Holiday Home Insurance Worth Getting
Don’t forget to buy holiday homes insurance
Holiday homes insurance is often the last job to do when buying a holiday house abroad. If you have a mortgage on your overseas home, most lenders of mortgages will insist that you buy insurance cover. A policy often has two types of cover. Buildings insurance abroad is usually required by mortgage lenders and covers your property against risks including flood, fire and subsidence and the cost of repairing or rebuilding your holiday home. Secondly, contents insurance cover is also very important and will cover you against your property or possessions if they are damaged, lost or stolen and the cost of their replacement. Many properties these days are new and often fitted with brand new furniture and valuable new contents such as televisions and kitchen appliances and may have a greater chance of being burgled than a house with older possessions.
Protects against theft
The infrequent use of a home abroad increases the need to buy holiday home insurance as it is at greater risk of being burgled. Most owners of homes abroad usually visit 2 or 3 times a year otherwise the property is left vacant for long periods of time. Buying cover will give you complete peace of mind that your house abroad is protected when left unoccupied.
Protects your possessions
It is important to consider insuring your possessions when on holiday. Many holidaymakers often bring large amounts of foreign cash with them to cover holiday expenses. When on holiday, most people’s defences are down when they are more relaxed and are less aware of potential opportunities for theft especially if visiting for the first time. Buying holiday property insurance is important if your property does not have a safe as the policy will cover theft of a sum of money, stolen passports and often expensive gadgets such as digital cameras, games consoles or mp3 players which are often left lying about and are a temptation for an opportunistic burglar.
Extra benefits
Many overseas property owners are choosing to rent out their property to help cover mortgage repayments and maintenance costs. By not having adequate holiday lettings insurance, there is an inherent risk that you may find yourself becoming liable for slip, trip and fall claims from injured holidaymakers and third parties.
Check that the overseas homes insurance policy you are buying includes public liability insurance. This essential cover will protect you against 3rd person injury or damage when renting your holiday home to people other than family or friends and indemnifies both the property owner and also the tenant to a maximum indemnity limit of £5m.
For an additional premium your insurance cover can be extended to include claims arising from accidental damage to contents, such as stains to carpets or furniture damage. This also covers accidental damaged caused by holidaymakers who may not treat your holiday home with same level of care as you, your family or friends would.
Why not buy local insurance?
Your mortgage lender may advise you to buy locally but be aware this insurance policy may be designed for a residential property and maybe unsuitable for a letting that will be used as a holiday home or second residence especially if you intend to let your holiday home and it will be used by third party individuals.
There is every chance that the policy terms and conditions will be written in a foreign language and you may not be able to understand the policy and any possible exclusions fully. No matter how fluent you are in the language there is always scope for misunderstandings which could prove to be expensive in the long term. The benefit of buying a policy written in your first language means that it is straight-forward to understand and makes it easier to challenge any anomalies before purchase. You also only pay for the level of home insurance cover you need and benefit from a no claims discount every year you don’t make an insurance claim.
The true worth of paying is only fully appreciated when you need to make a claim. Many of the larger overseas insurers offer the option to file your insurance claim locally or at home via an English speaking helpline who will be fully responsible for liaising with the overseas loss adjusters and deal with your claim on your behalf so you can spare yourself the time differences, language issues and other difficulties of discussing your claim with a foreign agent incurring the cost of an overseas call. An added benefit of paying for your holiday home insurance premium in sterling also means you have the option to be paid your claim settlement in sterling or local currency.
When insuring abroad you need to make sure that you keep up to date with any changes in the law governing the insurance of your overseas property. Local laws and the paperwork required can vary with different countries. So whether you are buying in Portugal, Spain or France make sure you buy a policy that is underwritten by a leading insurer, is written in your first language and offers you the ability to deal with your claim both abroad and at home.