Second Home Insurance

Second home insurance is a specialist policy that covers a holiday property or another residence that you do not occupy on a regular basis. Second home policies protect homes that are unoccupied for long periods of time, so that if a disaster or theft occurs whilst you're away, you'll have the financial resources you require to repair or replace your investment. With second homes becoming a popular investment option and a desirable opportunity for pensioners, insurance companies are increasingly offering these specialist policies to their clients.

If you own a holiday house or second dwelling, compare a quote from several of the top insurance providers. You may be able to minimise the costs of your cover by adding second home insurance to an existing policy, or by combining your residential policies with auto insurance or other covers through the same provider. Proper contents cover will insure the movable items in your second home, such as carpets, furnishings and appliances, against damage, theft or vandalism whilst you're staying in your primary residence.

Insurance Restrictions for Primary Homes

Traditional policies insure the structural components of a house, or the fixed elements that cannot be physically moved, against a set of hazards specified in your home contents insurance policy. Most common policies exclude certain perils, such as damage caused by natural deterioration or do-it-yourself home improvement projects. In addition, most conventional home insurance policies do not cover damages that occur to your dwelling if you leave the property unoccupied for more than 30 days.

This restriction protects insurers against paying out benefits to policy holders for property left unattended for long periods of time. When a house is unoccupied, the building is exposed to a higher level of risk. A window may break in a wind storm, allowing water to leak into the building and damage the walls and floors. A fire may occur due to faulty wiring or sparks from a nearby dwelling. Without a property owner on the premises, a small fire or water leak could result in severe destruction and expensive claims.

Forced-entry theft, which is covered by most traditional house and contents insurance policies, is more likely to occur whilst a dwelling is unoccupied. Most house policies pay out to replace or repair doors and windows that are damaged by forced-entry theft. Contents policies pay out to replace a percentage of the value of stolen personal belongings, including computers, cameras, jewelry and clothing.

If you must leave your house unoccupied for a period of time whilst the building is being renovated or repaired, or whilst the residence is on the market to be sold, specialist cover for vacant or unoccupied property is available. These policies generally insure a dwelling for 30 to 90 days whilst repairs are taking place. Unlike second home insurance, vacant or unoccupied coverage is only applicable to empty homes, and no contents coverage is provided with these policies.

Advantages of Second Home Insurance

Owning a second home is the dream of many hard working adults and families. Holiday properties and retirement homes in Spain or Italy are no longer a luxury reserved for the very wealthy. When the market for holiday homes is competitive, more property owners are taking advantage of the opportunity to buy affordable houses or villas in the EU or UK.

Alternatively, many buyers view a second home as an investment. Buy to let homes have become more common as the public recognises the financial potential of purchasing a residence to be let to tenants. By the time you reach retirement, you may be able to derive a comfortable source of income from buy to let houses.

Second home insurance protects holiday or buy to let homes against the hazards covered in many traditional policies. In order to protect your investment, you must have proper second home insurance in place to insure the structure against fire, floods, water escape from broken pipes, fire or smoke damage or other perils. Second home insurance pays out to repair or replace your structure, itself, whether or not you are on the premises when the loss occurs.

If you own an investment residence and you have tenants, your tenants will generally be responsible for insuring the contents of the building. Contents coverage can be purchased as a separate policy to insure the furnishings, computers, clothing and other items that your tenants own. As the landlord, you are responsible for insuring the building, itself.

Second home insurance offers an example of the increasing flexibility of residential protection. No matter what your circumstances, you may find a form of specialist protection to give you greater peace of mind and secure your financial investments whilst your dwelling is unoccupied. Request quotes for second home insurance from several providers in your area and search for the most affordable schemes available to safeguard these valuable assets.