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Holiday home insurance vs home insurance: why a second home differs
Standard home insurance is built for your main home. A holiday home sits empty for long spells, so it usually needs a specialist policy. Here's why.
Standard home insurance is designed for the home you live in day to day, so it rarely fits a cottage, flat or house you only use now and then. A holiday home spends long spells empty, and most standard policies cut back cover once a property has been unoccupied for a set number of days, which is why owners usually look at a specialist holiday home policy instead.
Below is what actually changes between the two, the gaps to watch for, and what to check before you buy.
Why doesn't standard home insurance cover a holiday home?
A standard policy is priced on the idea that someone lives at the property most of the time. Someone at home notices a dripping pipe, hears a break-in, and keeps the place looking lived in. Take that away and the risk changes.
The Financial Ombudsman Service explains that most home insurance policies say that if the home is left unoccupied for a period, usually 30 or 60 days, you won't be covered for things like:
- theft or attempted theft
- malicious damage
- escape of water
Those are exactly the problems that tend to hit a property nobody is checking. A holiday home used for a fortnight in summer and a few weekends in autumn can easily pass those limits several times a year.
There is also a simpler issue. A standard policy covers a named address that you live in. A second property is a separate risk, and it isn't automatically included because you already insure your main home.
What does "unoccupied" mean in a home insurance policy?
This is where a lot of disputes start. The Ombudsman notes that policies don't usually define what "unoccupied" means. It could mean nobody is living there, or that the place can't be lived in.
When the wording is unclear, the Ombudsman says it uses the natural and ordinary meaning and a person can occupy premises without physically being in them. It looks at how often the owner visits, and it won't usually support a claim being turned down for a breach that was only technical and had nothing to do with the loss. It is less sympathetic where a property was abandoned or badly neglected.
That is useful to know if something goes wrong, but it is not a plan. Holiday home policies tend to spell out what counts as unoccupied and what you need to do during empty periods, so you know where you stand before a claim rather than arguing about it afterwards.
Holiday home insurance vs standard home insurance: the main differences
Policies vary, so treat this as a guide to what to compare rather than a promise of what any one policy includes.
| Standard home insurance | Holiday home insurance | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is designed for | The home you live in | A property you use some of the time |
| Empty periods | Cover often restricted after 30 or 60 days unoccupied | Written with regular empty spells in mind, usually with conditions attached |
| Theft, malicious damage, escape of water | Commonly limited once the unoccupied period is passed | Can be included for empty periods, subject to the policy's conditions |
| Use by family and friends | Normally expects the policyholder's household | Often asks who stays and how often |
| Letting to paying guests | Must be declared if asked and may not be accepted | Varies by policy, so check before you let |
| Conditions to look for | Security requirements | Security, plus any rules on heating, water or visits |
Conditions you may see on a holiday home policy
Cover for a property left empty can come with conditions. When comparing, ask whether a policy requires things like keeping the heating on at a minimum temperature in winter, turning off the water at the stopcock and draining the system when you leave, or having the property visited at set intervals. If a policy has conditions like these, a claim could be affected if they aren't met, so read them carefully and make sure they are realistic for you.
The ABI's winter guidance says anyone leaving a home unoccupied should check their policy for restrictions or specific requirements, such as for absences of 30 days or more. It also suggests knowing where your stopcock is and testing that it works. The ABI says its members paid out an estimated £804 million in 2022 for burst pipe damage, which gives a sense of why insurers focus on water in empty homes.
Does letting your holiday home change the insurance?
Yes. Having paying guests is a different risk from using the place yourself. Strangers come and go, there may be more wear and tear, and a guest could be injured on the property. Policies differ on whether they accept letting at all and how much, so tell the broker how often the property is let and ask what that means for cover, including liability to guests.
How much you let can also change how the property is treated elsewhere. In England, GOV.UK explains that a self-catering property is valued for business rates if it was available to let for short periods for at least 140 nights in the last 12 months, was actually let for at least 70 nights, and you plan to make it available for at least 140 nights in the next 12 months. In Wales the figures are 252 nights available and 182 nights let. These are tax rules, not insurance rules, but if your property is run as a letting business, a policy built for personal use is unlikely to fit.
If you also let a property long term, our guide to landlord insurance covers how that cover works.
What if you don't tell your insurer it's a second home?
When you buy or renew consumer insurance, the law says you must take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer. Saying a property is your main home when it isn't, or not mentioning paying guests when asked, can count.
If that happens, Schedule 1 of the same Act sets out what the insurer can do:
- If the misrepresentation was deliberate or reckless, the insurer can cancel the policy from the start, refuse all claims and keep the premium (unless it would be unfair to the customer to do so).
- If it was careless and the insurer would not have offered cover at all, it can cancel the policy and refuse claims, but must return the premium.
- If it was careless and the insurer would have offered different terms, the policy can be treated as if those terms applied.
- If it was careless and the insurer would have charged more, it can reduce a claim in proportion. For example, if the premium charged was £300 but the correct premium would have been £600, the insurer could pay half of the claim.
The Ombudsman also says it is unlikely to support policyholders who misrepresent their situation when taking out cover. Being upfront about how the property is used is the most reliable way to avoid a nasty surprise at claim time.
Can Flood Re help with a holiday home?
Flood Re is the scheme that helps make flood cover more affordable for eligible homes in flood-risk areas. Its eligibility criteria list holiday and second homes as eligible for buildings or combined cover, as long as they meet all the core criteria. These include being in the UK, being built before 1 January 2009, having a domestic council tax band A to H (or equivalent), being for private residential use, and being lived in by the policyholder or their immediate family for some or all of the time, or being unoccupied.
Flood Re's FAQs say that if the policy is in your name and meets its criteria, Flood Re should help your holiday home. Commercial use is a different matter: it gives the example of a static caravan on a commercial park that is let out as a business, which won't be included. If your property is in a flood-risk area and you let it out, ask the broker how that affects flood cover.
What to check before you buy holiday home insurance
Under the FCA's rules, a firm must work out your demands and needs from the information you give and make sure any policy it proposes is consistent with them. That only works if the information is accurate, so it helps to have the details ready.
- How the property is used. Personal use only, family and friends, or paying guests, and roughly how many weeks a year.
- Longest likely empty spell. Compare this with the policy's unoccupied limit and what changes after it.
- Conditions for empty periods. Heating, draining water, visits and security requirements, and whether you can meet them from a distance.
- What's covered while empty. Check theft, malicious damage and escape of water specifically.
- Contents and liability. Furniture and kit left at the property, and public liability if guests stay.
- Excess. Check whether the excess changes for different types of claim. For example, if a policy had a £1,000 excess for escape of water, a £3,000 water claim would pay £2,000.
- Location risks. Flood history, coastal exposure and whether Flood Re could apply.
When you're ready, you can compare holiday home insurance quotes by answering once, and specialist UK brokers who cover second and holiday homes will come back with prices. Kompare is a comparison service rather than an insurer, so read each policy's wording and ask the broker about anything that isn't clear before you go ahead.