There are a number of reasons for having a second home. You may want it as a holiday home, a weekend retreat, or accommodation for a student son or daughter. Whatever the purpose, second home insurance is essential.
When you are looking for your second home insurance, you will find that insurance companies regard your second home as more of a risk than your main home, meaning that premiums will be higher. So what can you do about this? One thing you can do is take steps to minimise the potential risks, in order to keep costs down. Most of the risks fall into two categories: security, and structural risks.
From the security point of view, the insurance companies' problem is that either your property will be left empty for long periods, or it will have a lot of different people staying in it. Either way, it will be less secure than your normal home. Security precautions you can take include:
Change the locks when you first acquire the property.
Fit police-recommended locks to all doors and windows.
Make sure you don't give out the address of your second home to anyone who doesn't absolutely have to have it. Have mail such as utility bills sent to your main address.
Consider having lights on timer switches to give the impression that the property is occupied. You could put a radio on the timer switch too - a bit of sound really makes it seem as if people are in.
Of course, if your second home is for a student son or daughter, it may only be empty during vacation time, but these points are still valid. Remember if your son or daughter lets rooms to fellow-students, as many do, you need to be strict about security precautions. These points are not usually at the top of most students' agendas.
The other main risk category for your second home insurance is what happens to the building itself when the place is unoccupied. The main precautions you can take here include:
Consider leaving the heating on thermostat at a low temperature throughout the winter if you won't be there - this will help prevent frozen and burst pipes. (Remember some second home insurance policies insist that the heating/water system must be drained down during the winter months. Do check whether this is a condition of your policy.)
Check everything before the winter to minimise damage from storms and gales - including fences, trees, TV aerials etc. Most importantly, check your roof for loose tiles, or get a roofer to do it. If water comes into your property through the roof, the damage could be very serious by the time you discover it.
Keep checking with the Environment Agency about flood risk. Every year more places become liable to flood risk which had not been at risk previously. If there is the slightest possibility of flood, ensure you take every possible precaution as advised by the agency.
There are several reasons for taking steps to minimise risk: peace of mind; protection of one of your major assets; and, of course, keeping your premiums down! So when shopping around for your second home insurance, make sure you look for a policy that rewards you for doing as much as possible to protect your property.
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