UK Holiday Home Insurance
Your holiday home is your escape and we understand that. It is important that you have good quality insurance cover as you are probably not able to keep an eye on it as regularly as you would like to.
For many, escaping to a secluded country retreat or a luxurious coastal property is the ultimate dream, leaving behind your day-to-day lives for a break you truly deserve. But how can you protect your property when it is unoccupied? How do you guard your second or third home against potential losses such as fire and theft?
Whether rented to tenants or used as a home for holiday breaks, holiday home insurance helps ensure you are protected against potential losses.
Learn about our holiday home insurance for UK properties to discover how we can cater to your specific circumstances and get in touch with one of our team to receive a quote.
What is holiday home insurance?
Holiday home insurance provides essential cover for your second and third properties, covering your building and contents and safeguarding your property during long periods of unoccupancy. We can also provide cover for the risks associated with renting your property to other holidaymakers.
The longer it is left unoccupied, potentially the more vulnerable your property becomes to burglaries, damage, squatters, and other crimes. On the other hand, properties that are used to let are susceptible to accidental damage by tenants, public liability claims and theft.
If you own a second or third property and use them as either holiday homes or to let, you will need a tailored policy that caters for these specific needs to protect you against potential losses.
What is covered?
Our insurance for holiday homes can include a full range of products essential for your protection and peace of mind, including:
Buildings cover, contents cover, property owner’s liability, public liability, staff cover, accidental damage, loss of income/alternative accommodation, trace and access, listed property cover, thatched cover, theft protection, accidental injury cover and legal liability cover.
There are two types of policies – one for properties used as a second or holiday home only and the other for properties which are let to tenants. The elements of your policy will differ depending on your situation.
Second/holiday home insurance
If you use your second home purely as an escape during breaks in your work life or over the summer holidays, your policy could include standard cover elements such as buildings and contents, but also cover to protect your property during the extended periods of unoccupancy.
If a property is unused for over 30 days, it is considered an unoccupied property. Holiday home insurance caters for all your needs and could include theft cover, trace and access, thatched cover and property inspections. These are products that are not found in your standard home insurance policy.
If you are looking for a standard insurance policy for your home, discover our homeowner’s insurance.
Holiday home letting insurance
If you are a landlord and let out your property to tenants, your policy could include:
- Accidental damage cover: for protection against malicious damage by tenants to any of your valuable possessions or property such as TVs, hot tubs etc.
- Legal liability cover/public liability cover: to cover you for any liabilities associated with third parties in the context of your property.
- Staff cover: to protect your employees from financial losses.
- Alternate accommodation/loss of income cover: to ensure your tenants have suitable accommodation if your property becomes uninhabitable, and loss of income protection if your repairs take too long and your tenants move on.
- Theft protection: to cover your possessions against theft or attempted theft by paying and or non-paying guests.
We will work with you to find the right level of cover for your needs from our network of renowned insurers, at a competitive price. We also have a specialist claims team who are always at hand to ensure both property claims and liability claims are resolved efficiently and competently.
What properties and assets are covered within holiday home insurance?
Our holiday home insurance policies cover a wide range of properties including:
Apartments, barn conversions, coastal homes, cottages, country homes, flats, historical properties, lodges, mansions, rural properties, townhouses and villas.
We can also cover several valuable assets within your property including:
Hot tubs, log burning fires, open fires, outbuildings, swimming pools, tennis courts, terraces, thatched roofs, and any other contents that are important to you.
Holiday Home Insurance Broker
We are holiday home insurance brokers with over 30 years’ experience providing insurance for our clients’ second homes as well as many other aspects of their lives. We specialise in protecting individuals who require tailored insurance policies to cover their assets.
Whether you have a luxurious secluded mansion or a small getaway lodge, we have the expertise to assess your circumstances and put together a policy that caters for your needs.
We have strong, long-standing relationships with our clients and understand and appreciate their worries and concerns at a personal level. It is this relationship that allows us to provide such a tailored service that caters for their needs, resolves their queries and questions and adapts appropriately to changes in their lifestyle and goals. If you have multiple properties, we can tailor your policies to ensure they are bespoke to the requirements of each.
Frequently asked questions
Take a minute to review the most common questions our customers ask our team to find answers to any remaining queries you may have.
Arranging insurance for properties overseas has changed due to Brexit restrictions and changes in regulations. If you have a holiday home overseas and would like to discuss how you can insure it, please do get in touch and one of our team will get back to you shortly.
No, holiday home insurance is not a legal requirement. However, most mortgage providers will require buildings insurance to ensure cover is in place to protect their investment.
Holiday home insurance is not typically a requirement, but you may have certain legal obligations to fulfil in respect of your property that require insurance.
No, it is not a requirement to have both buildings and contents cover. If the contents of your property are not of high value and importance to you, you can remove contents from your policy.
If you own an apartment and your managing agent has already arranged/will be arranging buildings insurance, you can remove buildings cover from your policy.
COVID-19 restrictions have caused great difficulty for those wishing to escape to their holiday homes and have increased concerns over ensuring their properties are regularly checked. Please get in touch with one of our team for further advice and guidance.
If your property has not been listed above and is of unique criteria, our team would still love to hear from you to arrange a policy that fits your needs.
The length of time your property can remain occupied will vary depending on the independent product selected. With the right cover arranged, you can leave your property unoccupied for months at a time with peace of mind that you are fully protected.
Where there are longer periods where the property is unoccupied, the insurers may impose certain risk management obligations around such things as turning off utilities and agreed inspection frequency.
