Promising Forecast For UK Cottage Holidays This Summer. ‘Hot and dry’ UK summer forecast. The UK is “odds on for a barbecue summer”, with no repeat of the washouts of the last two years, according to Met Office forecasters.
Temperatures are likely to be warmer than average across the UK, topping 30C at times.
Rainfall should be “near or below average” for the three months of summer, the forecasters say. Read more here
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Crime Gangs Target Second Homes And Holiday Cottages To House Cannabis Factories. Holiday Home Used As Cannabis Factory – The following story appeared in the Western Morning News on the 6th January 2009.
A MASSIVE Vietnamese-style cannabis factory has been discovered in Cornwall – the first of its kind in the county.
Devon and Cornwall Police found hundreds of well-established plants in an old millhouse in a village near Padstow, on the North Cornwall coast. The windows of the three-storey building had been blacked out and a sophisticated growing system, with high-intensity lights and fans, had been installed in several rooms.
Thirteen similar cannabis farms – linked to crime gangs from Vietnam – have been raided in Plymouth in the past three months while others have been uncovered in Exeter. However, Detective Constable Mike Bradley, the force’s drug intelligence officer, confirmed it was the first time the “problem had spread into Cornwall”. He added: “It is in a fairly rural location but my belief is there will be others in the area.”
Officers raided the house, believed to have been rented out for the past six to eight weeks, late on Sunday evening after a call from a member of the public.
No-one was found inside the property which is advertised on the Internet as a holiday cottage. Three men, all Chinese, were arrested shortly afterwards a few miles down the coast.
Officers yesterday began removing the plants and growing paraphernalia from the house. Other items were taken away for forensic and fingerprint analysis.
It is estimated that a factory being run in just five rooms can net criminal gangs around £250,000 a year.
Det Con Bradley said the factory was typical of others that had been found in the region. He said the drugs produced by such factories was destined for other parts of the country rather than the streets of Devon and Cornwall. In most cases, electrical wiring is run throughout the house to power lights and ventilation along with a watering system.
Gangs often tamper with the electricity meter, or bypass it, to avoid paying and attracting attention with suspiciously high bills.
Huge amounts of damage are caused with ducting being run through walls and ceilings. Properties are often water- damaged, while spent compost is commonly dumped in another part of the house. Locks are changed to prevent landlords gaining access. Det Con Bradley said the bill to repair the damage caused at the 13 drugs factories found in Plymouth ran into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Properties are sometimes rented for 12 months for cash upfront.
“We know from other parts of the country that these people don’t just stop at one house,” he said. “They move into an area, make a profit as quickly as they can and then leave before their 12 months is up and move on to another property.
“Landlords then return and find their properties destroyed. I would ask anyone with suspicions about a property to contact us.
“If landlords have suspicions, or can’t gain access to their premises, they should contact us rather than go in themselves.” End.
Have you checked your holiday home lately? Perhaps you have let it as a winter let? Did you carry out appropriate checks on the tenants? Does your Holiday Home Insurance policy cover you for malicious damage?
Holiday Home Insurance Policy Warranties – Restrictive Clauses Or Just Good Housekeeping? That time of the year is upon us when your holiday let may be unnocupied for a few weeks at a time. Owners must ensure that they check and abide by any policy warranties. A warranty is a policy condition which must be adhered to otherwise cover could be revoked and claims unpaid.
Boshers Holiday Home Insurance Policies have the following warranties. We believe that adhering to them is not only good housekeeping, but will also reduce the occurance of claims and therefore help to minimise stress and premium increases!
Unoccupied premises warranty
It is warranted that whenever the premises are left untenanted during the months of October to April inclusive you will arrange that either
a) the central heating system is brought into operation and a minimum room temperature of not less than 45°F or 7°C maintained or
b) 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).
Inspection warranty
It is warranted that whenever the premises are left untenanted the premises must be inspected at least every other week by you or by an authorised person responsible to you.
UK Holiday Home Winter Maintenance Checklist. Boshers advises UK holiday home owners to use quieter periods,
such as the Winter months to carry out essential maintenance checks so their properties are protected from inclement weather and in tip top order for the following letting season.Mark Lavington, says: “Many weather related claims could be avoided if holiday home owners were to give their holiday letting properties a winter health check before the worst of the weather hits”. Furthermore there’s a `duty of care’ for owners to ensure that their guests’ safety has been considered.”The Boshers holiday home insurance team have compiled a `Winter Maintenance Checklist for holiday Home Owners’ as a useful aid. A free copy can be downloaded from www.boshers.co.uk/holiday-home-insurance or requested by phoning 01237 429444 or emailing cottages@boshers.co.uk
such as the Winter months to carry out essential maintenance checks so their properties are protected from inclement weather and in tip top order for the following letting season.Mark Lavington, says: “Many weather related claims could be avoided if holiday home owners were to give their holiday letting properties a winter health check before the worst of the weather hits”. Furthermore there’s a `duty of care’ for owners to ensure that their guests’ safety has been considered.”The Boshers holiday home insurance team have compiled a `Winter Maintenance Checklist for holiday Home Owners’ as a useful aid. A free copy can be downloaded from www.boshers.co.uk/holiday-home-insurance or requested by phoning 01237 429444 or emailing cottages@boshers.co.uk
Is your cottage in the country becoming a financial burden? Here at Boshers it has recently become apparent from a steady stream of holiday home insurance enquiries, that second home owners who use their country and coastal cottages for family and friends use only and often infrequently, are feeling the squeeze of the recent “credit crunch”.
The flipside to this is that thousands of second home owners have for many years been letting their country cottage or seaside home to others for short term family holidays, whilst still reserving a few key weeks for their own use have been managing well and in some cases making a healthy profit. This has proven to be a superb way of subsidising their holiday home investment or keeping inherited property in the family. As self-catering holidays in the UK continue to flourish, despite our sometimes less than perfect weather, supply in popular areas often does not meet demand during holiday periods.
So if you own a second home in an area popular for tourism why not consider letting your second home as a holiday home for short term family holidays. You will of course have to consider, decor, furnishings, legislation, the marketing of your property as well as having the correct holiday home insurance in place including liability cover for guests and employees. More about these areas later …
In Part 7 – Guide to Holiday Home insurance – General Considerations we look more deeply into the conditions and warranties that may apply to your holiday home insurance policy. Ensure you have a good understanding of your policy cover and in particular you understand your obligations regarding any conditions or warranties. You or an agent may need to inspect your property every 14 days whilst empty; or ensure that a minimum temperature is maintained during cold spells if the water is not turned off and drained. These are not only sensible procedures to reduce the risk of the potential for damage to your property but may also affect your ability to make a claim if not adhered to.
Do check that you are still fully covered even if your holiday home property is vacant for long periods; some holiday home insurance policies will reduce cover to a minimum or even exclude certain covers completely.
If your holiday letting business is seasonal, you may have considered letting the property on a short hold tenancy agreement for six months. If this is your intention be sure to check that your Holiday Home Insurance policy allows for this.
For your own peace of mind check that your policy covers all of the above and remember that you only find out how good your broker and insurers are when you make a claim – so make sure that price is not your only deciding factor when selecting holiday home insurance. Compromising on cover to save money when insuring your holiday home is not an option – you wouldn’t take unnecessary risks, would you?”
Check out the following posts which expand on Boshers Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Introduction 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
Boshers Ltd are Independent Insurance Intermediaries and have been arranging specialist holiday home insurance for owners of commercially let UK holiday homes since 1990. For further information and quotes visit Boshers website or telephone Boshers on 01237 429444.
Legal Expenses Insurance
This provides cover for legal fees, compensation awards or appeal costs arising from a wide range of legal disputes that you may become involved in as a Holiday Home Owner whilst running your holiday let business. Cover for all claims occurring at the same time or from the same originating cause is limited, in the case of Boshers Holiday Home Insurance Legal Expenses to £100,000.
Legal Expenses Insurance may protect your commercial holiday let business legal position in the areas shown below:
Employment disputes
Such as negotiating for an insured person’s legal rights in an Employment Tribunal for a dispute arising from their employment contract.
Contract disputes
Such as negotiating your legal rights in a dispute arising from an agreement for the sale, hire or purchase of goods and services or in connection with the buying or selling of your holiday let.
Bodily injury
Such as pursuing your legal rights following accidental death or physical injury.
Property protection
Such as pursuing your legal rights following damage to your holiday let for problems such as nuisance and trespass.
Legal defence
Defence of criminal prosecutions arising from your employment and the defence of civil actions in specified circumstances.
Holiday let Such as negotiating for your legal rights:
after an event which causes physical damage to your property; and to evict anyone in your property who does not have your permission to be there.
Defending your legal rights if an event arising from you letting your property leads to you being prosecuted in a criminal court.
Study the wording of the Legal Insurance Section closely as all policies have differing levels of cover.
Check out the following posts which expand on Boshers Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Introduction 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
Loss Of Rental Income
In Part 5 – guide to Holiday Home insurance – Loss of rental Income we look at how you protect your holiday letting income in the event of an insured peril affecting your property. Your specialist Holiday Home Insurance policy should also provide loss of rental income cover for insured perils, which consequently render the holiday home uninhabitable. It may take up to two years to rebuild a property levelled by fire; you should therefore check that you are covered for sufficient loss of rental income for this period. After all, if you have a mortgage to pay or if you are relying on the income from your holiday home business to live on, loss of rental income cover will be invaluable to you and your holiday cottage letting business..
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
6. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – Legal Expenses
7. Guide to Holiday Home Insurance – General Considerations
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
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