5 Insurance Risks When Holiday Letting

Holiday letting can be a great way to earn an income to support the expenses of owning a holiday home. However, there are several risks that holiday home owners take every time they let a ‘stranger’ stay in their homes.

Thankfully, a comprehensive holiday let insurance policy should cover these risks so owners don’t have to lose out financially. But be aware, some don’t, especially foreign policies. Ensure you are protected against these 5 holiday letting risks that could eliminate your holiday letting profits.

1) Damage by guests
The constant turnover of holidaymakers staying at your holiday home means that wear and tear is to be expected. What will inevitably happen is that a… read the rest of “5 Insurance Risks When Holiday Letting” >>

Holiday Cottage Emptied by Guests

Each time a holiday cottage owner lets their home to guests, no doubt a sigh of relief is expressed when holidaymakers depart, the holiday home in inspected and there is no sign of damage. However, the risks that property owners take when they holiday let to ‘strangers’, recently came to light when a holidaymaker emptied a holiday cottage.

The holidaymaker deliberately scammed the holiday let owner, as they booked with a stolen credit card under a false name (worryingly via a holiday cottage letting agency). Once the fraudster had the keys to the cottage, they emptied it of valuables.

Are you covered for theft by guests?

Although this type of fraud is rare, it highlights… read the rest of “Holiday Cottage Emptied by Guests” >>

Recap of holiday home news: 30 October 2009

Spanish apartments due to be demolished advertised to UK buyers

Apartments on a development in Marbella which was built illegally and has been condemned to demolition, are still being advertised on websites targeting UK buyers.

Unfortunately, hundreds of existing owners at the development, many of them Britons, face their homes being demolished, with no compensation offered.

The worrying thing is that buyers followed sensible practice when purchasing property. They used an independent Spanish lawyer and saw for themselves documents issued by Marbella council, apparently confirming the legality of the land and building work. Unfortunately they fell foul of corrupt council officials, some of whom are now in jail.

Following the bad publicity, lawyers, notaries and… read the rest of “Recap of holiday home news: 30 October 2009” >>

Is Your Holiday Home Ready for Winter?

The clocks have gone back and summer has officially ended. As the nights get darker and the bleak weather approaches, winter can be undeniably harsh for holiday homes.

Unfortunately, break-ins tend to increase in winter as opportunistic thieves take advantage of darker evenings. There is also the onslaught of rain, frost, snow and storms – all these can cause damage and destruction at holiday homes.

Although insurance will cover some instances, insurance isn’t a maintenance contract. Unfortunately, there will be ‘wear and tear’ incidents when you can’t claim. Therefore, it’s better to protect your home with some preventative winter maintenance and lessen the chance of suffering damage in first place. This will hopefully prevent you having to deal with unexpected repair bills… read the rest of “Is Your Holiday Home Ready for Winter?” >>

Yahoo Featuring Holiday Rental Websites

I’m not sure how long this has been happening or if it’s new, but when I did a search on yahoo.co.uk for villa in spain there was the option to just show results from selected holiday rental websites.

If you look at the screen shot below you can see at the left, options to:

• show all  – which is show the default standard yahoo results

• or click on either;
  www.holidaylettings.co.uk
  www.ownersdirect.co.uk
  www.holiday-rentals.co.uk

When you do this, yahoo just shows results from the selected holiday rental website for the search terms.

When I searched for other terms, such as “apartments in spain” the option to narrow the search… read the rest of “Yahoo Featuring Holiday Rental Websites” >>

How Non-Disclosure Could Void Insurance

With the number of people lying on insurance applications in an attempt to get a cheaper quote increasing, the implications of doing so and non-disclosure of a material fact, can result in an insurance policy being invalidated.

This was recently highlighted when a major insurer demanded a customer return a £241,000 settlement they received after their home was burned down in an arson attack. Why? Because the insured apparently failed to declare a £150 fine for a benefits offence.

Following this decision, there are concerns that thousands of people could be paying for worthless holiday home insurance because they are invalidating their cover by not disclosing material facts to their insurers.

What should you disclose?

Your Holiday Lodge Insurance Claim is Declined

Due to the number of Britons taking a ’staycation’ increasing (more than 12 million British holiday makers took a summer break in the UK this year, a rise of 14 per cent in the first six months compared with 2008) holiday lodge and log cabin sales in the UK are booming.

A far cry from traditional static caravan accommodation, holiday lodges are popular because they offer hi-tech gizmos combined with idyllic locations and good rental income.

But as most owners shut up their lodges for winter due to sites closing down, there is a hidden danger that could wreak havoc in their absence. Burst pipes!

The increasing threat of pipes freezing and bursting at holiday lodges