HOLIDAY HOME INSURANCE

How does insuring a holiday home work?

Depending on how often you use your holiday home, you might be able to take out regular home insurance for it. But many home insurance policies won’t cover properties that are unoccupied for more than 30 days.

With Saga, if your holiday home is never left unoccupied for more than 60 days in a row, then we can cover you with our Saga Select home insurance. If it’s only used by family and friends then we can add Home Emergency cover, legal expenses insurance and specified personal belongings cover too.

Please note: if the property is let out to paying guests, we’ll need to let the underwriters know.

If your holiday home is left unoccupied for more than 60 days in a row, then we may still be able to cover you, but the cover might be more limited and the premiums higher. That’s because an empty property is more at risk of burglary and damage. If there’s a leak, for example, you might not notice it until it’s already caused significant damage.

What’s covered by holiday home insurance?

Insurance for holiday homes is typically split into buildings insurance and contents insurance:

• Buildings insurance – protects the structure of your holiday home against damage caused by events such as fires, floods and storms. It also protects permanent fixtures and fittings like baths, toilets and fitted kitchens.
• Contents insurance – protects household goods, furniture, gadgets and valuables that you keep in your holiday home.

Specialist holiday home insurance might also include accidental damage, loss of income and public liability insurance.

Can I get holiday home insurance if my second home is abroad?

Yes. At Saga, we don’t offer holiday home insurance for properties overseas, but you’ll be able to find it elsewhere. If you choose to insure your overseas home with a local provider and aren’t fluent in the language, make sure you choose a provider that offers policy documents in English, as it’s very important that you know exactly what’s covered and what’s not.

How long can I leave my holiday home empty for?

This varies between providers and policies. With Saga home insurance, you can leave your property empty for up to 60 days without informing us.