
Holiday Home Insurance outside
the UK and Ireland written in English
Overseas
holiday home ownership is at an all time high and numerous
owners have problems with foreign languages, so it is vitally
important that their insurance policy is written in English.
The
problem for many holiday home owners is that once they have
found their dream property it's absolutely crucial that
they get it properly covered. Without the right insurance
policy, they could have problems when they come to claim
and find out you don't have the cover they thought they
had.
The
property owner needs to choose an insurance company with
the policies written in "plain English". jml Insurance.co.uk
act as introducers to a number of specialists including
Intasure,
Andrew
Copeland International
and Devon Direct.
They have been introducing holiday
home owners to these products for the past three years and
numerous insurance policy sales have been made as a result
of their introduction.
Philip
Suter of jml-insurance.co uk said "Wherever you choose to
buy your holiday home, you're not going to live there full
time and need to know your investment is properly protected.
Having the right insurance is all about understanding what
assets you own, what liabilities you are exposed to, and
what external events can occur which will put you at risk.
Local
insurance policies can include variations and exclusions
relating to burglary, accidental damage or personal liability
claims. Some of these might not include water supply or
gas supply pipes or electric cables to the property becoming
damaged. There might be restrictions on you letting out
the property as a holiday rental or longer let. Other policies
might only give a maximum of 90 days un-occupancy at a time
and this is not very satisfactory if you have left your
holiday home in August and don't return till the end of
January for example.
It
is imperative that you check all the details ("small print")
thoroughly and if need to keep the electricity on to keep
the heating or burglar alarm working, make sure you let
the insurance company know this from the start."
Taking
the appropriate action from the start will avoid problems
when a claim occurs particularly if there was a fire caused
by an electrical fault and under the terms of the policy,
the electricity was meant to be switched off!
A
client should never assume that what is covered under their
UK home insurance will automatically be covered abroad,
as the expectation of what should be standard cover differs
greatly country to country, so that is why it does help
having the policy written in English.
When
the client arranges cover they must make sure the buildings
costs are for the correct cost of rebuilding. Many people
think that they should get building insurance at market
value. If your property was worth €190,000 last year and
maybe the market price has gone down to €170,000 this year,
it won't affect the buildings costs.
Remember
they would already own the "land" the property is situated
on and so assuming the property was destroyed by fire the
insurance has to cover the removal or repair of the building
shell and the erecting or repair for the replacement. The
sum insured should be sufficient to rebuild all buildings
as well as all outdoor structures such as swimming pools,
terracing or perimeter walls.
If
property owners are having difficult putting a price on
the rebuild, they should take advice from the insurance
company. They must provide them with the dimensions, basic
materials the property is constructed with get help from
the insurance company. A specialist who covers a lot of
countries should have comparables.
Philip
went on to say " Don't forget to insure contents as well,
they should be insured for their replacement value as new
and one final reminder is that most policies will provide
liability cover to protect the owner of the holiday home
should someone be injured by, for example, a falling roof
tile, tripping over a loose paving slab etc. if you rent
out your property, or if you employ domestic staff, you
should check that you have cover in place should a guest
or an employee get injured."
Many
of the holiday home specialists that you will find today
not only cover holiday / second home property outside the
UK, but also in the UK. Their policies are designed for
that specialist market and one company is now offering policies
for holiday home owners own
UK main residence.
Of
course these insurance companies are not only targeting
the holiday home market outside the UK, but also some are
targeting owners of main residence properties situated outside
the UK. There numerous "ex pats" who have moved to Spain,
France, Italy and other locations and they are often happier
dealing with an insurance company back in the UK, particularly
if they have
language problems in the country they now live in.
Ends
Company
Information
jml-insurance.co.uk
is part of jml Property Services,
the trading name of Jeffrey
Milner Ltd. The
company is an UK based company that was established in 1979.
jml insurance acts as an introducer
for insurance companies selling property insurance including
landlord and tenant rental products, pet insurance, wedding
insurance, motor insurance, car hire excess insurance, travel
insurance and non standard insurance products. They also
operate jmlvillas.com
an online marketing service for
owners of holiday home property to advertise and are part
of the jml Group
that includes jml
Training and Consultancy.
©
jml Property Services February 2009
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Owning
a holiday home is the opportunity
to have somewhere to regularly visit. A home by the
sea in the mountains or city centre. A base to go and
play golf in the sun or sail on azure blue skies - skiing
throughout the winter or walking each morning to that
distinctive Mediterranean aroma of pine and bougainvillea
lazing around the pool or sitting by the river watching
time go by.
Whatever
your reason for owning a holiday home property - pleasure
- investment or business there is one issue that you
must not forget -
The insurance for it.
You
may consider insuring locally, but then don't understand
the language well enough if there are not advisers to
help you in fluent English.
What
is the answer? Why not
use an UK based company with the policy written in English?
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Why
do I need Holiday Home Insurance?
If
you own or are purchasing a holiday home in the UK then
most standard household insurance policies will not protect
rented property
You
therefore need to a specialist policy for your holiday
home property that is designed exclusively for properties
used as holiday homes or let for holiday use. As an owner
of a holiday home, it is vital that you fully understand
the extent and limitations of your insurance policy. What
restrictions are in place when letting and unoccupancy
etc? Do you have cover for public liability or loss of
use?
Holiday
home insurance policies abroad can be full of catches
- Take care.
Claiming
on a holiday home insurance abroad can be very complicated.
Dealing with complex insurance policies on overseas homes
is something more and more people are having to come to
terms with.
There
are now more than 1 million properties owned by the British.
What
can you do? First of all read and check the small print
in the policy. If it is in a language that you do not
understand have it translated.
Establish
whether your cover does exactly what it is so that the insurer
cannot reject a claim at a later stage.
Make
sure that your property is compliant for a country's particular
legislation. In France now a swimming pool has to be properly
gated and if your pool does not comply with the law, it
could invalidate the entire policy.
Make
sure that your buildings insurance covers the gardens and
outbuildings, not just the house.
Let
the insurance company know that you are letting the property
out and when you let it out to holiday makers, make sure
that the visitors have taken out their own travel insurance.
In
some cases you might not be covered for subsidence and earthquakes
and the Public Liability level is often lower such as in
Portugal.
Rather
like in Britain you might have conditions, that if you are
away from the property for more than a month you might need
someone to check it over regularly, drain down plumbing
and leave heating on.
If
you have a mortgage, the lender might be able to provide
advice or as you might well have a bank account with a bank
in the country the property is situated in, contact them.
A
lot of British based insurance companies are now covering
overseas properties and many of these can be found via the
web. There are now also many multinational insurance companies
operating, names that are familiar in Britain are becoming
just as familiar in France and Spain. Shop around and take
care.
Holiday
Home Insurance
The
revival of UK Holidays, low mortgage rates and extra leisure
time has meant more people are buying second homes. If your
additional property is your second home or an investment,
they
have one thing in common - the need for specialist
insurance.
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