Holiday Home Insurance – PAT Testing and Fire Risk Assessments

Last Updated on September 24, 2008 by admin

Holiday Home Insurance – Fire Precautions and PAT Testing Q and A’s

Question

Dear Sir or Madam, My house is insured with you as a holiday let for up to 8 people, with 2 bedrooms upstairs and 2 down. I have had a fire risk assessment completed which was favourable and I’m hoping to implement the recommendations on the report. We have a number of portable electrical appliances, most of which are new as we replace them regularly. The inspector commented that they appear to be in good condition. Do you require me to get each of these appliances P.A.T. tested yearly as a condition of my policy, even though they are regularly renewed, or would it be sufficient for me to check them every few months? Would this also apply to larger electrical items such as the washing machine? One of the recommendations included installing fire doors and frames on each of the bedrooms. Would the insurance consider this to be a reasonable precaution on a house holiday let? Thank you very much for your assistance.Yours faithfully,

Ms L.F.

Reply by Boshers Holiday Home Insurance Team

Dear Ms F,

Thank you for your email, copy enclosed. I can confirm that annual P.A.T. testing of electrical appliances is not a condition of the policy, nor is it at the time of writing a legislative requirement that electrical appliances in individual rented holiday lets are tested. However there is a requirement that the appliances provided as part of the holiday let agreement are safe. It would be prudent for visual inspections of your appliances to be made regularly and ideally on each turnover day that new guests arrive. This could be carried out by yourself or your cleaner/caretaker. As for P.A.T. testing you may feel that this is unnecessary if you replace your appliances on a regular basis (every one to two years). Indeed our office is opposite Woolworths who are advertising Irons for £3.97 as I write this email! You should refer to your Letting Agents Terms as they may require you to have your appliances P.A.T. tested and in any event it would seem prudent to have them tested by a qualified person if you choose not to replace them regularly. Click the link belew for more information: Landlords And Portable Appliances

With respect to your Fire Risk Assessment I would personally feel, that in general, installing fire doors and frames on the bedrooms of a two story holiday let property would be admiral but beyond what the current legislation requires. Afterall a Holiday Home is just that, a Home from Home! So long as you have fulfilled all the legislative requirements this will satisfy your holiday home insurers “Ecclesiastical”. Beyond that a common sense test is; are you comfortable that your holiday Home is safe for you and your family to use? I would refer you to The Visit Britain Accomodation Know How Pink Booklet is a useful source of further reading: Fire Risk Assessment

Kind regards

Boshers Holiday Home Insurance Team