Holiday homes are exciting investments. Whether you are purchasing a holiday home to jet off to in the summer holidays, or whether you will rent it out to earn a bit of extra income, you need to ensure that the right protection is in place to cover you if the worst should happen.
As holiday homes are left unoccupied quite often, they can be more susceptible to break-ins, flooding and tenant-related damage. Read our handy guide on holiday home insurance and how to keep your holiday home secure whilst you’re not there! Let’s jump in!
What is holiday home insurance?
Holiday home insurance is a specialised type of insurance tailored to protect your holiday property. Whether you have a cottage by the lake, a villa abroad, or a mountain cabin, this insurance provides coverage for potential risks like property damage, liability claims, and loss of rental income. It ensures that your getaway retreat is safeguarded, allowing you to enjoy your holiday home without worrying about unexpected mishaps.
How to protect your holiday home
Having holiday home insurance is definitely an important aspect of protecting your home and peace of mind, however it’s always worthwhile undertaking some simple steps to prevent any issues while you aren’t there.
Change the locks
It is likely that you don’t know the previous owners of your holiday home well, if at all. Because of this, it is advisable to employ a reputable locksmith to change the locks and keys as soon as you can. This means that you will know for certain that all of the doors and windows in the property lock correctly (a condition of most insurance policies), and you aren’t worried about any previous owners or tenants having copies of the keys.
Make sure you don’t hide your new keys on the premises, as the common places to leave a spare key will be checked by burglars. If you need to keep a key nearby for an emergency, invest in a keysafe.
Don’t label your keys with your address, even if you’re renting out the property. If labelled keys are lost or stolen, thieves and criminals know exactly which house is yours.
Insulate pipes and keep the heating on
If you spend the cold winter months away from your holiday home, you could come back to some nasty surprises if you don’t take precautions to weather-proof your property. Taking simple precautionary measures, such as insulating your pipes could help to minimise some of the damage.
When water freezes, it expands and causes internal pressure on your pipes. This could lead to them bursting, which could cause catastrophic leaks and damage when the ice thaws. Insulating your pipes and keeping your heating on while you’re not there, either constantly or with the use of a timer, will help to prevent your pipes freezing over winter and bursting.
Make sure the property looks occupied, even when it isn’t
Thieves and vandals are more likely to target a property that they believe to be empty, so it is important that you make your holiday home look like it is occupied, even when it isn’t.
Entrusting a friend or neighbour with a key and asking them to regularly collect any post that piles up, and even open and shut different curtains will make any outsiders think that someone is living there. You could also look into installing light bulbs on a timer that can switch different lights on and off at different times of the day.
Install CCTV, alarms and motion-activated lights
Deterrents such as visible cameras and outside lights are a good way of preventing criminal activity at your property. When a property attracts attention during a break-in, it significantly deters potential thieves, often causing them to abandon their attempt rather than persisting.
Have regular maintenance
Whether you do this yourself every time you come to stay, or hire a maintenance company or letting agent to do this for you, ensure that you are keeping on top of your holiday home maintenance. Things like ensuring the fire and carbon monoxide alarms are working, checking that the roof is secure and confirming that any electrical and gas appliances are safe will mean that your holiday home insurance policy is more likely to cover you for any damage that happens while you’re not present.
How Nest GI can help
At Nest GI, we provide a variety of insurance policies designed to guarantee your coverage for all potential situations. Feel free to explore our product offerings or get in touch with us today to discuss your specific needs.
