Choosing property insurance for your holiday home, or vacation home, often requires that you take certain details into consideration, because the process may differ from choosing coverage for your primary home. For instance, instead of just ensuring that your holiday property insurance covers the most common types of damage, you also should find out if it protects the vacation home even when no one is there. A particularly helpful provider also may pay for emergency travel when there is damage to the holiday home, as well as loss of rent and other inconveniences. Before choosing the best holiday property insurance, you also should make sure you understand both the policy and its price, which may require language translation and currency conversion, depending on where the home is.
One of the most important requirements of a good holiday property insurance policy is that the home is covered for damage whether it is occupied or empty. You probably will not spend the entire year there and, even if you rent out the property when you are not using it, there may be periods when it is unoccupied. Some holiday property insurance providers try to cut corners by requiring that the home be occupied at all times, which means you may not get a check to cover the damage if there is a flood, fire or break-in when no one is there. Therefore, you should be sure to check that you have coverage at all times.
You also should find out what exactly is covered by your holiday property insurance policy. For example, the best providers often realize that you may live far away from your holiday home and that traveling at the last minute to respond to any emergencies at the property can be expensive. For this reason, some providers pay for emergency travel when you have to make a claim. They also may pay you for the rent you are losing while waiting for the home to be repaired, as well as alternate lodging if you have to find another place to stay as a result of damage.
If your vacation home is in another country, then you will have additional details to think about. For example, you should make sure your holiday property insurance policy is in a language you can understand so you can more easily judge whether you have enough coverage. If it is in a different language, then you may want to find out if the provider will translate it at not cost to you so you can make sure the translation is accurate without having to spend additional money. You also should make sure the cost of the premium is within your price range. If the price is presented in a foreign currency, then you should convert it so you can accurately compare it to what you would pay for property insurance at home.