When you purchase your own holiday home, you’ll need to insure it. But you can’t just get regular home insurance. You’ll need specialist property insurance that covers holiday homes, rather than ordinary buildings and contents insurance.
Here, we take you through the difference between holiday home insurance compared to regular home insurance and what you can expect to pay.
Why do you need specialist holiday home insurance?
The two elements of any home insurance policy are to cover the building itself, and the contents within it. However, the big difference between holiday home insurance and standard home insurance is covering your property if it’s empty for long periods.
Standard home insurance policies usually state that if you’re absent for longer than a set time – such as 30 days in a row – then you won’t benefit from full cover for disasters. This is because an unoccupied home is seen as a bigger risk than a home with people living in it.
A holiday home may only be occupied for two weeks at a time and whilst it’s empty, it’s more likely to be targeted by burglars, squatters or vandals, and they are also more likely to be damaged by the elements or other problems. If you’re not around to notice a water leak, slipped tile or electrical fault, the damage can be much more severe – and costly.
Specialist holiday home insurance covers these possibilities.
Insurance when letting out your holiday home
If you’re planning on renting out your holiday home, the property will also be seen as a higher risk as many different people will be passing through who may not treat it as carefully as a homeowner would. You may also want to consider including things like public liability and legal expenses cover within your insurance policy as well as standard buildings and content cover.
Is holiday home insurance more expensive than regular home insurance?
Because holiday homes are seen as higher risk, insurance policies do tend to be a little more expensive. However, there are various ways you can try and get the best price possible:
- Compare as many quotes as possible from various providers – but remember to look at what you’re covered for, a cheaper policy might leave you short in the event of an accident
- Often paying the whole premium in one go gives you a cheaper policy than paying monthly so do this if you can
- Combine buildings and contents cover in the same policy, rather than using two different insurers
- Opting for a higher excess can give you a cheaper premium
- Check if you can get a discount for upgrading security, such as installing a burglar alarm
Holiday homes for sale UK
If you’re looking to buy your very own holiday home, browse our range of holiday homes for sale in the UK. At Encore Parcs, we have a beautiful selection of static caravans and holiday lodges to suit every budget and our holiday homes are situated across various holiday parks – all within popular holiday destinations throughout the UK.
