A vacation home can be the perfect place to get away from the constant grind of the week. But while your primary home has certain protections and insurances in place, a vacation home may not be quite as protected. With more and more people deciding to own vacation or secondary homes, it’s important to protect those investment properties as much as possible. Here’s what you need to know.
What is Homeowner’s Insurance?
Homeowners insurance is a type of property insurance that covers damage or destruction to your home. If your home (whether primary or secondary) is damaged by fire, flood, theft, or other disaster covered by a standard homeowners policy, you’ll be able to recoup some of your money spent on repairs.
As an owner of multiple properties, it’s important for homeowners to know what their home insurance covers them for—and what it doesn’t. While every policy varies slightly from company to company (and person to person), there are a few key details all homeowners policies must cover:
- major catastrophes;
- accidental damage;
- vandalism and theft;
- natural disasters such as storms and floods;
- repairing damage caused by excluded perils (think earthquakes);
- water leaks; and
- mold remediation after natural disasters.
How is Insurance Different for a Second Home?
Insurance on your vacation home is important for a variety of reasons. A large investment like a vacation home, along with its contents, can mean having some peace of mind for yourself and your family.
Primarily, you don’t want your hard-earned money spent on an unexpected repair or other similar expenses if something unexpected were to happen while you’re away. In addition, vacation homes tend to be located in more remote areas like lakes, forests, beaches or mountains, so there may not be nearby resources if you need help immediately in an emergency situation, meaning more time for damage to occur. And finally, because they are more remote and often uninhabited, vacations homes can be a beacon for burglaries or vandalism, so you’ll want to make sure you’ve covered yourself—and your home—well.
Unfortunately, many second homes are not covered by the primary homeowner’s insurance policy, so you need to take steps to insure and protect your vacation home in order to get the coverage you need at the best possible price. When you’re considering insuring a vacation home, there are three main areas to focus on: the dwelling itself, the contents of the home, and any additional liability.
Dwelling
This type of coverage ensures that the building itself is covered from damage and loss, in cases of fire, burglary or other damages. (However, it’s important to note that if your second home is in a high-risk area—like for hurricanes or floods—that you carry additional umbrella coverage as well.)
Belongings
This covers the items within the home—furniture, electronics, clothes—ensuring that they can be replaced if lost, damaged or stolen.
Liability
Because many vacation homes are hubs of activity, having an additional liability policy to cover any accidents is a good idea. That way, if anyone is injured or an item is damaged—you have the coverage to make it right. In some cases, you may be able to extend your liability coverage from your first home over to your second—so you’ll want to talk to your agent about what is preferable, as well as what is the most cost-effective option for you.
How to Determine your Insurance Needs for a Vacation Home
Having proper insurance guarantees that you won’t have any issues when it comes time to make repairs or replace items that are damaged or destroyed due to unforeseen circumstances, but it can be complex to determine how much coverage you need, what types of coverage and what policies you should consider.
For this reason, having an insurance agent with specialized concierge service can help. At Penny Insurance, our agents are positioned to be your trusted advocate in the journey, and can walk you through every option available to you to help you find the right insurance. Not only that, but because Penny Insurance is an independent agency, you can be sure you’ll always have someone on your side—even when something goes awry.
Whatever your needs, what types of coverage you need or questions you may have, we are always here to help you along the way. If you would like to schedule a consultation or get a quote, please contact us and let us know.