the French Rivieria which have excellent facilities and lots to do to keep the smaller members of the family happy, too!

And while it is great to fully embrace the culture and eat local delicacies, now and again you may wish to cater for yourself. The supermarkets are all well stocked, so this may be an option for you.

Finally, before you go, try and brush up on your French – even the basics like “thank you” and “I would like… please”. This will make all the difference to the enjoyment of your holiday and the French people appreciate it when you make the effort.

Clearly it offers cover for your holiday home – what else is there to think about?

Well, actually, there may be quite a few subtleties that you might wish to know about and take into account.

• for example, did you know that in some circumstances you might be held legally liable for injuries sustained by cleaning staff on your property – even in situations where a property servicing company provided them?

If that sounds like something that could only happen overseas then you may be mistaken. UK law itself is complicated on the subject of employers’ liability and may hold you accountable, even in situations where a friend or family member was working free of charge on your property by way of a favour.

• to take another illustration, do you know that some insurance may apply strict limits to the amount of time that a property may stand unoccupied before the cover becomes invalid?

That is why it might be important to spend a little time understanding the issues and risks as they apply to your property and making sure that you have cover in place that provides you with peace of mind.

If you accept that argument, it might also highlight some of the advantages of insuring your overseas holiday property through a UK insurance provider.

Technically that is perfectly possible and there are companies offering such services.

There may be a number of advantages for you in doing so, not the least of which is that you will be able to discuss and understand the issues in English – and that may make it easier for you to achieve that precious peace of mind.

So, whether your holiday property is overseas or in the United Kingdom, it may pay to take the subject of insurance seriously and to deal with a provider who will be able to offer you appropriate advice and guidance.

Language

Although some people make sincere efforts to learn the language of the country where they have their property, not all of us are naturally gifted linguists.

Even if we do have a reasonable conversational understanding of the local language, insurance has its own specialist technical vocabulary. Being able to survive in a restaurant or shop by using your language skills might not be any reliable indication that you will be able to do so when trying to understand the intricacies of second home insurance.

Of course, a local insurance agent may be able to speak a little English but you may feel a little uneasy about relying on their skills to communicate important points to you relating to your property insurance.

Currency

Trying to understand the cost of your insurance in a foreign currency might be relatively easy but what might prove to be less so is understanding how that might change going forward.

Currencies fluctuate in value against each other and sometimes by significant amounts. Yes, that may sometimes work in your favour but if it goes in the other direction, you may see your costs escalating rapidly.

Cultural understanding

A UK insurance provider may typically have an intuitive understanding of some of the issues and concerns that may apply to policyholders who are familiar with the UK market.

Overseas personnel, though expertly qualified, may simply have a different set of cultural assumptions and may presume that you know something about property insurance in their country that, in fact, you do not.

The alternative option

There are UK-based insurance providers who may offer cover for overseas property of all types.

Needless to say, the transaction will be conducted entirely in English and prices will be in pounds Sterling. That might offer you stability and confidence going forward.

Perhaps more importantly, these providers may understand that you might not be entirely familiar with the local laws and insurance requirements in your chosen country and will be keen to explain those to you.

Thinking of sourcing your overseas property cover from a UK insurance provider just might be something that helps you avoid a few traumas.

Standard perils

When it comes to the standard perils covered by overseas property cover, the usual risks including flood and fire may be present. But as a Turkish property owner you may find that it may be a requirement to have cover for earthquakes included too.

More than the structure

When you stop and think about it, your holiday home is comprised of so much more than the building materials that make it up. You may also need cover for the furniture, pool and contents of outbuildings, which would all be expensive to replace it they were not included in holiday home insurance in Turkey.

There may also be certain items present at your holiday home which may attract special insurance treatment. For instance, you may wish to check your policy’s wording carefully if it includes:

• solar panels – these may be targeted by thieves, and may carry their own excess. There may also be stringent requirements about making sure that the panels are properly fixed before the cover is valid;
• wind turbines;
• fuel tanks – these may obviously carry their own risk of explosion;
• decorative paths and drives.

What about monetary loss?

If your property were destroyed by an insured risk, no doubt you would be distraught. But what about the money that you might lose given that you would no longer have a holiday home to rent out?

Overseas property insurance may typically include loss of rent for damage caused by insured risks, so you may not end up out of pocket.

What about the other risks involved in being a holiday home owner?

No matter how well maintained your property is, accidents happen and public liability insurance may offer valuable protection against third party claims.

Do you have any help with cleaning at your Turkish holiday home? Or does someone assist you with maintenance or keep the pool clean? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then you may wish to check that your holiday home insurance in Turkey may include employer’s liability insurance in case any of them should make a claim against you.

The old town market

As you probably know, Nice is one of the hot spots of French property. It is close to Italy, next door to Monaco and has all the buzz of a city while retaining the charm of an old town, with narrow streets and glorious buildings. There are local variations but it’s always expensive compared to most other area of France apart from Paris and maybe Lyon.

French property just about anywhere on the South-East coast is going to be either expensive compared to the North or middle of France. Or if it’s not, it’s not likely to be a great area.

If you want warmth, the Mediterranean and slightly cheaper prices, you might do better looking West towards the Spanish border but it has to be said that, in my own opinion, quite a few of the places down there are slightly tacky and holidaymakerish.  Some areas are rundown along the West Med and have social problems.

Brittany and its coast is lovely but weather is sometimes an issue and also some parts of the coastline (particularly in the North East of Brittany) are a little bit like retirementville – great if you are looking for peace and quiet and a slow pace of life. Not so great if you want the buzz of a young and vibrant area!

If you like the sea, you might want to have a look at La Rochelle if you don’t know it.  Very cute and chic town and the summer weather is normally pretty reliable.  There’s an air service to the UK. Property’s a bit pricy though.

Bordeaux is a great place – hot summers, mild winters and good air connections with apparently some nice property and not massively expensive.

Just off the coast in the area near Nantes there’s the Isle de Rey and Isle d’Oleron.  The weather’s okay in summer – and the area is quite trendy if a bit quiet out of season. Rumour has it that Johnny Depp lives on one or other of the islands. There is also a good air services from Nantes

Narbonne in the South West has a lovely mixed French-Catalan culture and guaranteed weather but it’s 10-15 miles from the sea.

The beaches of Biarritz

Finally – Biarritz and the Basque coast of France.  There are some nice areas down there are prices aren’t necessarily as sky-high as you might think. You have pretty sure weather (though Atlantic) and you’re within easy reach of Spain.  Good air links to the UK too.

Some people glide through life without imagining the disasters that may befall them. Others may worry about everything. A sensible approach to property insurance may be to protect your property against as much as possible, while enjoying your holiday home!

What might cover involve?

If you have a regular home and content policy for your UK home, the standard part of the cover may seem familiar. Perils like flood, fire and storm may typically be included, together with some basic cover for the holiday home’s contents.

However, holiday home insurance in Italy may also include an element of loss of rent cover, to account for lost income while the property is not lettable due to an insured risk.

Likewise, employer’s liability insurance may be included as standard in second home cover. This may not be something that you consider until you need it, but should an employee make a claim, you may be very glad that you have it!

The same can be said for public liability insurance, which protects property owners from claims made by third parties for accidents that have taken place on the property. Typical claimants may include holiday guests or visitors.

Can you buy overseas property insurance in the United Kingdom?

Overseas property cover may be available in the United Kingdom from providers who specialise in this sort of cover.

The advantages of buying your policy back home may include the ability to speak in English to brokers about the details of policies and having policy documents in English. After all, insurance is not a topic that comes up in everyday conversation and it may be difficult to look up the appropriate vocabulary to understand the policy documents. Further, you could purchase the cover in pounds and avoid exchange rate fluctuation.

If you would like more information about holiday home insurance in Italy, you may wish to check that your provider understands Italian legal requirements for holiday property owners.

The cover itself

As with regular home insurance, the structure may be covered against:

• flood;
• fire;
• storm; and
• earthquakes.

However, given that you do not live in your holiday home all year round, you may forget about some of the contents that are left behind. Accordingly, you may wish to check that garden furniture, ornaments and bikes are all covered, together with furniture that you may leave behind for guests to use.

Further, your overseas property cover may need to extend to liabilities you may face by virtue running a holiday lettings business. So employer’s liability may be necessary if you have anyone assisting you in this enterprise (and may even be included as standard if you do not).

Sadly, the growing litigation culture shows no sign of slowing down, so public liability insurance may be a must to allow property owners to sleep at night while strangers are staying in their property. Even if you do not let out your second home for profit, this element of holiday home insurance in Portugal may be handy in case anyone else should have an accident while on your property.

What else to bear in mind?

No matter who sells you your holiday home cover, you may wish to check that they are familiar with the local legal requirements for property owners.

Likewise, like any insurance cover, there may be an excess which you have to pay if you want to make a claim. There may also be security or other requirements which you may have to meet to preserve the cover, like draining water and heating systems in winter months or fitting patio doors with secure locks.

You may also wish to check what the insurer’s policy is on voids. Unlike your home cover in the UK, your holiday home insurance in Portugal may allow the property to be unoccupied for a few weeks without invalidating the cover.

But rather than simply purchasing a product “off the shelf” in France, you may wish to give careful thought to this important purchase.

The ease of English speaking assistance

If you are not a fluent French speaker, it may be worthwhile trying to find a provider with people who speak English, who can explain in detail what each policy covers.

If you are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, there may be other advantages in dealing with a UK provider, which may include:

• policy documents in English. Given that your insurance policy is such an important document, it may helpful to be able to understand every word!;

• underwriters whose name you recognise; and

• no exchange rate confusion. If you purchase your holiday home insurance from a United Kingdom based provider, you may pay in pounds, so there is no need to pay a conversion rate or try to work out exchange rates.

Of course, not every UK based provider may be able to help. Providers who specialise in overseas property cover and in particular holiday home insurance in France may be the best placed to help.

What else is there to bear in mind?

As with any insurance policy, you may wish to read the terms and conditions carefully. For instance, insurers may have minimum security requirements regarding locks and other security systems. However, you may wish to take this opportunity to review your security arrangements, as insurers’ recommendations may typically be the actions of a prudent property owner.

Further, look at the excess on the policy because you may wish to bear this in mind for future reference. An excess is the part of the claim that the insured has to cover, before the insurer’s obligation to pay kicks in. If you are lucky enough to live in the sunny South, you may wish to check whether your holiday home insurance in France makes any exceptions or special excesses for solar panels, as these may be treated differently.

What are the main features of French property cover?

Like any other insurance policy, it may be worth checking through the details to make sure the policy extends to everything that is important to you.

So whilst the main part of the policy may relate to the structure, you may wish to check that this extends to the outbuildings and pool, if there is one. Likewise, you may wish to verify that barbecue decking areas, paths and fences are covered.

More than “bricks and mortar”

Aside from the main “bricks and mortar” part of the cover, you may wish to check that your French property insurance policy covers loss of rent for the time when the property is unavailable for lettings due to damage from an insured risk.

Likewise, holiday home insurance may cover employer’s liability insurance too. At first glance, you may not consider yourself to be employing anyone. But when you address your mind to the issue, anyone who does work for you like cleaning or maintenance may be a potential claimant while working on your property.

When you let your property to strangers, you do not really know what goes on when you are not there. That is one of the issues that you have to get over when you are in the lettings business. However, no matter what happens, if your holiday home cover includes public liability insurance, you may rest assured that you have cover for third party claims.

Other things to consider about overseas homes policies

Like any other type of policy, holiday home cover may have an excess which may vary from provider to provider. The level of excess may have an effect on the price of the cover.

There may also be insurer’s requirements for security and maintenance, which may be checking from time to avoid inadvertently invalidating your French property insurance.

Montreal is featured as one of the most livable cities in the world and once you reach there the vibrant culture of the city and the sparkling lifestyle is sure to have a lasting impression on you and make your visit a memorable one.

The city offers everything to its visitors from its diverse cultural bouquet to dazzling nightlife, from nature’s extravaganza to modern architectural delights and if you are a foodie, this is surely the place that you would never like to miss.

Drive and discover Montreal
If you want to discover the city, one of the best ways is to rent a car. There are many car hire Montreal agencies, that can offer you really good deals on car hire. You can select your car hire service online and take the advantage of pick up and drop at the airport along with your city tour. In this way you will not be dependent on local transport timings and can plan your own schedule.

To hire a car, all you need to do is fill in a form and provide information and give the dates & time of your requirement, make the online payment and you have a car waiting for you at the airport. You can choose your car according to your need from affordable to luxurious range. A good car renting agency provides you with breakdown assistance, third party insurance, dedicated customer service, so that you can enjoy your tour completely.

You can also explore the town in buses and trams, boats and bicycles, if you prefer local transport.

While in Montreal
Although you can engage yourself in a lot of activities like shopping, eating and city sightseeing, while in Montreal, make some time to take a tour to visit the majestic Niagara Falls. The vastness and the breath taking view is a tourist delight. Take the ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat ride (operates between mid-May and October) and you will remember the journey forever.

If you have time, go for the whale- watching cruise and enjoy the nature’s beauty at its best. You can enjoy this exhilarating sight while driving along the St. Lawrence River. You can board your cruise boat from Riviere – du – Loup, and enjoy the day, spotting whales, seals, belugas and other exciting sea-creatures.

Take a day trip to the country side surrounding the city of Montreal and can enjoy the enigmatic beauty and simplicity of nature. The forests, lakes and mountains of Laurentian are going to mesmerize the nature lover in you. The panoramic view of the French village gives a sense of serenity.

Foodie’s paradise
The influence of different cultures has added flavors to the city’s culinary scene. If you like to eat, then the awesome culinary banquet of Montreal is sure to please your taste buds. Enjoy the different cuisine of the world, as much as you like, and around the clock.