Protect your holiday home through the winter
Thursday, May 28th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
So at long last you have managed to find your perfect place in the sun, the holiday home you have always wanted and the chance to get away from it all for a few weeks of the year. It’s a wonderful idea, and a great way to spend the summer, enjoying the sunshine and making the most of staying at your second home without the worries of hotel fees and other guests.
But problems can arise when you view your home purely as a holiday retreat, without thinking about how it will surive the winter when you’re not around to take care of it. A lot of second home owners fall into the trap of believing that their overseas property insurance will cover them for any problems that may arise throughout the whole year, but in fact many policies contain conditions that can leave the claim invalid if the property is damaged whilst unoccupied.
The most common trap that people fall into with second home insurance is not realising that their policy requires them to fulfil certain obligations for the claim to be valid. Often hidden away in the small print, you could be required to switch off and drain the whole water system when leaving the house unattended, visiting the property at least once every 30 days, or even performing weekly checks.
Your second home could be left without cover if something happened and these conditions are not met, so it’s important to thoroughly check your policy to make sure there are no hidden catches in the small print. If you need to, upgrade your policy – some second home insurance companies like Schofields offer insurance for holiday homes that remains valid throughout the year without these requirements.
Of course prevention is better than cure, and you should do everything in your power to protect your holiday home against potential damage over the winter months. Security is key, and it’s important to make sure that any valuable items are locked away out of sight and that you always leave the house completely secured. It’s a good idea to have a local neighbour or agent look in on the property from time to time just to be sure nothing has gone wrong, and to catch it early if it has.
Another common problem that often occurs when holiday homes are empty over the winter is that water pipes may freeze or burst. The unexpected cold winter of last year left hundreds of holiday owners in trouble, discovering that their homes had suffered water damage as they’d been left unprepared for the icy conditions. Many of these also found that their insurance policies did not cover them. There is no way to guarantee your holiday home will be safe from disasters like these but there are a few simple steps you can take which could save you a lot of bother in the future.
Firstly, turning off the heating through the winter is a bad idea – yes it means you won’t have to worry about heating bills, but allowing the property to fall below freezing could cause serious damage to the pipes, which would cost a lot more. Make sure all pipes are thoroughly insulated – including any in the loft space above any roof insulation you may have, which will stop heat reaching them from the rest of the house. Turn off the water mains to limit the amount of leakage if a pipe does burst, and if you do discover a problem don’t try and deal witb it yourself, call a plumber immediately!
Like this post? Publish It On Your Own Blog
Technorati Tags: No Tags
Related Tags: No Tags
Possible Related Posts
A Suitable Holiday Home Insurance PolicyHome Management: Shield Your Home-owner’s Insurance This WinterHoliday Home Contents Insurance Is There When You Aren’t
