Holiday Home Insurance | A Landlord’s Guide with CIA

A holiday home is a property you own that isn’t your main residence. You can use it for short-term stays with your family and friends.

But there’s also the option of renting out your holiday home to paying guests. With the arrival of the internet and platforms like Airbnb making booking holidays online so easy, you won’t have any shortage of customers should you decide to run it as a holiday let business. However, holiday homes can be vulnerable to unique risks, and a standard homeowners insurance policy may not give you adequate protection should something go wrong. 

In this guide, we at CIA Landlords look more closely at why taking out a specialist holiday home insurance policy is essential for owners of holiday homes.

Protecting your holiday property investment

You can enjoy spending unforgettable quality time in your holiday home with family and friends and making the most of it. But a fair number of people decide to turn their holiday home into a holiday let business and make good profits doing so.

If you allow your eye to slip off the ball and don’t ever visit your holiday let, the property can fall to perils including

• Damage caused by holiday guests
• Weather-related damage 
• Fire damage
• Vandalism

Having a stringent comprehensive holiday home insurance policy will help to protect your investment against these perils. Don’t forget that the amount of money you can potentially make from owning a short-term holiday home can be significantly higher than if you rented it out to long-term tenants. 

Holiday homes can stay vacant for long periods

Even if you spend all summer at your holiday home with your family and friends, it will still stay vacant for the majority of the year.

Remember, in many locations, the local holiday industry is seasonal rather than busy throughout all twelve months of the year. Across the UK, you can expect a holiday home designed for families with young children to be more in demand during the six-week school holidays, for instance. Also, some places are simply freezing in the winter, and the cold temperature can deter holidaymakers! Fluctuation of rental activity for your holiday let seasonally can impact your holiday home insurance rates. 

On the other hand, bustling world-famous UK cities like Oxford, London, and Edinburgh are busy all year round. There is no real downseason nor drop off of tourists and holidaymakers. If you own a holiday let property in a location like this, you may want to rent it all year round, which will require a holiday home insurance policy that covers you all year. Fortunately, we can offer you such insurance policies here at CIA Landlords.

Do you need liability insurance for holiday home guests?

Yes, you certainly need to have liability insurance for your holiday home if you intend on renting it out to guests. Why? Well, should a guest injure themselves in your holiday property, then you could be held liable to cover the costs of all sorts of medical expenses and legal fees.

CIA’s holiday home insurance policies come with property owner’s liability insurance. 

Loss of rental income cover 

If events make your holiday home uninhabitable for guests, it will cause you to lose a lot of rental income money. So, loss of rent is another thing you need a specialist insurance policy to provide coverage for. Fortunately, the holiday home landlord insurance packages you get with CIA come with loss of rent cover. 

Location and property value affect the cost of holiday home insurance

Just like with any other type of landlord insurance policy, location and property value tend to lead to higher insurance premiums for holiday homes. 

Do holiday homes require routine maintenance?

Yes, it is best practice to carry out routine maintenance on your holiday home, whether you are using it as a holiday getaway spot for your own family or as a holiday let business venture. 

Just like with other properties, holiday homes can fall into disrepair due to wear and tear over the years. Covering the maintenance costs of fair wear and tear comes under your responsibility if you are renting out your holiday home.

Compare holiday property insurance 

Remember to go out there and compare holiday home insurance policies price-wise. At CIA Landlords, we offer cheap rates, get a quote from us today to find out more.

Holiday home insurance is something you can’t do without if you dearly love your holiday home or want to go down the route of turning it into a lucrative letting business. At CIA Landlords, we are experts in holiday home insurance. Get in contact with our friendly team and give us a call on 01788 818 670.