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Three reasons to choose our Holiday Home Insurance

Why choose Boshers for your holiday home insurance?

Holiday Home Front Door We spend every day talking to holiday homeowners. It’s what we do and as a specialist it gives us a unique insight into the industry and the insurance cover your holiday home really needs.

Whilst there’re many reasons to choose specialist Holiday Home insurance from Boshers, liability cover for paying guests being just one of them, here are three other ways our insurance Policy supports our holiday homeowners when they need it the most.

Full loss of rental income: Included as standard

What would you do if damage to your holiday home meant you were unable to let it during the busiest time of the year? 

If your holiday home becomes uninhabitable as the result of something outside your control such as fire or flood it can have serious financial consequences. With the average holiday home taking 80% of all bookings for the period of May to September the impact can be even greater if the incident falls during the busy summer months.

If the worst does happen our insurance Policy really is here to support you.

Our Loss of Income cover means you’ll not need to fit the bill for the potential loss of bookings and cancellations you have to make while restoring your holiday home to its former glory.

Experience tells us that whilst in an ideal world all bookings would be made early, for some a higher proportion will be taken at the last minute. We’ll be able to look at bookings taken for a similar period in previous years in order to make sure you get the right amount of cover for the losses you’re incurring.

We also know that things don’t happen over night and repairs can take time; our indemnity extends to two years, which is plenty of time to get you back on your feet.

Accidental Damage to Buildings or Contents

What would you do if a guest knocks a bottle of red wine onto your cream carpet meaning it needs to be replaced?

Whilst some wear and tear is inevitable for your holiday home, accidents that leave the property uninhabitable as a result can happen.

In these circumstances you’ll want to find the best possible solution in the shortest possible time so as to minimise potential disruption.

Our Holiday Home insurance Policy covers accidental damage to both the buildings and the contents of your holiday home.  This means that if there is significant damage caused to your property as the result of an accident or even malicious damage by paying guests we’ll support you in getting it sorted.

Theft or Attempted Theft

What would you do if your guests went to the beach for the day and left a window open, resulting in the theft of property from your holiday home?

Guests will often spend a large amount of their time outside of your property, hopefully enjoying the great British countryside or coastline bathed in glorious sunshine. This means that your holiday home will be empty for many hours during the day, making it a potential target for opportunistic thefts.

As many holiday home owners live away from their property it can be difficult to police how seriously your guests treat the security of your holiday home; it can be tempting for example to leave a window open during the day to avoid returning to a stuffy and intolerably hot living room.

If you’re holiday home is the victim of a theft or damaged as the result of an attempted theft we’ll again be able to cover you for the losses you incur.

Always read the Policy

These are just a general overview of how our specialist Holiday Home insurance aims to support holiday home owners. We always encourage anyone looking for insurance to read their Policy document in order to fully understand the cover you have in place and also ensure that when you’re looking for quotes that you are comparing like for like cover.

For further information or if you require a quotation from a specialist for your holiday home insurance call our team on 01237 429444.

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How green is your holiday home

How green is your holiday home?

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How green is your holiday homeThere has never been a better time to reduce your energy over heads and ‘Do your bit’ for the environment. You may have made changes to your home but have you given thought to “How green is your holiday home?”

As energy assessors and building surveyors our friends at footPrint Energy Assessments Ltd have experienced the various incentives to aid us all to reduce the amount of energy we use for heating and power. In this brief guest blog, footPrint Energy Assessments introduce some of the incentives and schemes currently available.

There are three distinct phases to the governments push towards a low carbon economy:

  1. Incentives – to reduce energy demand – Now!
  2. Neutral – Loans to reduce energy demand that are paid off by the reduction in energy bills
  3. Penalties – Legislation to enforce energy efficiency

Currently there are numerous incentives ultimately in place to reduce the amount of carbon the UK’s buildings emit, but also help us reduce our overheads – whether you run a business from a commercial premises, own a domestic property or indeed run a furnished holiday letting or buy to let, you may be able to take advantage of the following schemes:

  • Feed in Tariff (FiT) – This scheme offers payments for each kWh of electricity produced by a renewable source (Solar PV, Wind turbine, Water turbine, CHP), in addition a further payment is made for each kWh of electricity exported back to the national grid. The occupier of the building also has the added bonus of free electricity whilst the technology is producing.
  • Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) – Very similar to the above FiT, payments are made for each kWh of heat produced from a renewable source, this coupled with the reduced heating bill makes a great another great scheme.
  • The Green Deal – A government monitored loan scheme, where the savings made through energy reduction technologies go towards paying off the loan.
  • Energy Company Obligation (ECO) – The scheme is aimed at social housing or people on benefits and is a grant to help pay for more costly energy saving methods that do not fall under the rules of The Green Deal
  • Landlords Energy Saving Allowance (LESA) – As the name implies this scheme is for landlords, the landlord can claim the full cost of installing qualifying energy saving technologies against their tax, up to £1,500 per year for each property.
  • Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme (ECA) – The ECA is for businesses and is similar to the LESA, businesses can claim the full price of the energy saving technology installed against their taxable profits

footPrint Energy Assessments Ltd are a small independent firm that provide energy reduction plans, energy surveys (EPC’s) and environmental plans. For further information about us or any of the above please contact us through our website – www.fdea.co.uk

Holiday home insurance and renewable energy technology

If you have renewable energy technology equipment, such as:

  • solar panels
  • ground or air source heat pumps; or
  • wind turbines

fitted at your holiday home or are considering doing so do check with your holiday home insurance provider to ensure that they are covered for all perils. Boshers holiday home insurance policy wording is wide enough to provide cover for full perils including accidental damage. You will need to ensure that your sums insured are adequate to include replacement costs of the equipment. Should you have any holiday home insurance questions relating to renewable energy pleas call one of our team on 01237 429444.

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

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

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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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Riot advice from Ecclesiastical for their policy holders, including Boshers Home Insurance and Holiday Home Insurance Customers

During the unfortunate incidents in London and other major cities in the UK over the last few days many homes and businesses have been devastated by fire, theft or general malicious damage. If you have concerns that your property or business may be at risk over the coming days the following advice should help you minimise the risk of damage from riots or subsequent looting:

Liaison with your local police authority to gather the most up to date intelligence.

You should carry out an audit of your security to ensure that premises are adequately protected. Particular attention should be paid to the ground floor and basement level, but not forgetting windows, emergency escape doors and roof-lights accessible from external fire escape staircases, scaffolding and roofs of adjoining buildings.

Remember to brief your staff – aim to minimise opportunities for confrontation by discouraging doorstep cigarette breaks, avoid lunching out and instruct them to walk away from provocation.

Review your contingency plan so that you are prepared in the event of building damage, and for emergency repairs, boarding-up, cleaning-up operations, etc.

A lot of damage has been done by arson, to help prevent this you should make sure that all exteriors of buildings are cleared of combustibles and waste materials to which the public may have access.

Be particularly aware of any unusual or suspicious activity and ensure you maintain tight control over any entrances or exits to your property.

If you are unlucky enough to have been affected by these events we are here to help you. The majority of our policies will provide protection against any loss or damage caused by riot. Please follow the guidelines below:

Report any damage to the police at once as there is a 14 day limit for notification under the Riot Act 1886, obtain a crime reference number and inform them that you intend to make a claim against them for the cost of any loss or damage under the Act.

The Act places a responsibility on the Police Authority for any damage caused by riot. The Act defines Riot as “when 12 or more people have gathered to use or threaten violence for a common purpose”. It may be that police authorities will not accept that the damage you report is as a result of “riot”, however, it is important you make the intention to claim under this Act clear at the time you notify the police of any damage, from thereon we will take on any recovery action on your behalf.

Having reported the matter to the police, please contact us on 0845 603 8381 immediately, we are here to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Our recommended supplier, Solaglas, are prioritising boarding and make safe works. They can be contacted directly on 0800 474747.

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc (EIO) Reg. No. 24869. This company is registered in England at Beaufort House, Brunswick Road, Gloucester, GL1 1JZ, UK. EIO is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service and Association of British Insurers.

Find informative articles for holiday home owners here

Visit https://www.boshers.co.uk/ for more information about us..

 

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Free impartial advice on energy saving for home owners

Are you considering energy saving measures for your home or holiday home property? Installing extra insulation in your attic or cavity walls, maybe installing renewable energy gadgets such as solar panels for your heating? The Energy Saving Trust is a non-profit organisation that provides free and impartial advice on energy saving.

If you are considering generating your own hot water or electricity using solar panels or even a wind turbine at your home or holiday home, do check with your home insurance or holiday home insurance provider that you have the correct cover and adequate sums insured.   

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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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“Like” Boshers on Facebook – and benefit from the chance to WIN a key safe for your holiday home..!

Please “Like” us on Facebook and you’ll be kept informed about important holiday home insurance developments and noteworthy news of interest to holiday home owners.

Once we have 250 Likes on our Facebook page we’ll choose a fan at random and post them a C500, the UK’s first Police Approved key safe…read all about it here..!  

Many thanks in anticipation…

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Tips For Safe Holiday Home Letting

Our lettest e-Newsletter for furnished holiday home owners “Tips For Safe Holiday Home Letting” is available by clicking here

In this issue: 

  • Holiday home Maintenance Checklist – ensure your holiday home is safe to let and reduce the risk of holiday home insurance claims.
  • Holiday Home Owners Warned – Increase In Theft Of Heating Oil!
  • Is your holiday home underinsured?

Read these articles and more here Holiday home Insurance e-Newsletter 

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Holiday Home Pre-Season Maintenance Checklist

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Ensure your holiday home is safe to let and reduce the risk of holiday home insurance claims in 2011. We have compiled this holiday home pre-season maintenance checklist as an aide memoire, it is not an exhaustive list so feel free to leave your own comments and suggestions below.

Your holiday home

  1. Do you have GAS APPLIANCES? If you do, have you arranged for your GAS SAFETY registered engineer to (a) service your gas appliances and central heating boiler in accordance the manufacturers instruction?; And (b) to carry out an annual gas safety check? For more guidance click here
  2. Do you have Oil Fired Heating? If you do have your heating engineer service your applicances and boiler in accordance with the manufacturers instructions and carry out a safety check. Be aware that heating oil thefts are on the rise! For more guidance click here
  3. Do you have an open fire, stove or wood burner? If so have you had your chimney swept recently?
  4. Mains water tap – ensure you can turn it on and off. Do your guests know where to find it incase of an emergency?
  5. Inspect your roof for signs of slipped slates or tiles and have repairs carried out where necessary.
  6. Have you checked your smoke detectors and changed the batteries if not hard wired? Diary for periodic checks. 

Your holiday home garden

  1. Arrange for your drains, gutters and downpipes to be inspected to ensure they are clear of leaves and debris which may cause blockages.
  2. Repair broken fences, gates and boundary walls.
  3. Consider cleaning garden paths, patios and steps to remove any build up of moss, lichen and algae, to reduce the risk of slips and trips.
  4. Check your garden furniture, is it fit for purpose? If your garden furniture is damaged, replace it now for you or one of your guests has an accident.

Your holiday home risk assessments

  1. Fire risk assessment – have you updated your holiday home fire risk assessment? make sure you record your results. For guidance click here
  2. Portable electrical item checks. Include a visual check of your portable electrical items, checking for damage such as fraying power cables. If in doubt have your portable electrical items inspected by a qualified electrician or replace them with new ones as necessary.
  3. General risk assessment – ensure that your general risk assessment is up to date and that you have thought about the use of saunas, hot tubs, spa pools, childrens play equipment and swimming pools where appropriate.

Boshers Ltd | Holiday Home Insurance Specialists have comiled this holiday home, holiday cottage and cottage complex maintenance checklist as a useful aide memoire for owners of commercially let UK holiday homes. It is not designed to be exhaustive and Boshers Ltd will not be held  responsible for errors or omissions.

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Seven Tips For Safe Holiday Home Letting

UK Holiday home owners may find our latest email news bulletin of interest:

Seven Tips For Safe Holiday Home Letting 

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