However, even after obtaining insurance for holiday homes, people have often found that when something happens, the insurance won't pay out. Why is this?



The usual reason is that providers of insurance for holiday homes regard a holiday home as high risk and impose very stringent conditions and exclusions, which are often buried in the small print. The unwary owner will not study the small print and so won't be aware of the conditions till too late!

So what are the most common conditions or exclusions?

• Some policies state that the house must not be let to a non-family member. Of course if you let out your holiday home regularly as a business, it will be a different type of policy anyway. But if you think you may occasionally want to let out your holiday home to help with the finances, study the small print to make sure it is allowed.

• A frequent condition is that the property must not be left unoccupied for more than 30 days consecutively. If the holiday home is for your use only, it may often be empty for more than this length of time. So do check the policy before purchasing it.

• Many policies state that someone must visit the property every week. If the holiday home is a long way from where you live, this could be very difficult unless you have a relative or friend nearby. If this would be a problem for you, avoid policies with this type of condition.

• Again, some policies insist that specific locks must be fitted. This won't be too much of a problem provided you know about it, as you will want to secure your holiday home in any case. But if you haven't complied exactly, the insurers might use it as an excuse for not paying out if something happened.

• It is quite common for a policy to insist that the heating system must be drained down during the winter if the property is unoccupied. This could be difficult and inconvenient to comply with so do watch out for this condition if you don't want to do it.

• Alternatively, some impose the condition that the property must be kept heated to a constant minimum temperature over the winter. This can be quite a good idea, as it is good for the structure of the building and maintains a cosy atmosphere. However, if there was a power failure which tripped the thermostat, so that the heating went off, you could be blissfully unaware that there was a problem until some damage was caused and the policy was found to be invalid. You should try to check your holiday home whenever you can, or get someone else to check it – as much for your own peace of mind as for the insurance.

The good news is that not all providers of insurance for holiday homes impose irksome conditions. Ask your broker to to help you find an insurer who makes life easy rather than difficult for you. But it's always a good idea to read the small print!