Why take out insurance on your second home?

Hello and welcome to another post on our blog. Have you recently bought a second home, whether in your own country or abroad, and are you thinking about taking out insurance for it? If so, in this post we’re going to set out some reasons why this is a highly advisable option

Reasons to take out home insurance.

Firstly, we must bear in mind that in Spain it is not compulsory to have home insurance. However, 3 out of every 4 homes (according to UNESPA) usually takes this service on, as it is highly recommended.

One of the main reasons for taking out insurance for your holiday home or holiday cottage is peace of mind. This is because, with insurance in place, you won’t have to pay out large sums on repairs. In fact, 16.5% of the Spanish population who have had to pay for repairs to their homes were uninsured.

Provided you choose a comprehensive insurance policy, it is very likely that you will save money by the end of the year. The reason is that, in most cases, unforeseen problems tend to arise with your property, and with a good insurance policy, having them repaired won’t cost you anything.

The most common problems that can occur in your home are usually as follows:

Property damage

In your flat, house or holiday home, pipes, electrical systems, windows and glass panes, amongst other things, can always break or fall into disrepair. These faults can also affect other items, walls or furniture in your home. A comprehensive insurance policy will not only repair the damage but also replace your damaged belongings.

This type of cover is worth considering if you also let out your property or let family or friends stay there. In these situations, provided it falls within the terms of the insurance policy, you’ll have the same cover 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, an electrical fault or a gas leak, and it is one of the most serious problems that can occur in your second home.

Despite being one of the most serious types of accident, many insurance companies, after carrying out an assessment and establishing the cause of the fire, will usually cover the cost of the repairs (provided this is included in your cover).

Damage caused by weather events

It is important to bear in mind that your country house, beach house or holiday home may be situated in an area where severe weather events tend to occur more frequently than usual. These usually take the form of torrential rain, gale-force winds, hail or heavy snowfall.

These weather-related incidents can cause damage to your second home. The most common types of damage range from damage to windows or roofs to flooding. Not all insurance policies cover all these scenarios, so do your research carefully to find one that suits your home’s specific circumstances.

Civil liability

This point is of vital importance, particularly if your property is left unoccupied for a long time. There may be a water leak at your second home (whether you’re there or not) which could affect a neighbour’s property. With your insurance, you won’t have any problems, as even the most basic policies usually cover damage to third-party property.

In addition, the cover may also include damage caused by any member of your family to someone else’s home – in some cases, this may even include your pet.

The door won’t open at home

One day you might arrive, for example, at your beach flat and, for whatever reason, find that the door lock isn’t working. You might also have lost your keys or left them inside the flat. Before you panic, call your insurance company, as your cover may include this sort of unforeseen event. If so, your insurer will send a locksmith to fix the lock.

This option is particularly useful if you don’t know any reliable locksmiths in the area around your second home.

Small home improvements

A lot of people don’t realise this, but when you take out home insurance, you can access a service to carry out certain odd jobs around the house. For example, if you need to fit a light fitting, carry out a small electrical job or something similar, and you don’t know how to do it, you can call your insurer and they’ll send a technician to do it for you.

As with the previous point, this service is very useful if you don’t know any technicians in your local area.

Heist

This is one of the greatest fears we can have, especially if we have a second home in another province, region or country. The fact is that 7% of insurance claims tend to be for theft. This is partly because there are organised gangs that break into holiday homes.

Unfortunately, these incidents tend to happen more often than we realise, but don’t worry – your insurance might cover it. In fact, most policies cover and compensate for the vast majority of burglaries at home. What’s more, there are special types of cover that also include thefts or pickpocketing on the street.

Finally, we would like to emphasise that no insurance policy covers the squatting of homes or properties.

Broadly speaking, in our view, the peace of mind and benefits that home insurance can provide far outweigh its cost. However, it is important to bear in mind that insurance policies can vary greatly depending on the cover you take out. We have outlined the most common scenarios and types of cover that we believe may be most useful to you, but there are many different options available.

For this reason, we recommend that you do your research thoroughly, as there are many insurance companies you can choose from. Also, don’t forget to take a close look at the cover you think you might need.

Thank you very much for reading yet another article with us; we hope it has helped to clear up any doubts you may have had and enabled you to make a decision. If you’d also like to stay informed about the insurance cover your residents’ association should have, here’s this post.