Holiday Home Insurance – General Tips For Renters

Thankfully, a good quality Holiday Home Insurance, can help provide you with peace of mind that should anything happen to your asset, then you should be protected by insurance. One of the problems with holiday homes, is that they are often a good distance from the owners main home, and simply popping over to check on things is not always a viable option. That’s where good management comes in , especially if you are going to take care of the holiday lettings yourself. You will find that running a holiday let, rather than a buy to let, will take more of your time, mainly because you will have tenants arriving and leaving on a regular basis and you will have to make sure that your property is clean and tidy after every visit.

You will also have to ensure, you have a steady stream of renters and whilst this may not be a problem for established owners, if you have just purchased a holiday let, you may find it can take a while to get going. Specialist holiday letting companies, can really come in to their own for new owners, they will of course charge you a fee, but they will actively promote your property and you should see a good take up rate. These companies will offer a variety of services which may include fully managed , where they take care of the letting and the cleaning and all other aspects of property up keep. If you still want to run the property yourself, you will need to be fairly confident that you are up to speed with all legislation, you will have to keep the home in good order and apply a number of risk management techniques. This can include the following:-

1) You will need to make sure the property is kept clean and tidy at all times, you can of course do this yourself or employ the services of a cleaner. If the property has a garden, you will need to attend to this , especially in the summer months. Apart from the garden, all aspects of the exterior of the property will need to be kept clean & tidy. If you have lengthy periods of unoccupancy, you will need to make sure that all newspapers, leaflets and post are removed from the letter box area ( its surprising, the number of claims that start from cigarettes and matches being dropped though letter boxes) Its also a dead give away that a property is unoccupied.

2) You will need to make sure that the water pipes are well lagged. Burst pipes are a big problem for holiday home owners and can generate substantial insurance claims. During the winter months, is a particular problem especially if you don’t have too many rentals and the property is unheated. If you do not want to leave the heating on , then draining down the water system can help.

If you are friendly with a local person and of course, they are willing, you may like to trust them with a key. Some holiday home insurance polices have a condition that the property is checked on a regular basis, they do not usually specify who by , but there is no doubt that regular checks at the property, can help prevent claims occurring.

3) Providing full information about your property to your renters can help them to enjoy there holiday and help prevent any bad felling. By giving them a welcome pack, outlining responsibilities can help prevent disagreements. Also, you should be clear prior to renting about the facilities for children etc and whether you allow pets on to the property.

4) Before renting the property, make sure you are fully aware of all the rules and regulations relating to property rental and that everything that needs to be checked has been checked and the necessary certificates obtained.

5) Check you holiday home insurance policy to make sure the insurers are quite happy that you are going to receive paying guests.

6) Prepare a detailed inventory of the property and all of its contents.

Make sure you obtain full cleared payment before you release the keys to the property. Take security deposits that reflects the true value of the contents you have supplied with the holiday home and also, clearly state in the contract for letting, how soon after the holiday period that you will return the deposit to the renter.