Holiday Let Insurance Specialist insurance to protect your holiday let

A standard home insurance policy is not appropriate for holiday lets as home insurers won't cover properties that are commercially let or left unoccupied for long periods. When a property is unoccupied, this increases the risk of theft, damage, squatters and incidents such as water leaks that can go unnoticed and intensify - causing major damage. There's a further risk of theft, accidents or damage by guests when short-term letting.

Most traditional home insurance providers are not prepared to cover holiday lets as they perceive them to be too great a risk. What you need is a specialist holiday let home insurance policy that is designed to cover these extra risks.

Holiday let insurance in the UK isn't compulsory, but if you have a mortgage then most lenders will insist you have building insurance as a minimum to protect their investment. Even if you own your holiday rental outright, it's essential to have insurance in place to manage risks and protect what is likely to be a major investment from significant financial loss.

Again, contents insurance isn't compulsory, but it can give you peace of mind that your possessions are protected if disaster strikes.

If you employ people at your holiday let it is a legal requirement to have employers' liability insurance. It's usually an integral part of a holiday let insurance UK policy.

Insurers use a whole host of factors to calculate your premium – the property location, property type, security, risk of flooding or subsidence, the level of cover you require and how likely the insurer thinks you are to claim.

For buildings insurance, the premium is based on the rebuild value and contents insurance is based on how much it would cost to replace your belongings. There may also be an additional cost to add extra cover e.g. accidental damage and legal expenses insurance.

When you compare holiday let insurance quotes and cover, choose the most comprehensive insurance for holiday lets, not just the cheapest.

The amount of buildings insurance you take out should represent how much it would cost to rebuild your holiday let (including any outbuildings) in their present form - not the property's market value. To obtain your rebuild value either refer to your purchase survey, mortgage valuation or to achieve the most accurate sum ask a chartered surveyor to provide an insurance valuation. Here's some useful advice on rebuild costs.

Your contents insurance sum insured amount should be based on what it would cost to replace your contents (anything you could reasonably remove and take if you moved house) if you were replacing them at today's prices. Typically, the average value of possessions in a holiday home is around £22,500.* Here's some advice on calculating your contents sum insured.

It's important to calculate these values accurately because over-estimating could mean you pay too much for your insurance while being underinsured could mean you receive a lower pay-out if you claim.

Choose a policy that provides £5 million of public liability insurance as compensation claims and legal costs can be significant.

Legal expenses insurance with a coverage limit of £25,000 may be sufficient.

We cover holiday lets built of brick, stone or concrete and roofed with slate, tiles asphalt or concrete. Or a wooden property securely built on a concrete base with a pitched roof tiled with tiles or slates. A holiday let is a property you own in England, Scotland and Wales that isn’t your main residence or part of your main residence. You can use it for family and friends or let it to paying guests on a short-term basis as holiday accommodation – or a combination of all three.

We do not cover static or mobile caravans.

If you have selected Plus with the optional cover of accidental damage, we can cover damage by pets. Most insurance policies won’t cover any damage caused by pets scratching, chewing, tearing or fouling.

Unfortunately, insurance doesn't cover every eventuality. You should make sure you read your holiday let insurance policy document in full before purchasing so you know what will and won't be covered.

While you want to keep costs down, you also need the best cover possible. You must ensure you have the right cover so that ultimately - your claim gets paid.

Key points to consider:

• If you have a swimming pool or hot tub, check you are covered for accidents and injury to guests using them.
• If your holiday rental is pet-friendly ensure you are covered as very few insurers will cover damage caused by pets.
• You can't guarantee that guests will lock external doors and windows at night or when they go out, so ensure your insurance covers theft by 'non-forcible entry'.
• If you use a Keysafe to store keys for holidaymakers, check if any endorsements apply.
• Check for any security measures required, such as specific locks. Failing to implement the required security is likely to invalidate theft claims.
• Is theft by paying guests covered? Most insurers exclude it as standard.
• It's the holidaymakers responsibility to take out travel insurance to cover their possessions whilst at your holiday rental.
• How much loss of rent is covered, it's usually a % of the sum insured or a specified amount.
• What unoccupancy clauses, winter warranties, exclusions and restrictions apply which could affect your insurance? How often are you required to inspect your holiday let when it is empty? Do you have to leave the heating on at a set temperature or turn the water off and drain water tanks/pipes while your holiday let is unoccupied?
• What is the standard excess and are there additional excesses for certain claims such as escape of water, subsidence or flood?
• Check the fees for admin, making a change or cancelling your policy.

The home-sharing market has soared in popularity over recent years, but so have the horror stories of homes being trashed by unruly guests.

If you're looking for insurance while renting out your main home on a platform such as Airbnb, firstly inform your current home insurer as they may agree to extend the policy to cover short-term rentals. If you don't tell your insurer you are renting to paying guests, then your cover is most likely to be void.

Your other option is to seek out a specialist provider that includes public liability cover for people staying in your home, malicious/accidental damage and theft cover.

Note: Our insurance for holiday lets is for holiday homes and second homes and is not suitable for renting out your main home.