Insuring your holiday home
Be it for business or pleasure, your holiday home may need specialist insurance. Find out how you can rest easy with the right insurance cover.
No matter where your holiday home lives, on the Spanish beaches of Costa del Sol or the French vineyards of Dordogne, it’s worth exploring which home insurance coverage best fits your needs.
And whether it’s a holiday home in the UK or abroad, you’ll need to think about how you’ll use your second property. It may be that you use it for a few weeks or months a year or frequently on the weekends. You could also decide to use it as a holiday let, which means different people coming and going.
But, however you decide to use your holiday home, it won’t be the same as your main home. And it’s important that your insurance coverage reflects this.
What’s a holiday home?
It’s simply a second home (outside of your primary home) that you may use to:
- enjoy breaks with family and friends
- rent to friends throughout the year
- let to holidaymakers for, potentially, an income.
Although, if you’re planning on letting your holiday home, you’ll need to remember that:
- There needs to be enough furniture in the house for people to reasonably use
- It must be commercially let, so you must plan to make a profit. This doesn’t mean you’ll always need to make a profit, but the intent should be there.
- It has to be available to let (as a furnished holiday let) for at least 210 days of the year. But you also have to let the holiday house to the public for at least 105 days in the year. And you can’t count any days that you rent to friends or family at no (or reduced) rates.
To find out more about letting your second home as a holiday let, check out HM Revenue & Customs.
Is holiday home insurance different from home insurance?
Yes, because you use the properties differently and this will affect how insurers assess the risk.
“Holiday home insurance,” says Jonathan Cracknell, Home Underwriting Manager at Aviva, “generally has different needs compared to a standard home insurance policy. You may need extended cover if the home won’t have anyone living or staying there for a number of consecutive days beyond the standard policy (generally 30 or 60 days in a row). It’s also important to consider if you want to cover things like accidental damage and (if you’re allowing animals) damage caused by pets. It’s also worth checking the fine print on water damage cover. In some cases, unless you follow specific policy conditions while your home is empty, escape of water claims might not be included.”
So, it’s important to decide how you’ll use the holiday home first and then explore what cover would suit you best.
What cover do I need for my holiday home?
Legally, you’re not required to take out holiday home insurance. But, if you have a mortgage, your lender may require you to take out buildings insurance.
It may also make sense to have holiday home contents insurance for your furniture and items you own.
If you’re planning on letting the property, it may be worth exploring specialist holiday let (or rental) insurance that covers your house.
What does holiday home insurance cover?
For a holiday home (one that’s not being let) buildings and contents insurance give different cover.
- Buildings insurance – generally, it covers damage from fire, storms, floods, water, leaks and vandalism to the house’s:
- walls
- roof
- floors
- any permanent fixtures (like kitchen, bathrooms, and swimming pools)
- any outdoor structures (like garages, sheds and outbuildings).
- Contents insurance – this will usually cover damage, destruction or theft of items in the house like:
- furniture (sofas, tables, chairs)
- appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, oven, refrigerator)
- electronics (TV, computers)
- clothing, bedding, some personal belongings and kitchenware.
What does holiday let insurance cover?
This type of insurance is specific to holiday homes that are let and, in addition to buildings and contents cover, may also give you cover for:
- loss of rental income – if your holiday let suffers damage from a flood, fire or storm and you’ve had to cancel bookings, this may help cover the loss of your earnings.
- alternative accomodation – if your holiday home is damaged and you need to find somewhere else for your guests to stay, then this could help cover those costs.
It could also include:
- public liability insurance – if a guest hurts themselves on your property and decided to sue you, this could help cover legal fees compensation costs.
- employer’s liability insurance – you’ll need this if you hire someone to take care of your holiday home, like a gardener or cleaner. Wood-burning stoves, swimming pools, saunas and hot tubs all pose risks, and your policy should cover the equipment and people using it. If they hurt themselves or become ill because of their work for you, this insurance could help cover compensation claims.
- legal expense cover – if a guest refuses to leave or there’s a dispute over their stay, you may need legal help.
Can I insure my holiday home abroad from the UK?
If you’re thinking about insuring a holiday home overseas, one of the first things to check is whether the insurer works in the country where your property is located. Some UK insurers offer international cover, while others might work with local partners abroad. It’s a good idea to ask how claims are handled too, especially if you’d need to speak to someone in another language or deal with different time zones.
Another point to keep in mind is how local laws and building standards might affect your insurance. For example, some countries have rules about earthquake or flood protection that could change what kind of cover you need. You might also need to show proof of ownership or provide documents in the local language, so having a bilingual agent or translator can be really helpful.
Lastly, think about how you’ll manage the property from afar. If you’re not visiting often, it might be worth hiring a local property manager who can keep an eye on it and help with emergencies. Some insurers even ask for this as part of their policy conditions. Having someone nearby can also make it easier to sort out repairs or meet any inspection requirements your insurer might have.
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