Holiday Home Insurance and Second Home Insurance
Protecting your holiday home either overseas or in the UK is a vital way to protect your investment. Choosing a UK insurance product means that you will have peace of mind, when it comes to having to make a claim.Selecting the "get a quote" button will direct you to Intasure.
Posts Tagged ‘overseas Property Insurance’
Choosing holiday home insurance in Italy
If you’ve successfully weathered the long – and sometimes tortuous – process of actually buying your second home there, you could reasonably expect choosing holiday home insurance in Italy to be a similarly complicated procedure. It could turn out that way, but you could also choose more wisely.
When you were buying the property, you almost certainly needed to place oversight of the whole purchase in the hands of an Italian notary public, only to find the process long-winded and bureaucratic. With your purchase complete, similar bureaucracy can often spill over into the way holiday home insurance in Italy is also arranged.
Of course, local insurance agents will be familiar with all the rules, legislation and practice of property insurance in the country – and you might welcome such familiarity with the local scene. Your problem, however, is likely to rest in grappling with the Italian language itself, and especially that formal variant of it that appears in property insurance contracts.
But simply because you’ve patiently run the hoops of buying your holiday home in Italy, it doesn’t mean that you also have choose holiday home insurance in Italy too.
Specialist overseas property insurance providers in Britain are also sufficiently familiar with the Italian property market to help you choose the most appropriate cover for your second home there – and can conduct all the necessary paperwork with you in plain English, with policy documents in a language you can readily understand, and a claims process (if it should come to it) that is also conducted in English.
With a provider based in Britain, choosing holiday home insurance in Italy may in some cases prove faster, more readily understood and more cost-effective than opting for an Italian insurance provider.
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Italian holiday property insurance
If you love your second home in Italy, it may make sense to be very clear that you have adequately protected it through Italian holiday property insurance.
You may find that you are facing two possible courses of action:
- to insure it locally in Italy;
- to insure it through a UK based provider of holiday home insurance.
If you do not speak particularly good Italian, the first option may bring with it the risks of you becoming confused and perhaps accidentally securing inadequate Italian holiday property insurance protection.
By contrast, UK based providers will, of course, conduct their business entirely in English including all relevant documentation. You’ll also be playing in sterling, which means that if your income is in sterling also, you will have price stability and be immune to currency fluctuations.
In any country anywhere in the world, it is always a good idea to be certain that you understand completely the insurance protection that you are taking out.
In the event of a claim, you will be entirely reliant upon your policy and its terms and conditions. That is not the time to discover that you misunderstood something at the time the policy was purchased.
Knowing that your Italian holiday property insurance is in English may help you to sleep a little more easily at night!
Insurance, holiday home cover and foreign countries
You may think that insurance, holiday home cover and an overseas property, sound like something of a rather complicated business.
In fact, it doesn’t have to be.
Perhaps your primary concern is one of language. That would be perfectly understandable because you are likely to be trying to protect a major asset and the thought of discussing the complexities of this in another tongue may be intimidating.
For example, if you allow people to stay in your property (whether commercially or as a favour) you may be at risk of being sued if they suffer an accident that is attributable to your property. That is why some owners wish to ensure that they are covered by third party liability protection.
In practical terms, if you’re working in a language you do not speak well, it may prove to be difficult to check whether you have this type of cover and if you do, that it is to appropriate levels.
Fortunately, it is now possible to take out holiday home insurance cover for properties in many overseas countries, through some UK insurance providers.
So, not only will all your discussions be in English, so will the policy and associated insurance holiday home cover documentation.
This may make it easier to deal with insurance holiday home cover and provide you with the appropriate peace of mind.
French holiday home insurance benefits
Having a holiday home in France is a dream for many people. However, great as the lifestyle in France typically is, it will still make sense to think carefully about French holiday home insurance.
No country in the world is immune from bad weather and other forms of natural disaster. It is equally true to say that all countries suffer from crime.
Both of these things may affect your second home in France and if they do, you may wish to turn to insurance to help you deal with the financial consequences.
French holiday home insurance is typically distinct from that required by an owner-occupier.
For example, typical household insurance for an owner-occupier may not provide cover for a property that is left unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days. In the case of holiday homes, there may be extended periods during which the property is unoccupied and that is why specific insurance is typically required.
Some people may find the thought of discussing insurance and its associated documentation to be a little intimidating if the conversation is going to be conducted in French.
There is a way around this though.
There are UK providers of overseas holiday home insurance that will provide cover for properties abroad, including France.
Having the ability to read all your French holiday home insurance documentation in English may help you find suitable cover at a cost-effective price and without fear that you may have misunderstood something, somewhere!
Understanding holiday home insurance
If you have a holiday home and wish to protect it, then you may need specific holiday home insurance – whether your property is in the UK or abroad.
The reason for that is that insurers in any country may differentiate between a property that is your normal place of permanent residence and one that is occupied occasionally for holiday purposes.
These two situations are commonly referred to as either owner-occupied or second/holiday homes.
Typically, the risk profiles for these two types of property are very different. For example, a holiday home may stand empty for lengthy periods of time each year – a circumstance that typically will not be covered by a standard owner-occupier property insurance policy.
Making sure that you have the appropriate cover in place is critically important but it may also be made a little more complicated if you are trying to discuss second home insurance in a foreign language.
Today there are providers of holiday home insurance that will be happy to cover properties in a wide range of overseas countries.
That may not only make it easier to obtain holiday home insurance due to the absence of language complexities, it may also allow you to be sure that you are getting the cover you need.
Getting the most suitable French property insurance
If you have property in France that you use for holidays, then you probably enjoy ‘la belle vie’ that comes with it. However, it would be prudent to ensure that your investment is protected by appropriate French property insurance.
Although you can insure your property locally in France, you may find that the processes and procedures are very different. Unless you speak very good French, it may be difficult to get through the documentation and intricacies.
For example, understanding the differences between owner-occupier and second holiday home cover is important if you are to obtain the correct protection.
The good news is that you can avoid the complexities of language because it is now possible to take out French holiday home insurance through UK providers.
The French property insurance cover provided will, of course, vary depending upon the overseas property insurance provider you are using but it may include things such as:
- damage and loss caused by natural events (to both the bricks and mortar of your property and its contents);
- burglary and theft;
- third party liability cover (to protect guests while they are on your premises);
- employers’ liability insurance (to protect you against the costs of being sued by someone working on the property at your request, such as cleaners etc).
As the UK providers of French property insurance also work ig sterling, it may be more convenient for you in currency terms also.
German holiday home insurance from UK providers
German holiday home insurance may be essential if you have a second home in Germany and wish to protect it from some of the unpleasant things life may throw at it.
The chances are that you invested a significant chunk of your capital into your property. Yet that investment may be severely damaged or even wiped out if you are unlucky enough to experience a natural disaster of one form or another.
It is therefore typically important to be sure that the basic structure of your building as well as its fixtures, fittings and contents, are all adequately protected by insurance.
It might also be sensible to consider your exposure to people related risks including, perhaps, things such as:
- burglary and theft;
- third party liability (in the event that you are sued by someone due to them having suffered injury or damage attributable to your property);
- employers liability (where you may be liable to pay compensation if someone is injured while conducting activities on your behalf, such as cleaning, gardening or maintenance work etc).
These events may or may not (depending on your German holiday home insurance provider) all be covered by an overseas home insurance policy. Policy features and benefits can vary among the different overseas property insurance specialists, so do bear this in mind.
It may be difficult to be sure that you have adequate protection for those sorts of risks if you are insuring locally but do not speak very good German.
This may be avoided though because there are now UK based insurance providers that will happily provide German holiday home insurance with all documentation and discussions in English.
Holiday property insurance: its benefits
Before you purchased your holiday home, you very probably gave the matter serious consideration in terms of trying to be sure that your money was being well invested. If you would like to ensure that that money is not only well invested but also well protected, you may need to consider carefully your holiday property insurance.
Holiday property insurance can be important as while all property everywhere is potentially at risk, it may even more so be the case for holiday properties.
For example, some holiday properties are located in rural or exposed areas, which may make them (and their contents) rather more vulnerable to the affects of inclement weather such as storms and high winds etc.
It is also worth bearing in mind that you may be exposed to being sued by others under two sets of circumstances:
- if you have cleaning and property servicing people on your property at times, then you may be liable for any accidents or injuries they sustain while carrying out their duties on your behalf – employers’ liability cover may cover such circumstances and may be offered as part of your overseas property insurance policy, but not always;
- if you have other people in your property (renters or even non-paying guests) they may sue you if they suffer injury arising from your property – that is why third party liability insurance may be required.
Depending on your overseas property insurance provider and what their policy offers, having appropriate holiday property insurance may be able to help protect you from financial consequences of the above forms of risk.
A place in the sun: Spanish property insurance
In buying a holiday home in Spain you are likely to be more or less guaranteed your place in the sun. Since protecting that investment may be high on your list of priorities, Spanish property insurance is not something you’d wish to gloss over. A little homework and the choice of an experienced and knowledgeable specialist insurer in this area might help you avoid some of the common pitfalls:
• second home buildings insurance: just as at home, buildings insurance is designed to cover the cost of completely rebuilding your property in Spain if it is reduced to rubble in a major catastrophe. Exactly what risks will your home be insured against? Does the buildings insurance take full account of the particular materials used in the construction of your Spanish home and does it reflect all the requirements of local building regulations?
• contents insurance: are there restrictions on the extent of cover provided? Theft, loss and damage might seem to convey more or less universal meanings, but are there specific definitions of these risks which limit the amount of cover afforded the contents of your home in Spain?
• unoccupied property: what about those times of the year when your holiday home remains empty? Is an adequate level of Spanish property insurance cover maintained during these times? Are there any special measures or additional security precautions that the insurer will require you take in order to safeguard the property and mitigate risks when it is left unoccupied?
• lettings: if you are planning to let your holiday home, you are almost certainly obliged to inform your insurers of that fact. To what extent, if any, does the level or extent of your holiday home insurance alter during those let periods?
• owner’s liability: many holiday home owners employ at least one person to come to the house to clean it, make repairs or do general caretaking. Have you made provision for your liabilities as their employer? What provision does your Spanish property insurance include for loss, breakages or damage caused to your home or its contents by such employees?
French property insurance – a world of difference?
It’s only a short hop cross the Channel, it’s within the European Union, and you might be tempted to think that pretty much the same kind of insurance that covers your home in the UK should do as good a job for your holiday home in France. Unfortunately, you could find out – perhaps when it’s too late – that French property insurance often represents a world of difference.
French property insurance - what’s the difference?
There are two principal reasons why there could be a world of difference between insuring your main home in the UK and a second or holiday home in France. Both might seem a little obvious, but are nevertheless worth reiterating:
• the property is in France and not in the UK; and
• because it is a holiday home, there are likely to be periods when you have let it out to other occupants or when it is left completely unoccupied.
France v. UK
Common membership of the European Union or not, the fact remains that many laws, regulations and codes of practice are different in the two countries. Even if your language skills are up to negotiating home insurance cover in France itself, for example, the local insurer might not warn you that home cover in that country does not usually extend to insurance for second or holiday homes. Similarly, you could find that the local insurance you have arranged becomes invalid – or offers severely restricted cover only – during those periods when the property has been let out to others.
Unoccupied property
Whether you are using your home in France exclusively as your own holiday home, allowing friends and relatives to use it when you are not there, or earning an income from lettings to other visitors, there are likely to be inevitable periods when the property remains unoccupied.
Since vacant property attracts a greater risk of theft, vandalism and other damage, many insurers (whether at home or abroad) are significantly less eager to insure it. When arranging your French property insurance, therefore, you might need to pay particular attention to the continuation of adequate insurance cover during periods when your holiday home is left empty.