Holiday Home Insurance

Holiday homes need a specific insurance policy, as they can be left unoccupied, rented out or located abroad. Whether you've got a flat or a villa, in the UK or abroad, read our article and video guide to protecting your holiday home.

Property insurance cover has two main goals: to protect the building and to protect the contents.

Key factors to consider about holiday home cover are:

• Holiday home policies will generally not cover high value items as standard. This is because holiday homes are considered to generally have lower value contents than main residences, and not to have high value contents in them while they are left unoccupied. 
• If items are already covered by your travel insurance or on your main home policy for outside of the home, you do not need to include them on your holiday home insurance.
• It’s important to be thorough when you tell your insurer about the contents you’d like covered. Items such as solar panels, hot tubs, swimming pools, golf carts, golf clubs and push bikes can be included but must be added to your policy specifically.
• The costs of travel expenses and accommodation, should you need to visit your holiday home in an emergency, can be included in your holiday home insurance cover.
• If you are a leaseholder, it may be written into your lease that you are responsible for insuring the fixtures and fittings, such as your kitchen cupboards, bath, toilet etc. Holiday home insurance can cater for this.

We understand that a sense of security and comfort is important, so we provide cover for reasonable cost to replace locks, keys, alarm systems and domestic safes - up to the limits specified within your policy wording.

Our holiday home insurance policy can only cover properties in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Spain, France, Portugal, Southern Cyprus, and Greece.

If you are planning on renting your property, you will need to let us know so that we can update your policy. Optional extended cover for accidental damage is also available for rental guests, subject to policy conditions. Speak to one of our friendly advisors to find out more.

Swimming pools and fixed hot tubs (excluding soft tubs) are included under our definitions of buildings and so are covered under your policy. Please review your policy wording in full for details of any applicable exclusions.

Our policies allow cover for valuable and portable items, however, we will not cover any item already covered under your main residence/UK home insurance. Please review your policy wording for our definition of valuables and the limits of cover.

If you prefer to spread the cost of your annual premium, we offer a quick and easy Direct Debit scheme. When you choose to pay premiums in instalments, you will be paying under a premium finance plan. We will give you full details of the finance provider, and the additional cost of finance, when we provide you with your payment plan quotation. This will include the total payable, the number of monthly instalments and the cost of each, as well as the representative APR.

Getting the right insurance for your property or properties is the key to protecting what’s probably your biggest investment. But for most people it’s still just an annual hassle - and they try and get it over and done with as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Does the policy cover what you need it to?

One of the biggest mistakes people make is in not reading their policy documents, or taking the time to understand the nuances of their cover. You could be paying for something you don’t need, or missing something you really DO need. You’re not going to know unless you actually read the policy.

Have you shopped around?

Lots of us just let our policy auto-renew each year, without looking around at what else is available. Switching providers really can save you money, especially if your current insurance provider has hiked up the price since last year.

Are you comparing like with like?

If you are shopping around, and particularly if you’re using price comparison sites, just make sure you’re comparing like with like. Not all policies are the same. There will be different inclusions and exclusions, and different levels of cover. The cheapest policy might not actually be the right one – and might not cover everything you need it to.

Have you looked for quality markers?

One way to make sure you’re getting insurance that you can really trust is to look for industry quality markers – for instance a Defaqto score. It’s an independent organisation that has a 5 star rating system for the quality and comprehensiveness of financial services products.

You probably wouldn’t pick a restaurant without checking out what other diners say about it – and the same should apply to insurance and their providers! Take a look at what people are saying on trusted service review sites.  Not all customers will be happy all of the time, but it might help you to find out what people are saying, and how the organisation responds.

Do you have a special property or special circumstances?

Make sure you’re really honest – with yourself and with your insurer and you broker - about your property, how you use it, and what particular risks it faces. Do you travel a lot – how long is it really left unoccupied? Is it actually in a good state of repair? How is it built? Is it listed? Is it a second home? A holiday home? Do you have frequent guests, do they pay? Do you work from home? Have you had previous criminal convictions? Do you really know what type of door and window locks you have, or how old your boiler is? How much of your roof really is flat?

If you don’t reveal everything about your property you won’t get the cover you might well need, and in a worst-case scenario your policy could be voided when you come to make a claim.

Do you know your BSI?

One of the things people often don’t know about their property is their BSI or Building Sum Insured. It’s not the value of the property if it were for sale, but what it would cost to rebuild the property to the same standard from scratch. Over estimate and it can put your premium up, under estimate and if you did have to rebuild, you might not have enough cover.

For standard properties, a good place to start is with the BSI calculator from the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS).

Have you asked about deals?

Don’t be afraid to talk to your insurer or broker about deals. For instance, it may be you can get a discount if you’ve got multiple properties with one provider - or plan to move them across when they come up for renewal.

Have you kept your insurer up to date?

If something has changed at your property, do make sure to let your insurance company know about it when it happens. If it’s a change to how you use the property, a new bathroom or a refurbishment, you might need to update your cover options mid-term to make sure you stay on the right policy.

For example, a water leak can cause serious damage to a property if nobody is there for an extended period, whereas if you are at the property every day you would notice the damage quickly and therefore the extent should be reduced.

A holiday home policy will be able to cater for extended periods of inoccupancy, meaning that unoccupied property cover is not required. However, it is important to be aware of the restrictions and requirements imposed on a property during the unoccupied periods.

Holiday home insurance is designed to account for the increased risks resulting from renting the property out. If you are short-term letting the property to holidaymakers then holiday home insurance would be better suited than second home insurance, which is primarily for your personal use on a set occupancy pattern.

Many types of property can be covered under holiday home insurance, including chalets, villas, flats, houses, listed buildings and even overseas static caravans.

If your holiday home is a long way from your main residence then you might want to look for a policy which offers temporary accommodation cover. If an insured event (such as a fire or flood) meant you couldn’t stay at your property, alternative accommodation could be very expensive while the damage was being repaired and this protection could cover that cost.

We have provided a summary of the key features of the policy, above. For details of the terms and conditions applicable, please refer to the insurance product information document and policy wording, which are available during the quotation process. We have provided a summary of key features in the product information documents linked below. 

Overseas holiday home insurance 

UK holiday home insurance