Reading Time: 5 minutes Damage from paying guests is a rarity when holiday letting, however, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen – it comes with the territory. For a holiday homeowner, it’s a major concern and frustration when damage occurs as there’s an urgency to undertake urgent repairs before the next guests arrive. Thankfully the majority of incidents will be genuine accidents. But how …
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Reading Time: 8 minutes Do you always choose the cheapest meal in the restaurant? buy the cheapest car and the cheapest clothes? Probably not – so why do people buy insurance based on the cheapest price? Saving a few pounds is no use if that saving is achieved by an array of ‘exclusions’ and limited cover. It’s false economy to buy based …
Reading Time: 3 minutes In recent years there has been a boom in people renting out their homes to make ‘easy’ money. But before you rent out your holiday home, you need to understand the risks and horror stories associated with renting to complete strangers. These examples emphasize the hazards homeowners face when renting out their property: What if guests steal my belongings? What …
Reading Time: 5 minutes You’re likely to have heard some myths about what holiday home insurance covers. But can you separate ‘fact from fiction’ and be confident that you are covered should you need to make a claim? A third of people never fully read their home insurance policy and risk having the wrong insurance. Here we dispel some of the most common insurance …
Reading Time: 2 minutes Insurance, one of a handful of products you buy hoping that you will never need to use it, but when you do, any limitations in cover will be exposed. The majority of insurance policies run smoothly. However, you should be aware of that there are certain reasons your premium may increase, even if you don’t claim. One of these is …
Reading Time: 3 minutes As a holiday let landlord, property insurance is one of the most important aspects of your business. Not only is it required to secure your possessions and ensure your property remains a safe investment, it’s something your guests will expect you to have too. However, whilst you’re probably looking for ways to save money on your insurance, cutting corners could …
Reading Time: 3 minutes You buy Insurance in the hope that you’ll never need to use it. The problem is that it’s virtually impossible to know how good your cover is until you’re claiming. Effectively, what you are buying is peace of mind that you will be covered against the unforeseen and that your claim will be paid. Stating that ‘insurers always wriggle out …
Reading Time: 2 minutes What would you do if… A guest at your holiday let threatens to sue you because you have deducted from their security deposit for damage and extra cleaning incurred. What you thought was a genuine holiday home booking has turned out to be a sublet scammer who has advertised your property for let and has duped victims into handing over …
Reading Time: 3 minutes Storm damage, burglary, holiday letting – you may think you’re covered but many holiday home owners get caught out. Making an insurance claim is stressful at the best of times, but if you want your policy to pay out should the worst happen, it’s important to get your insurance in order. Here are the most common ways to inadvertently invalidate …
Reading Time: 2 minutes It is often said that insurance is only as good as your first claim – then you realise the value in what you are paying for. Making an insurance claim is stressful at the best of times, but imagine making a claim only for it to be turned down unexpectedly. Unfortunately, we are seeing evidence that insurers are ‘wriggling’ out …
Reading Time: 3 minutes Blame culture is rife in today’s increasingly litigious society with ‘no-win-no-fee’ adverts a fixture of daytime TV. So engrained is the ‘where there’s a blame there’s a claim’ mantra that nowhere is safe from the threat of legal action if a slip or a trip occurs – not even your own home. While insurance policies cover against theft, damage and …
Reading Time: 3 minutes Meerkats, opera singers and karaoke-singing cartoons have invaded homes across the UK in recent years, thanks to one financial phenomenon: insurance price comparison websites. Moneysupermarket, Confused.com, BeatthatQuote, GoCompare and MoneyExpert have become household names with prominent advertising campaigns running on primetime TV and radio. Even supermarket giant Tesco and, more recently, Google, are in on the act of comparing financial …
Reading Time: 2 minutes At the height of winter, the list of concerns that second home owners should have about their property gets a little bit longer. Long nights already create security risks for unoccupied housing, but it is the drop in temperature that can potentially lead to the most damage. A burst water pipe doesn’t just mean the destruction of your possessions: any …
Reading Time: 2 minutes Insurance is a rip-off, a scam, a con. Such comments are common in consumer forums, usually by people who have bought the cheapest insurance, haven’t read the policy details or have the opinion that insurance should cover ‘every eventuality’ – I’m afraid it doesn’t. Insurance is a highly regulated industry and fortunately, the consumer has the ombudsman to turn to …
Reading Time: 3 minutes After some of the heaviest rainfall in recent history, many households are still counting the cost of flooding. Those affected are urged to contact their insurers as quickly as possible to sort out repairs and compensation. Should the worst happen, or if you are in a flood risk area, you’ll need to know the steps to take to minimise damage …
Reading Time: 3 minutes The scale of insurance fraud – a £1bn a year industry Insurance fraud is on the increase and guess who is shouldering the cost? You, the honest policyholder. Insurance fraud now adds, on average, an extra £50 a year to the annual insurance policy. The ABI (Association of British Insurers) has revealed figures which show that insurers are detecting record …
Reading Time: 6 minutes Insurance doesn’t cover all eventualities, there are many exclusions in the small print of insurance policies to look out for. The following examples identify some common ones in holiday home and second home policies that can ‘catch you out’. It’s important that you familiarise yourself with any that apply to your policy, to ensure that it covers exactly what you …
Reading Time: 3 minutes There is an estimated 800,000 residential properties in England that are left unoccupied, varying from those that are for sale, stuck in probate, being renovated or simply left empty. However, thousands of unoccupied property owners could have the wrong type of insurance, providing inadequate protection should something go wrong. There is also the risk of a policy being void should …
Reading Time: 4 minutes Got an insurance question relating to holiday homes or letting? Here are common questions asked by fellow holiday home owners. Feel free to contact us if you have a question for one of our insurance experts at Schofields. Q. We are renting a Gite in France in the first two weeks of August and the property owner has asked us …
Reading Time: 3 minutes We take out insurance to protect against unforeseen risks, but do you know what the biggest threat is to your holiday home? Fire, theft, accidental damage, storms, subsidence?… water is the biggest threat. According data from Legal & General, insurance companies paid out £730 million for water-related claims last year. This figure is more than double the £370 million for …
Reading Time: 2 minutes It is likely that your UK holiday home will be locked up and left unoccupied for long periods over the winter. During the ‘empty’ winter period, your holiday property will be exposed to extreme winter weather. The last three winters have been extremely severe in the UK and many unprotected holiday cottages experienced substantial water damage claims caused by burst …
Reading Time: 3 minutes Do you have an unwanted house guest or two in your holiday home? Insects and other “creepy crawlies” such as bed bugs, woodworm and fleas off pets can cause real discomfort and distress to both humans and animals. While house insurance typically does not cover infestations, the good news is that they can often be treated, but you may have …
Reading Time: 2 minutes Following the recent powerful winds sweeping through the country, we have had a number of enquiries from customers who are unsure as to what their home insurance for second homes does and does not cover in relation to fallen trees. As the great storm of 1987 demonstrated, falling trees can cause widespread disruption and damage. Fallen trees are a bit …
Reading Time: 4 minutes Got a question regarding insuring holiday homes? Browse our archive of questions asked by fellow holiday home owners and answers from our experienced insurance experts. Feel free to contact us if you have a question. Q. We wish to insure our UK apartment as a holiday home as we live the major part of the year in Spain. This is …
Reading Time: 2 minutes When you buy just about any type of insurance, your insurer will expect you to take reasonable care both when applying for the cover and once it is in-force. This applies to insurance for second homes too. So, what exactly is “reasonable care” and what affect, if any, will it have on you? Your insurance application Reasonable care is a …
Reading Time: 3 minutes A controversial subject is that of people’s insurance policies automatically renewing, when they are no longer required, and the policyholder then being charged a fee to cancel the renewed policy. This relates to just about all types of general insurance. So, where do you stand? Can an insurer charge you a fee if you cancel an automatically renewed policy? In …
Reading Time: 2 minutes Having access to a swimming pool is a must for those using a holiday home abroad. However, regardless of how much enjoyment they provide, there is also the constant risk of injury to family, friends or paying guests – and subsequent legal action. Home owner sued following swimming pool injury A recent legal case highlighted what can happen when someone …
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you are planning to give your holiday home a major makeover in order to widen its appeal or increase its value, don’t forget to tell your holiday home insurer. Contact your insurer before work commences on any conversions, extensions or other structural work to the buildings – as this may change the conditions of the insurance. Why improve? Self …
Reading Time: 2 minutes It is difficult to generalise about the outcome of a hypothetical claim against your second homes insurance policy. However, this example aims to clarify the situation regarding ‘matching set’ insurance claims. Any insurer’s claims department will deal with each individual claim and they will professionally assess the circumstances and the implications arising. Claims departments actually exist to help the speedy …
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