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What is Second Home Insurance?

Second home insurance is important because these types of properties can be left unoccupied for longer periods of time. We can arrange cover for buildings and contents as well as accidental damage and any liabilities you have as the property owner. A second home can also be known as a holiday home, weekend home or weekend / weekday residence.

Should I insure a second home on its own or with my main home?

It all depends on your insurance budget, the quality of cover desired and the sums insured required for both properties. If you insure your main home with a High Value Home Insurance product (read our high value home insurance guide for more information) then it could be better adding your second property to this policy. You will benefit from more flexible terms and a higher quality of cover. If your main home is insured with a standard online product then a separate insurance policy for your second property could be the way forward. The quality of product will be adequate for your needs and the cost will be lower. Once we assess your needs we can recommend the most suitable way forward.

Why do you need Second Home Insurance?

It’s not your main property and it’s sometimes left vacant. If something goes wrong it might not be noticed for a period of time and this increases costs. You should have bespoke cover in place which can provide flexible terms.

A second home is at higher risk of theft, vandalism and water damage due to burst pipes. It’s important to have a high trace and access level of cover.

A standard insurer will restrict cover when a home is unoccupied for more than 30 or 60 consecutive days a year but a non-standard insurer will allow for longer periods of unoccupancy.

Most popular policy benefits:

  • Up to £1,000,000 of buildings cover automatically included with many of our products
  • Property Owners Liability of up to £5,000,0000 for let properties
  • Buildings & Contents Combined Insurance
  • Option to insure with your main home on one policy or separately

You should consider second home insurance if:

  • The property is left vacant for more than 30 consecutive days
  • You have a holiday home used seasonally or rented to paying guests
  • You let the property to tenants rather than live there yourself
  • Used as a weekday or weekend house

You should not consider second home insurance if your property is vacant or unoccupied. Read our guide on everything you need to know about empty homes or head straight over to the unoccupied home insurance to choose the right insurance product for your property!

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Alternatively, please contact an insurance advisor on 01730 777 600.

Second Home Insurance FAQs

I’m not sure whether my home is a second home?

It’s a nice problem to have! Sometimes you can split your time evenly between two properties. In this scenario we would say that your main property is where your car is registered and what you personally consider to be the main family home. Also consider which address you use for legal, voting and banking purposes.

Did you know?

You can’t legally insure a second home with a standard home insurance policy! You can, however, in some circumstances, add it as an additional property to your existing policy schedule or you can take out a specialist second home, landlord or buy to let policy.

Why use Stanhope for your second home insurance?

We take the time to find out how the property is lived in, by whom, for how long and whether there are any periods of unoccupancy. We then provide you with a bespoke property so whether your second home is a holiday home, a buy to let or currently unoccupied, you know you have the right cover in place to protect you should the worst happen. If you are still in your research phase, make sure you check out our guide on buying a second home!

Council tax implications on second homes

Your local council could charge premium rates for empty property, read our article on the blog page concerning this.