If you own a holiday home, then you will need to take specific measures to protect your investment with some form of holiday home insurance. It doesn't matter whether you simply plan on using the home for yourself and your family or whether you will be letting it out to other people—chances are that you will need specialist holiday home insurance in place to cover yourself, the property, and its contents.

So, what do you need to know about this kind of holiday home insurance cover?

The Dos and Don'ts of Insuring a Holiday Home

• Do look at specialist holiday home insurance policies: They have been specially designed to give you the right kinds of holiday home insurance cover.
  
  
• Don't just take out a standard home insurance policy: Even if nobody will use the holiday home but you, if you do not tell an insurer the truth about the property, then you could invalidate a holiday home insurance claim.
  
  
• Do make sure to take out building and contents cover: Even if the contents of your holiday home are not worth much, you still don't want to have to pay to replace them.
  
  
• Don't forget about your legal position: You need holiday home insurance cover for public liability which will cover your legal costs, especially if you are letting the property to other people.
  
  
• Do think about accidental damage: If you will be letting the property to other people, then do take out accidental damage cover. This will give you holiday home insurance protection if they break or damage something.
  
  
• Don't forget about your employees: If you pay an individual to manage the property when you are not there or a cleaner or gardener, then you have responsibilities to them if they have an accident on your property. You may well need to look at taking out employers' liability insurance on top of your holiday home insurance policy.
  
  
• Do look at rent cover: If you will be letting your holiday home regularly and will be relying on the income, then look at cover that protects you for loss of rent. So, for example, if a fire damages the property to such an extent that you have to cancel bookings, then you'll be able to claim for the income loss.
  
  
• Don't forget to read the terms. Make sure to read through the terms of your holiday home insurance policy to make sure that there are no hidden costs or clauses that could cause you problems later. For example, some holiday home insurance policies will only give you cover if the property is inhabited for a certain proportion of the time and some holiday home insurance policies will insist on imposing certain conditions when the property is unoccupied such as draining the central heating and having someone check the property on a regular basis.
  

Although holiday home insurance works in much the same way as standard home insurance, there will be different conditions and features on offer. Terms will vary from insurer to insurer so it is worthwhile shopping around to find a holiday home insurance policy that suits you both in terms of the conditions and cover it gives as well as the premium costs it involves.

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