This category is about all aspects of Holiday Home Insurance and will be of interest to owners of holiday homes, cottages and holiday complexes across the UK. As Holiday Home Insurance Specialists Boshers are experts and provide tips and guidance. Check out these posts, Holiday Homes – getting your Buildings Insurance Right, Dog Friendly Holiday Home Insurance, How much should your holiday home insurance cost?, Frequently asked holiday home insurance questions, Getting your Holiday Let Insurance Right – Public and Employers Liability

Carrying out alterations or improvements at your holiday home?

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Many furnished holiday home owners will choose the low season to renovate, improve and alter their holiday homes. Be sure to inform your holiday home insurance provider of such alterations so as not to compromise your cover. 

Sums insured may need to be increased to avoid underinsurance. Check out Boshers holiday home insurance | Guide to sums insured or call us on 01237 429444 should you have any queries.  

You may also find the following posts for holiday home owners of interest:

Follow this link for posts similar to `Carrying out alterations or improvements at your holiday home?‘ and other useful resources for holiday home owners

For further information on UK holiday home insurance visit the website page most relevant to you:

Thank you for reading `Carrying out alterations or improvements at your holiday home’?.

 

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You, your holiday let apartment and your insurance

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You, your holiday let apartment and your insurance.
When purchasing an apartment to holiday let, you’ll rightly focus on the return on investment. As part of this research you’ll establish that there is sufficient demand for an additional holiday let in the location of your choice. As with any business decision it is important to stand back and let your head rule your heart! It’s important to avoid the following pitfalls:

If you are using a mortgage to finance your purchase make sure your mortgage provider is aware of your intention to holiday let the property.

Check with the freeholder / managing agent that there are no restrictions on the use of the property that will prevent you from letting it for short term holidays.

Likewise check with the freeholder / managing agent that the buildings insurance policy for the apartment block includes property owners liability for the shared areas and that holiday letting is an acceptable use of the apartments by the insurer.

At this point it is also wise to check if the buildings insurance extends to cover fixtures and fittings within the apartment such as fitted bathrooms, kitchens, and fitted bedroom furniture and wooden flooring and if so is accidental damage included? In our experience the buildings insurance for many blocks of flats and apartment blocks does not extend to cover the fixtures and fittings within the apartment and certainly not in the event of accidental damage.

Now that you have established the above, how can Boshers help?

We can provide you with a Holiday Home Insurance Contents Policy for your apartment to include cover for:

  • Your general contents
  • Fitted kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and flooring
  • Property owners liability insurance for commercial holiday letting

It is important that you insure for the correct replacement value, remember in the event of a claim your contents will be replaced on a new for old basis, therefore your sum insured must be sufficient to replace everything at the recommended retail price. Likewise with fitted kitchens, bathrooms and bedroom furniture you must insure for like for like replacement including the cost of installation and debris removal.

Follow this link for posts similar to `You, your holiday let apartment and your insurance‘ and other useful resources for holiday home owners

For further information on UK holiday home insurance visit the website page most relevant to you:

Thank you for reading `You, your holiday let apartment and your insurance‘.

Should you have any queries or require a holiday home insurance quotation for your commercially let second home or apartment call us on 01237 429444 or visit us at www.boshers.co.uk/holiday-home-insurance

 

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Top Ten Coastal Property Investments

The Telegraph has published two great articles. It’s top ten of coastal property investments. and it’s top ten affordable seaside investments.

The articles contain some stunning photos of coastal towns and villages across the UK, all are favourites for holiday home staycations. Boshers are proud to provide holiday home insurance for many properties across all twenty locations. 


  

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Warning: Theft Of Metal From Holiday Homes

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Warning: Theft Of Metal From Holiday Homes. Callous thieves caused severe water damage to a holiday home for children with cancer after they stole lead from its roof. Cancer charity CLIC Sargent House who run the centre, now face a £15000 holiday home insurance claim to repair the roof.

Between 2007 and 2010 the insurers for our holiday home insurance scheme, Ecclesiastical received almost 8000 metal theft claims, at an estimated cost of £23million. Whilst a lot of these claims relate to church property, other sectors such as education, charity, care and commercial property are also being targeted. 

Lead, copper and stainless steel roof coverings, including bay window roofs and roof flashings, copper lightning conductors, lead and copper rainwater pipes, bronze statues, metal garden ornaments, iron gates and even church bells have been stolen. 

Security measures – so what can you do about it? 

Wherever metals are present there is an increased risk of theft and existing security arrangements should be reviewed. Ecclesiastical have produced comprehensive guidance notes on Theft Of Metals including tips on security measures. Download a copy here 

If you suffer a theft of metal at your holiday let call your holiday home insurance broker or insurer as soon as possible to report the loss. You’ll receive advise on the claims process and they may arrange for the damage to be inspected. Regardless of your insurance cover, to minimise damage to your holiday let property , contractors should be asked to carry out emergency repairs. where applicable to make the property water tight.  


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Reminder – Holiday Home Insurance Unoccupancy Condition

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As Britain is once again being battered by rain, wind and snow we would like to remind our holiday home insurance policyholders of the conditions applying when your holiday homes are unoccupied.

It is likely that over the coming months your holiday home may be unoccupied for periods of time. It is for this reason that I would like to remind those of you who benefit from Boshers Holiday Home Insurance cover, of our Unoccupancy Conditions.

The wording is as follows:
Unoccupancy – It is a condition that whenever the premises are left unoccupied you will arrange that the premises are inspected at least every 14 days by you or by an authorised person responsible to you.

In addition the following applies between the months of October to March inclusive: 
You will arrange that either:

  1. ..the heating system is brought into operation and a minimum room temperature of not less than 45°F or 7°C maintained throughout the property or
  2. ..the water is turned off at the stopcock inside the premises and the domestic water system drained and other services such as electricity and gas disconnected (other than as necessary to maintain the central heating or security systems).

If you fail to fulfil the above conditions cover will be restricted to damage by Fire lightning explosion earthquake and by any aircraft flying object (or items dropped from them) vehicle train or animal colliding with the buildings.

Full pdf policy wordings are available to download in the left hand column of the Holiday Home Insurance page on our website.

Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to phone our holiday home insurance team on 01237 429444.

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Listed Holiday Home Insurance

Scared Of Listed Holiday Homes? – Not Us! – Listed Holiday Home Insurance

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Whether your heritage self-catering holiday let or holiday cottage letting complex is a Grade 1 or 2 Listed Building in England or Wales or a Grade A or B Listed Property in Scotland our listed holiday home insurance may meet your needs. In this post entitled Scared Of Listed Holiday Homes? – Not Us! – Listed Holiday Home Insurance we explore how we can help you with your listed holiday home insurance requirements. Subject to standard underwriting factors including post code area and property construction being acceptable we will endeavour to help.

Holiday Home Insurance for Listed Properties

Our Holiday Home Insurance policy includes extra cover. This additional cover includes an extension to meet the local authority conditions made under the Planning ( Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and amending legislation (or equivalent legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland) following damage by any of the insurable events should these costs exceed the cover provided within the buildings  sum insured. Subject to a maximum payment under this extension of 20% of the sum insured. Costs are also included towards archaeological and rescue work that may be necessary following property damage.

Listed Holiday Home

Our holiday home insurance scheme is underwritten by Ecclesiastical who were the first UK insurer to offer bespoke heritage and listed building insurance and now insure more grade 1 listed buildings than any other insurance company. The benefit to you is that you can rest assured that in the event of an insured peril affecting your listed holiday home, together with Ecclesiastical we will have the expertise to understand your specific requirements as a listed buildings owner in the event of an insurance claim.

Treat yourself to an insurance quote for your listed holiday home!

You may find the following holiday home insurance articles of interest:

   

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Top Tip To Deter Holiday Home Thefts

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Ever increasing competition in the furnished holiday let market has led to the majority of holiday homes being furnished with high quality decor, furniture and audio-visual equipment. Whilst thankfully thefts from holiday homes, either by guests or opportunistic thieves are uncommon, it is sensible to take reasonable precautions to protect your property. 

Crimestoppers Property ProtectorTM is Crimestoppers first product to further their crime-fighting goals, assisting the prevention and detection of crime and the return of stolen property to the rightful owner. To celebrate its launch, Crimestoppers are offering our holiday home insurance blog visitors £10.00 off the product’s recommended retail price of £34.99. Postage and packing is an extra £1.95.

Read more about Crimestoppers Property Protector Works here…

Help keep your Holiday Home Insurance premiums affordable by detering theft from your let property, order your Crimestoppers Property ProtectorTM today. Place your order here…

  

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Holiday Home Insurance and the Employers Liability Tracing Office

The Employers Liability Tracing Office (ELTO) is a new independent industry body which has been set up to make it easier for injured employees to trace their employer’s Employers Liability (EL) insurers. Given the long-tail nature of EL insurance, sometimes by the time a claim arises, it can be difficult to determine who the EL insurers were.

To solve this industry issue, a centralised Employers Liability Database (ELD) has been set up which will contain details of new and renewed EL policies.

Since April 2011, members of ELTO have been supplying their existing data on their current EL book. From April 2012, some additional information will also be required. The Employers Reference Number* (ERN) otherwise known as the Employer PAYE reference, will be needed, as will information about all subsidiaries.

What does this mean for you as a Boshers Holiday Home Insurance policyholder?

Our holiday home insurance policy is a commercial insurance contract which includes Employers Liability cover to protect you in the event of anyone who you may employ in connection with your holiday home holding you liable for personal injury or damages. These may include, cleaners, caretakers, gardeners, a handyman or clerical staff for some larger complexes.

We need to collect and record additional information when we do new business with you and when we renew your holiday home insurance policy. From the 1st August 2011 we have made it mandatory to collect the Employers Reference Number (ERN)* otherwise known as the Employer PAYE reference for all new business transactions where applicable, or confirmation that you do not employ anybody or that you are exempt because your employees below the PAYE threshold. In practice, this means we will be requesting ERN numbers from you when placing new business over the phone. We are also in the process of improving our systems in order that we may collect this information for all of our existing holiday home policyholders.

*The ERN is often referred to on tax forms as employer’s PAYE reference and is provided by HMRC to every business registered with them as an employer. It can be found on

many official documents such as P11D, P45 and P60. If the business has more than one ERN, you must individually provide each number together with the name of the subsidiary company. Some employers who pay all their employees below the PAYE threshold (£503.00 monthly) will be exempt as they do not have an ERN. An example of a P11D is shown with the ERN highlighted. The first part relates to the tax office number (in the example shown 671) this part comprises 3 numeric characters in the range 001 – 999. The second part is the reference number which contains either 1 or 2 alpha characters followed by a number. We require both parts; in the example shown you would supply 671/E1208

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Holiday Home Insurance – Frequently Asked Questions

If you have any questions regarding your Holiday Home Insurance feel free to call us. Out of hours you may find the answers you are looking for on the Holiday Home Insurance Frequently Asked Questions page on our website, to read on click here
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Theft Of Heating Oil

Theft of heating oil from holiday homes

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The cost of heating oil has increased significantly recently and this has resulted in more thefts of oil from holiday homes and elsewhere.

The first indication that a theft has taken place is usually when a holiday home’s heating system fails to work. The assumption is often made that the boiler is at fault, but regrettably the problem is often simply no oil. Thefts vary from small amounts being stolen, to the whole tank being drained. The methods used by the thieves can be very crude, including drilling or punching holes in the side of the tank and then filling jerry cans. Resulting pollution of the ground and water by oil is a costly business and can lead to your property being unavailable for holiday letting to guests whilst the environmental damage is put right. It’s not hard to see how a few large claims like this can result in higher premiums for all to cover the costs.

Theft of heating oil from holiday homes

So what can holiday home owners do to prevent such losses?

  • Monitor the level of oil in your tank regularly and ask your housekeeper, caretaker and/or a friendly neighbour to do the same in your absence.
  • Conceal the location of the tank by using hedging, fencing or walling.
  • Securely lock doors at all times if the tank is situated within a building.
  • Install security lighting to cover the tank if the holiday home is overlooked from nearby buildings.
  • Ask nearby residents to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police.
  • Encourage high occupancy rates, which reduces the time available to thieves.
  • Padlock the valve. This may not always be the correct course of action, as thieves may smash the valve completely, but it can deter a less determined thief.
  • Install an alarm devices which creates an alert if the oil level suddenly drops or if the lock is attacked.
If you are unfortunate enough to have a theft of oil at your holiday home, ensure that you report it to the police immediately and inform your holiday home insurance provider of the incident. Check your policy carefully to ensure that you have sufficient cover for loss of oil and adhere to any inspection warranties.

Follow this link for posts similar to theft of heating oil from holiday homes and other useful resources for holiday home owners

For further information on UK holiday home insurance visit the website page most relevant to you:

Thank you for reading `theft of heating oil from holiday homes‘.

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