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Part 4 – Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Contents Insurance

Contents Insurance

In Part 4 – Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Contents Insurance we discuss the contents of your holiday home. The very nature of a holiday home is that it is a `home from home’ and therefore let on a fully furnished basis. In the past it was not unusual for the value of a typical holiday home contents to be relatively meagre. Latterly as people’s expectations have risen, as has competition within the holiday home market, it is has become the norm rather than the exception that an owner spend tens of thousands of pounds furnishing their holiday home. LCD and Plasma TV screens, surround sound home entertainment systems, hot tubs and expensive garden furniture are becoming increasingly more common.

A holiday home insurance policy with contents cover on a new for old basis will provide you with the peace of mind that your property is protected. The sum insured should be adequate to cover the replacement value of the contents in total. It is advisable for owners to complete an inventory of contents together with photographic evidence and schedule of values in case of a total loss. A tip for photographing your audiovisual electrical equipment is to also take a shot of the serial number, which can aid identification and recovery in the event of theft. 

Check out the following posts which expand on Boshers Guide to Holiday Home Insurance or visit our Holiday Home Insurance page.

1. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Property Owners Liability Insurance

2. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Employers Liability Insurance

3. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Buildings Insurance

5. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Loss Of Rental Income

6. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Legal Expenses

7. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance –  General Considerations

 

 

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Part 3 – Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Buildings Insurance

Buildings Insurance

In Part 3 – Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Buildings Insurance We look at how you should not overlook the investment property itself – it is likely to be one of your major assets. To properly protect your holiday home property, you need to cover the buildings of your holiday home against all insurable risks for the full reinstatement cost, including any garages or outbuildings; fixtures and fittings; patios and driveways; garden walls, fences and swimming pools. You must not forget that you also need to include the cost of clearing the site in the event of complete destruction and the associated legal, architect and surveyor fees. Remember, the reinstatement cost is unlikely to be the same as the market value of the property or the price that you paid for it! If you under-insure your building you could fall victim to average being applied in the event of a claim. In a nutshell this means that, if your property is underinsured, your Holiday Home Insurance provider may not pay out the full amount of any claim, so it is important to work out the cost of replacement accurately and insure for the full amount.

You can get a good indication of your rebuilding costs by visiting the Association Of British Insurers (ABI) website and their building cost calculator for homeowners. However the onus is on you to provide an adequate sum insured so you may be wise, particularly in the case that your holiday home is of non-standard construction, to have a professional insurance valuation carried out by a chartered building surveyor. If your Holiday Home is mortgaged, your lender will often specify as a result of their survey, the minimum buildings insurance sum insured they require.

Most insurers will index link the buildings sum insured so that you maintain an accurate insurance value over time, but of course this is dependent on you getting the right value in the first place.  It’s important to remember to get permission from your mortgage lender, your insurer and your landlord (in the case of a leasehold property) before you let your property for short-term holidays. This is very important as your insurance could be invalidated if you fail to do this. Although your buildings policy usually includes theft or attempted theft; and damage by fire, lightning, explosion, earthquake, storm and flood; subsidence, heave and landslip; escape of water or oil, vehicle and animal Impact; aircraft and malicious damage; a quality Holiday Home Insurance policy should not restrict cover whilst the Holiday Home is let and will also extend to cover accidental damage.

Check out the following posts which expand on Boshers Guide to Holiday Home Insurance or visit our Holiday Home Insurance page.

1. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Property Owners Liability Insurance

2. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Employers Liability Insurance

4. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Contents Insurance

5. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Loss Of Rental Income

6. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Legal Expenses

7. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance –  General Considerations

You may also find useful: Holiday Home Insurance – A guide to calculating your sums insured 

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Part 1 – Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Property Owners Liability Insurance

Property Owners Liability Insurance

In Part 1 – Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Property Owners Liability Insurance we look at the importance of liability insurance for holiday home and holiday cottage complex owners. Without question holiday home owners should be concerned about the substantial risks posed by third party liabilities. In this litigious society any one who owns a business can all too easily find themselves on the wrong side of a compensation claim that can seriously damage their wealth.

For this reason make sure that your Holiday Home Insurance policy includes Property Owners Liability of at least £3,000,000 of cover. If your property sleeps 8 or more people you may wish to consider increasing your cover to £5,000,000. It is vital that you are covered in this way for injury to individuals, such as your tenants, visitors or guests and damage to their property. Most, if not all, holiday letting agencies will stipulate in their terms of business that you have this cover in place in order that they will act for you. If you manage the property yourself it is equally important that you have liability cover. However, that said, cover is no substitute for good risk management. It is therefore imperative that a full risk assessment of your holiday home and its garden is carried out and relevant safety legislation adhered to. A common cause of holiday home insurance liability claims are those resulting from slips and trips resulting in a holiday cottage guest suffering an injury. Read our post limiting the risk of slips and trips in your holiday home.

Check out the following posts which expand on Boshers Guide to Holiday Home Insurance or visit our Holiday Home Insurance page.

2. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Employers Liability Insurance

3. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Buildings Insurance

4. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Contents Insurance

5. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Loss Of Rental Income

6. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Legal Expenses

7. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance –  General Considerations

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Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Introduction

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Holiday Home Insurance

Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Introduction. Letting your holiday home commercially has many benefits, however as with running any business it isn’t without risk. It is therefore important to get the right holiday home insurance cover. Many holiday home owners may unwittingly be relying on normal home insurance cover or even more disconcerting have no cover at all. To learn more read our Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Introduction and associated blog posts. Insurance brokers like Boshers understand the demands and needs of owners of commercially let UK holiday homes. Boshers have negotiated a specialist holiday home insurance policy with a leading insurer, Ecclesiastical. If you let out your holiday home, you should ensure that the insurer is aware; and that you do not fall foul of restricted cover when the property is not let.

Look out for a policy providing cover in each of the following key areas:

  • Property Owners Liability
  • Employers Liability
  • Buildings Insurance
  • Contents Insurance
  • Loss Of Rental Income
  • Legal Expenses

Check out the following posts which expand on Boshers Guide to Holiday Home Insurance or visit our Holiday Home Insurance page.

1. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Property Owners Liability Insurance

2. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Employers Liability Insurance

3. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Buildings Insurance

4. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Contents Insurance

5. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Loss Of Rental Income

6. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Legal Expenses

7. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance –  General Considerations

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