Are you fortunate enough to own a holiday home? Is it a bolt-hole used only by you to escape the pressures of everyday life or is it somewhere you’re happy to see used by family and friends for their holidays, too? Does it lie idle and unoccupied for much of the year, or is it somewhere that also generates a regular income when let to paying guests? Whatever enjoyment you’re able to get from a second home, you are likely to give serious consideration to the holiday property insurance that protects both its fabric and its contents.

On the face of it, going about arranging that insurance appears simple enough. If you are an existing property owner, with your own home to look after, then you probably know a thing or two about buildings and contents insurance. Holiday property insurance, however, might require something a little different and call for some specialist advice, in order to get just the cover you need – few people want to pay for cover they do not need, for example, whilst the careful property owner tries to ensure that all the essentials are covered.

Fortunately, there are a number of specialist, holiday property insurance providers whose web-based quotation services might help you find just the cover you require. Some of the key points worth bearing in mind are:

• Whatever the location of your property, you are likely to want a policy that is readily understood, with critical “small print” explained in advance. If your holiday home is overseas, therefore, it might well be worth insuring it through a UK-based insurer, with a policy written in English and help-lines manned by native English-speakers, in the event that you need to make a claim;
• If the property is likely to remain unoccupied for substantial periods of time, your insurer needs to know that fact and take it into account when arranging the cover;
• If you employ others to care-take your holiday home or help to maintain it, you might wish to consider including employer’s liability cover in your holiday property insurance – indeed, if such staff are retained to look after a property in the UK, the law might require that you have such cover.

Whether it’s in the UK or somewhere in sunnier climes, your holiday home is likely to represent a sizeable investment and one that you want to protect as securely as possible. One of the inevitable problems with holiday home insurance – as with any form of insurance – however, is that you’re unlikely to discover how suitable, safe and reliable the cover is unless or until you need to make a claim.

To help you overcome such uncertainty and gain reassurance in advance of any claim, therefore, it might often repay to purchase holiday home insurance through an experienced specialist provider of this particular form of insurance. One of the likely reasons for consulting such a specialist – typically through a website enquiry – is that insurance for a holiday home differs in a number of respects from other varieties of home insurance:

• Unoccupied – a holiday home is likely to be unoccupied more often and for longer periods of time than your principal residence. The higher risks attracted by empty buildings, moreover, lead many insurers to reduce the level of cover after a given interval (typically more than 30 to 90 days, depending on the insurer). An insurance provider specialising in cover for holiday homes is typically better placed to identify those insurers that continue to provide the cover most appropriate to the occupation patterns of your holiday home;
• Employers’ liability – whether your holiday home is in the UK or abroad, you might also employ staff to help you look after it. If the property is in the UK, you might be under a legal obligation to hold employers’ liability insurance to cover those employees against claims arising from injuries or damage to their property whilst working for you. Other countries, of course, might have different legislation with respect to employers’ liabilities, but the prudent property owner is likely to make certain of any such obligations and to ensure that adequate insurance is in place to provide indemnity against such claims;
• Your needs – holiday homes, of course, come in all shapes and sizes, with a host of possible facilities and amenities. Specialist holiday home cover is likely to offer greater flexibility in arranging cover for only those features that you genuinely need to be protected – not all properties, for example, have a swimming pool, but if there is one, you are likely to want it to remain fully covered by the insurance policy;
• Loss of income – many holiday homes are owned as an investment from which it is intended to derive a rental income. Even the most carefully run businesses such as this, however, suffer setbacks and one of the useful features of a well chosen holiday home insurance policy might be the ability to claim for loss of rental income (such as where the property has been damaged by an insured risk and cannot be let out while it is being repaired, for example). Not all holiday homes insurance policies will offer this cover, so do check.

There are two parts to holiday property insurance. These are buildings cover and contents cover. The former obviously protects the structure of your property. Contents cover is a matter of choice but it may be a very valuable part of the insurance. If you lost everything in your holiday home, it has to be replaced by you if you do not have cover.

With contents insurance it typically pays out up to an agreed sum to replace belongings, furniture and any items that are classed as removable from the property.

What events are protected with holiday home insurance?

You may find that holiday property insurance typically – but not always – protects against the following:

• breakage of any glass that is fixed which may include ceramic hobs and sanitary fittings;
• damage or destruction due to fire or explosion;
• storm damage which may include lightning damage;
• flood or water leak damage;
• earthquake damage;
• an impact of aircraft or vehicle;
• acts of vandalism;
• damage from water tanks or pipes.

Of course, you do have to check the policy you are considering to find out the extent of your cover and limitations and exclusions. These may vary not only because the providers are different, but also where you have your holiday home.

Protection for renting out your holiday home
You may find that accidental damage is not covered in the holiday property insurance policy but may be added on for a little extra to cover any accidental damage by you and members of your family (but typically not tenants). This may be worth taking especially if you do plan to rent out your holiday home.

When considering a policy you may want to check to find out if the insurance provider pays out new for old or if they consider wear and tear.

Pubic liability insurance protects you in the event that a holidaymaker suffers an injury such as a trip or fall whilst staying in your holiday home and then subsequently makes a claim for damages against you. In the event that someone were injured and a claim made against you, public liability insurance typically pays up to a pre-defined amount towards your legal costs.

You may also want to include income rental loss in your holiday property insurance. This typically pays towards losses that occur if holidaymakers have pre-booked and they cannot stay in the property due to such as repairs taking place as a result of damage caused by an insured risk – not for maintenance works. With some policies you may also get financial help towards a stay in alternative accommodation for your family as the result of damage to your holiday home.