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Malicious damage to your holiday home – where do you stand?

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We all know that from time to time accidents happen; perhaps someone spills a glass of wine (hopefully not red!) or smashes a glass fresh from the dishwasher. We can accept those and understand that accidents happen to the best of us. However what if someone were to cause malicious damage to your holiday home? Whether the malicious damage is caused by a paying guest or a trespasser, you’ll be faced with making repairs before your next guests arrive.

Do you know where you stand and what you need to do when it comes to your insurance?

What is malicious damage?

In the insurance industry, the term ‘malicious damage’ generally refers to any damage caused to your property on purpose.  There is a clear distinction between this and ‘accidental damage’, in that the damage caused has to be proven as being deliberate, rather than just an accident (for example spilling wine after tripping or smashing a glass that slipped through the hands).

Check your holiday home insurance policy

As specialists in holiday home insurance, our aim is to always give our policy holders the right cover so that should something happen, you know you’re not going to be left significantly out of pocket.

Malicious damage is covered under our policy as standard but is not by all policies on the market, so if you’re not currently insured with us, it’s worth checking your own documents.

The financial implications of your holiday letting property suffering malicious damage can be far reaching. In addition to repairing the material damage to your buildings and / or contents you may also suffer loss of rental income.

What do you do if you think someone has deliberately damaged your property?

Step 1

The first step to take would be to contact the police as soon as reasonably possible so the incident can be investigated. Take photos of the damage as this will assist your insurers with your claim. You also need to let your insurer know about the incident at this point by reporting the claim. If the damage is significant your insurers will appoint a loss adjuster to help settle your claim and appoint contractors to make repairs.

Step 2

Once your insurer is aware of the incident, it’s important that you forward them all communication and documentation surrounding it as soon as it comes through (including any knowledge of any impending prosecution or enquiry in connection with the event), as well providing them with any further information they request in order to process your claim.

The importance of being proactive

Although we’ve outlined the initial steps to take if you feel that your property has been damaged on purpose, it’s worth reiterating that before ever needing to take these steps, you should make sure you understand your insurance policy and what is covered within it.

If you haven’t already, search your policy document for the term ‘malicious’ to ensure you know what’s covered and what isn’t before you need to rely on it.

For more information on specialist insurance cover for your holiday home please give our experienced team a call on 01237 429444.

*This blog post is only intended as an introduction to malicious damage cover.  Please always refer to your insurance policy to gain a full understanding of your current level of cover.

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business rates

Business rates for holiday cottage complexes

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business rates for holiday cottage complexes

Business rates are a burden for many businesses across the country.  With the recent emergence of the ‘sharing economy’ and an explosion of listings onto platforms such as AirBnB in recent years (there are more than 60,000 in London alone), many holiday cottage complex owners have been left looking over the fence at those offering accommodation free from the taxation they face in running their own tourism businesses.

Professional Association of Self Caterers (PASC UK) lobbying on business rates

In January 2019, the Professional Association of Self Caterers (PASC UK), who are the only association dedicated to lobbying on behalf of the sector across the UK, secured a change to the way that rateable values are calculated for some self-catering businesses throughout England and Wales after more than a decade of urging for adjustments to be made.

The alteration effects the percentages the Valuation Office uses in order to arrive at the businesses’ rateable value, with the result meaning a potential reduction of approximately one-third for many holiday cottage complex owners with five holiday letting units or above. 

As the owners’ input into the business is now taken into consideration, it’s set to potentially benefit those small businesses that manage both the bookings and the guest welcome themselves, and where the self-catering business is a primary income stream for the owners.

Further information on ratable values

You can find further information on how rateable values have been reduced and the potential impact on your own business rates here:  https://www.pascuk.co.uk/business-rates

Businesses should be able to apply for the reduction directly, with those successful able to claim back any overcharge to April 2017, when the current revaluation became effective.

Alistair Handyside MBE, who leads PASC and has been in the self-catering industry for more than 15 years said “Although this is a major breakthrough, it still leaves business rates too high for those self-catering businesses that do not benefit from the £12,000 threshold.  PASC UK continues to get futher change from the Valuation Office and the organisation is part of a wide group lobbying for fundamental change to business rates.” PASC UK is also working on a number of other areas that directly effect holiday home and complex owners including the reinstatement of inheritance tax relief for genuine tourism businesses and ensuring the sector is safe and legal. For more information about them please visit: https://www.pascuk.co.uk/

Guidance on insurance for holiday cottage complexes and quotes are available from the Boshers friendly team on 01237 429444.

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insure your home and holiday home

Why insure your home and holiday let together?

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insure your home and holiday home As specialists in holiday let insurance we advise thousands of holiday cottage owners across the United kingdom. Providing them with policies tailored to the unique needs of their holiday homes. We also offer many of them that same level of service when it comes to insuring their own home. Whether you live onsite or miles from your holiday let, there are benefits to having your insurance under one roof. So here are a few good reasons to insure your home and holiday let with one insurer.

Simplicity is bliss

Having a single provider brings with it simplicity. All of your policies can be brought in line with a single renewal date. Meaning both payments can be taken at the same time. This can bring peace of mind, remove uncertainty and reduce the level of admin you need to undertake in relation to insuring your home and holiday let.

A lack of grey areas

This simplicity extends to when you need to make a claim. If you live on the same site as your holiday cottage(s) there can sometimes be a degree of confusion as to who you need to contact. For example, if an accident were to occur between your house and your holiday home, where is the boundary drawn and which policy should you claim under?

Having it all under a single provider allows you the comfort of knowing who to contact, no matter what the circumstances or the query you may have.

What if you live onsite?

Holiday letting can take many forms, such as an annexe attached to your home, or a complex of holiday cottages in your grounds. If you live onsite it is almost always best for you to insure your home and holiday let property with the same insurer so there is no doubt who will deal with a claim when one arises.

What if you live miles away from your holiday cottage?

It’s not uncommon for holiday homeowners to live a considerable distance from their cottage.  In this case, having your home and holiday home insurance with a single provider can be particularly beneficial when you use the property for your own vacations. In this example you’ll always know that anything you take with you such as personal possessions, valuables and sports equipment including bikes can be covered without ambiguity.

Continuity of service

The good news is when you contact us you’re likely to speak to someone you’ve dealt with before. Our holiday homeowners are never passed from pillar to post; no matter what your question or which policy you’re wanting to talk to us about, you’ll speak to an experienced member of the Boshers team.

The benefits of specialism

We specialise in holiday home insurance and speak with cottage owners every day of the week. We bring our knowledge and experience to ensure that your home and holiday let both have the most suitable cover. Should the worse happen, we always aim to support you in getting back on your feet. Our understanding of your circumstances plays a big role in ensuring we’re able to achieve this. Speak with our team today. They’ll highlight other reasons to insure your home and holiday let together through Boshers.

Boshers offer specialist holiday home and property insurance to holiday cottage owners across the country. For more information on our policies have a look around Boshers website. For a quote or to ask any question please give our team a call on 01237 429444.

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Modern Living Room Holida Home Contents Insurance

Renewing your holiday let property insurance

Modern Living Room Holida Home Contents InsuranceWhen you’re renewing your holiday let property insurance there are a few points you need to bear in mind. As you’re aware, a holiday let is very different to your average home, so having specialist insurance is vital. You’ll want to be sure you’re fully covered when something goes wrong and you need to make a claim.

Our holiday home insurance incorporates a lot of factors as standard, including public liability, accidental damage and full theft cover. When coupled with loss of rental income cover, these will really help you out should you need them. This is why they are automatically covered, but there are some aspects we’ll need to know about in order to give you the best holiday let property insurance possible.

Employment

Our Holiday Home Insurance automatically covers employer’s liability for £10,000,000 and you’ll receive a certificate stating this with your policy. It is important that you keep your employees in mind when discussing your policy with us, particularly if you’re renewing and your circumstances have changed. This is particularly important for larger holiday cottage complexes who may employ a housekeeper or maintenance staff. If you run a payroll we’ll need to know your Employers Reference Number (ERN) for short.

Building work

If you’re renewing and have had any building work done, you’ll have to let us know so we can get your cover right. If you’re taking out a new policy, and are planning on carrying out any work, whether that be demolition or building, we will also need to know. Letting us have a clear idea of what will be changing in the next 12 months will make it easier for us to provide you with the right cover and advise you when you’ll need to update it further.

Hot tubs and pools

We know that guests love hot tubs and pools, but you’ll also have to make it clear that you have one (or both!) when it comes to taking out your insurance. If you’re renewing and have recently installed something such as a hot tub, swimming pool or other guest facilities then you’ll need to let us know.

Security

We want your holiday home to be secure. That said, it’s unlikely we’ll ask you to meet strict security requirements unless your holiday home contents has a high value. If you’ve made alterations to your cottage security by installing something such as an alarm system, then please do let us know when renewing your policy. You may consider using a key safe for convenience, we have no problem with this but if your holiday home is insured elsewhere do check to ensure your not compromising your cover. If in doubt call us for a quote.

Increasing holiday let property insurance sums insured

Whether it’s holiday let property insurance to cover contents, buildings or public and employers liability, the most important part of an insurance policy is ensuring that you have the right level of cover for your holiday home. Renewal is a great time to review your sums insured to see if they need to be increased. Bear in mind that you will need the cover if the worst should happen. Don’t be tempted to underinsure no matter how many years you’ve been claims free. Our goal is always for you to have the right cover for your needs.

Boshers offer specialist holiday home insurance to owners across the UK. For more information on how a specialist insurer can help and support your holiday home business, please give us a call on 01237 429444.

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

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public and employers liability insurance

Getting your Holiday Let insurance right – Public and Employers Liability

public and employers liability insurance

Every holiday home is different, so making sure you have the right insurance in place for your holiday let property is incredibly important. You may think that a standard home insurance policy will do the job, but when guests are paying to stay in your holiday let , the Public and Employers Liability Insurance from basic home insurance won’t cover you. Nor will it if you have any employees (cleaners, gardeners, seasonal staff etc.).

Whilst we understand that you do your best to keep your guests and employees safe, we know that accidents can, and do, happen. If someone does get hurt whilst staying at your holiday let having the right insurance can save you a lot of time, money, and stress.

In this post, we take a look at Public Liability Insurance and Employer’s Liability Insurance.

Why are Public Liability Insurance and Employer’s Liability Insurance important?

Public Liability Insurance covers the legal liability of the policyholder for bodily injury, death, disease or illness. This means that should anything happen to your guests, you won’t be having to empty your pockets in legal or settlement fees. Whether there’s been a slip that resulted in a bumped head, or a far worse accident, Public Liability Insurance will keep your holiday let protected from legal costs and any compensation that may occur.

This works alongside Employer’s Liability Insurance, protecting you from the cost of compensation claims. If an employee claims to have an illness or injury from working for you, the bills will be taken care of.

You will be classed as an employer if you have a contract of service with anyone who helps you maintain your holiday let, whether spoken, written, or implied. This includes cleaners, gardeners, seasonal staff, and even volunteers.

Are Public and Employers Liability insurance necessary?

Employer’s Liability Insurance is a legal requirement, regardless of whether you have a cleaner once a month or once a week, you need to have the right insurance. Even if your workers are only seasonal, comprehensive cover is still a necessity.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) enforces the requirement, and you could be fined at a rate of £2,500 for every day you have traded without Employer’s Liability Insurance.

The minimum legal requirement for Employer’s Liability Insurance is £5million, but in practice many insurers (including us) provide cover of £10million.

Whilst Public Liability Insurance is not a legal requirement, it is good business practice. You can keep your holiday let as secure and safe as you like, but if that one wobbly paving stone trips a guest up, or the path covered with wet leaves causes a slip, you could be facing some big fees.

With so many guests visiting your holiday let each year, not having Public Liability Insurance is a big risk to take. It is particularly important that this insurance is for holiday homes, as standard Public Liability Insurance will not cover you and your let.

How much cover do I get?

It is recommended that holiday let homeowners get Employer’s Liability Insurance coverage for £10million, and Public Liability Insurance of at least £5million for smaller properties (sleeping up to two guests) and £10million for larger properties.

Our Specialist Holiday Home Insurance Policy provides Employer’s Liability Insurance of £10million and Public Liability Insurance of £10million as standard.

Boshers offer specialist holiday home insurance to owners across the UK. For more information on how a specialist insurer can help and support your holiday home business, please give us a call on 01237 429444.

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

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Insurance for Holiday Cottage Complex

Specialist Insurance for Holiday Cottage Complex Owners

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Insurance for Holiday Cottage ComplexAs a holiday cottage complex owner does the sound of teaming up with an intermediary specialising in insurance for holiday cottage complexes sound appealing? With more than 25 years experience of insuring properties just like yours, we’re here to help you.

What do we mean when we use the words ‘specialist insurance’? We devote our time to advising on insurance for holiday cottage complex owners and individual holiday homes across the country. We speak to owners each and every day; we understand what they want and what they need from their insurance provider, and from their insurance policy.

We believe our insurance helps and supports you when you need it the most; here are just a few examples of how our holiday complex insurance will do that for you…

Insurance for Holiday Cottage Complex Owners that includes £10m Public and Products Liability Cover

It stands to reason that the more cottages you own, the more visitors you’re likely to have during the year, and in particularly during those busy summer months.

It’s therefore vital that you have a sufficient amount of Public Liability cover.

Public liability insurance covers the legal liability of the policyholder for accidental bodily injury to third parties or damage to their property.

If for example, a visitor to one of your cottages sustained a serious injury as the result of an accident whilst staying with you, our insurance policy would cover you up to the sum of £10,000,000 in any single incident.

£10m Employers Liability Cover

Most holiday home complexes will employ people to work inside or outside of their properties, for example in the form of gardeners, maintenance and housekeeping staff for those all important changeovers.

If you do, it is a legal requirement for you to have Employers Liability insurance and this will cover you against injury or illness sustained in the course of their employment.

Remember, even if you are directing the work of self-employed contractors or employing friends to work on your complex during busier periods, you’ll still need this cover.

Accidental Damage

Sometimes accidents happen.  As we’ve already said, you’ll have a large number of guests staying with you each year, which can in turn make a mishap all the more likely.

Should a guest spill red wine on that wonderful new carpet you’ve laid, or cause damage to any of your properties as the result of an accident, Boshers will be able to cover you for the damage subject to the policy excess.

Theft or attempted theft, even when your cottage is occupied

A holiday is a time when most of us will let our guard down, and also spend a lot of time exploring, rather than inside a holiday home.  For this reason, holiday cottages can become targets for thieves, and despite the larger numbers of visitors on site at a holiday complex at any given time they are not immune to this.

We’re able to offer theft cover to complex owners, even when your cottages are occupied by paying guests.

Home Insurance too!

Want to have all of your insurances in one place? That’s not a problem; we’re also able to offer our complex owners the same high level of service and experience for their home insurance too.

Tailored and experienced

When you take out insurance with Boshers we’ll tailor the sums insured to make sure you have the right policy for your needs.  We’ll also talk you through all of the areas of cover we offer, along with why and when you may need them. We also understand that your cottage complex may have additional facilities such as hot tubs, swimming pool, a games room or pets corner to name but a few.

Additional guidance on insurance for holiday cottage complexes and quotes are available from the Boshers Holiday Home Insurance Team on 01237 429444.

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

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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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Second Home Revival

Second Home Revival. A recent report by Knight Frank examines the growing demand for new-build holiday homes in the UK. The report highlights some interesting statistics such as in the three years up until the beginning of 2010, the growth in nights spent in self-catering apartments grew by 67% to 9.2m and the number of nights in self-catering houses, cottages and lodges grew 20% to 20.8m.

In terms of age groups the, the greatest growth in the tourist industry at present is accounted for by mature people in higher social groups. The trend towards staycations is becoming increasingly concentrated at the upper end of the market and is becoming spread more evenly throughout the year.

Read the rest of the report entitled Second Home Revival here….

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2010 Budget | Furnished Holiday Letting (FHL)

2010 Budget | Furnished Holiday Letting (FHL). As announced last year, the tax advantages of Furnished Holiday Letting businesses will be withdrawn with effect from 6th April 2010. Income from FHL will be treated in the same way as income from other property rents. This means there will be less advantageous offset of losses and a number of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reliefs will no longer be available. However according to our accountants, it appears that Entrepreneurs’ Relief will apply to disposals of a FHL property within 3 years of 5th April 2010, potentially reducing the effective rate of CGT on up to £2m of gains from 18% to 10%.

Furnished Holiday Lets | Your Emergency Tax Planning Guide
Boshers Holiday Home Insurance clients and friends can follow the link to purchase a copy of this invaluable guide and receive a 30% discount off of the RRP of £24.95 + £1.95 postage and packing. Simply use the discount code BOSHERS which is case sensitive. Please note that Boshers Ltd have no connection with the Tax Cafe and will not receive any remuneration from the sale of their publications, instead this is passed on as a saving to you. This book will be of interest to Holiday Home Owners and may just throw up some interesting points to discuss with your professional advisers.

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Key Safe holiday home

You, Your Holiday Home, Your Holiday Home Insurance and Key Safes

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Security precautions when installing Key Safes at your holiday home. You, your holiday home, your holiday home insurance and key safes Firstly check with your holiday home insurance broker that the use of Key Safes is acceptable. There may be specific warranties that you will need to adhere to in order not to invalidate your holiday home insurance cover.

Key Safes - holiday home secure

The use of a good quality Key Safe to help manage access to your property by guests on arrival is by far the best alternative to leaving a key under the doormat or a nearby flower pot! By taking a few sensible precautions, the use of a Key Safe at your holiday home will enhance your guests holiday experience and make life easier for you and your holiday letting agent.

Guidance for holiday home owners on the use of key safes

  1. Purchase the best quality Key Safe that your budget allows, preferably with a 5 – 7 digit code
  2. Where possible locate your Key Safe out of sight
  3. During installation of your Key Safe ensure that it is bolted firmly into brick or stone, avoiding soft mortar
  4. Arrange with your housekeeper to leave a door key in the Key Safe no more than 24 hours before the guests are due to arrive
  5. Encourage your guests not to leave Keys in the Key Safe during their stay
  6. Have your housekeeper remove the keys from the Key Safe within 24 hours of the guests departure, unless new guests are arriving
  7. Ask your housekeeper to change the 5 -7 digit code between lets, to a new code which you or your agent can inform your next guests of
  8. Do not allow keys to be left permanently in a Key Safe during periods of unoccupancy

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

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