Why have insurance on your second home?

Hello and welcome to another article in our blog. Have you recently bought a second home, either at home or abroad, and are thinking about insuring it? If so, in this article we are going to show you the reasons why it is a very advisable option.

Reasons for taking out home insurance.

First we have to take into account that in Spain it is not compulsory to have home insurance. However, it is 3 out of 4 households (according to UNESPA) is usually contracted, as it is highly recommended.

One of the main reasons to buy insurance for your villa or holiday home is peace of mind. This is because you won't have to pay large repair bills thanks to having one. Without going any further, 16.5% of the Spanish population who have had to pay for repairs to their home did not have insurance.

As long as you choose a comprehensive insurance, you are likely to save money at the end of the year. The reason for this is that in most cases unforeseen events occur in your property and with a good insurance it won't cost you any money to repair them.

The most common problems that can occur in your home are usually the following:

Material damage

In your flat, house or villa, pipes, electrical systems, windows and glass, among others, can always break or break down. These breakdowns can also affect other objects, walls or furniture in your room. An insurance policy with good coverage will not only repair the damage but also replace your damaged belongings.

This type of coverage is interesting if you also rent out your property or leave it to family or friends. In these situations, if it is within the insurance conditions, you will have the same coverage as if you were there yourself.

Fire risk

This problem is more common than you might think. A fire can be caused, for example, by human error, electrical or gas leakage and is one of the most serious problems that can happen in your second home.

Despite being one of the most important accidents, many insurances, after making expert reports and finding the reason for the fire, usually take charge of the repairs (if they include it in your coverage).

Damage caused by weather events

Bear in mind that your country house, beach or villa may be in a location where severe weather events are more frequent than normal. These usually take the form of torrential rain, hurricane-force winds, hail or heavy snowfall.

These weather-related phenomena can cause damage to your second home. The most common can be to windows or roofs, or even flooding. Not all insurances cover all these cases, so do your research to find one that suits your home's situation.

Liability

This point is of vital importance, especially if your property is left alone for a long period of time. It is possible that in your second home there is a water leak (whether you are at home or not) and it affects a neighbour's property. With your insurance you won't have a problem as even the most basic coverages usually include damage to other people's property.

In addition, damage done by any member of your family to someone else's home, in some cases including your pet, may also be covered.

Does not open the door home

One day you may arrive at your flat on the beach, for example, and for whatever reason the lock on the door doesn't work. Or you may have lost your keys or left them at home. Before panicking, call your insurance company, which may include this type of unforeseen event in its cover. If so, your insurer will send a locksmith to fix the lock.

This option is very useful especially if you don't know any reliable locksmiths in the area of your second home.

Small house repairs

Many people don't know this, but when you take out a home insurance policy you can have a service available to do certain repairs at home. For example, if you have to put in a lamp, a small installation or similar and you don't know how to do it, you can call your insurance company and they will send a technician to do it for you.

As in the previous point, this coverage is very useful if you do not know any technicians in the area where you live.

Heist

This is one of the biggest fears we may have, even more so if our second home is in another province, community or country. And the fact is that 7% of the incidents that insurance companies usually have are robberies. This is partly due to the fact that there are organised gangs that rob holiday homes.

Unfortunately these cases happen more often than we think, but don't worry, your insurance may cover it. In fact, most insurance policies cover and compensate for the majority of burglaries in the home. In addition, there are special covers that also include burglary or theft in the street.

Finally, we would like to emphasise that no insurance covers home and property occupations.

Broadly speaking, the peace of mind and benefits that home insurance can provide are, in our opinion, much greater than the cost. However, it is important to bear in mind that insurance policies can vary greatly depending on the coverage you take out. We have set out the most common cases and coverages that we believe may be most useful to you, but there are many types.

For this reason, we recommend that you do your research as there are many insurance companies that you can take out. Also, don't forget to look closely at the coverage you think you may need.

Thank you very much for reading another article with us and we hope that it has helped you to clear up any doubts and make up your mind. If you also want to be informed about the insurance that your community should have, we leave you with the following information this post.