My wife and I have a house and car in the UK and rent a furnished flat in Spain where we spend a lot of time. We remain UK resident.
Anyone know of a good insurance broker for a. Insurance for trips abroad for up to 3 months with no return flight booked. b. Home insurance for the UK house which is unoccupied for up to 3 months at a time c. Insurance for the car in the UK which is locked in the garage for up to 3 months at a time and will probably not do more than 2,000 miles a year.
The un-occupied house might be a real problem, unless you can get somebody contracted to check it every other day or so. You should be able to just have off-road insurance for the car. Should. It might be worth taking the car to Spain and using it there.
They specialise in holiday homes and rental properties, and hence they don't have the limitation that you can't be away for more than
30 days. They were cheaper than the standard home insurance which was running on the property before. They have more recently also started doing standard home insurance too.Can't comment on what happens if you actually need to claim though.
While trying to sell a house of a deceased relative a few years ago, after much searching, found nobody would cover if empty for more than
5 [?] weeks. Nobody.
I was in a similar situation and I got cover. (It might take a while to dig out the details but I can probably find them if they are wanted.) One thing that you will almost certainly find is that the property must be checked regularly - usually on a weekly basis. There are property companies who will do this sort of thing for a fee. I used the local odd-job man who had a set of keys for the property and would pop in there for me on his way to other jobs.
For the benefit of people in the process of selling on behalf of a deceased relative, whilst they obviously want to keep the cost as low as possible, they don't want to cut corners to the point of neglect and any reasonable costs may quite legitimately be paid by the estate. For the benefit of people living part/full time overseas, whilst they obviously want to keep the cost as low a possible, the inspection which prevents voiding of the insurance is a small price to pay compared to coming back to a house with unexpected new residents or all the furniture gone.
Nick
When we went to sell my wife's 99 year old aunt's house after she went into a home, we were warned about insurance problems if it was empty for too long. As it had *never* been insured, it was hard to lose too much sleep over it.
Tim
Thanks for the various replies so far. The house is checked most weeks. the heating is on low, burglar alarm functioning, varous lights on random switching etc. I used to work in the insurance industry and didn't think it would be easy. I will have to ask some of the other part time ex-pats out here what they have arranged or whether they just chance it.
If you used to work in the insurance industry you'll already have a view on 'chancing it.'
Just a thought - your mention of expats triggered it. You might find some advice on one of the British Expats forums.
and
Nick
Cheers Nick
Should have thought of that myself
I suspect that most of them don't realise that "bog standard" insurance doesn't cover them.
Just like most people don't realise that an "annual" multi-trip travel insurance policy doesn't cover you for one 12 month long trip (or even one 3 month long one).
tim
But a "Backpackers" or "Gap Year" stylee policy will. Over 70s might be too old but there are no other age restrictions on ones I've used before.
Nick
well yeah
but at up to 10 times the cost
tim
The plus thing to be said about insurance is that after 36 years graft and doing my head in I now have sufficient pension (with my wife's local government pension) to have the house in the UK and rent a small apartment in Spain. Just need to get some insurance organised and stop risking relying on EHIC and the house in the UK being OK
Ten times the cost of what?
A policy that will allow you to stay away all year is ten times the price of a policy that won't be valid if you stay away for more than thirty days but will allow you to stay away for up to thirty days many times in a year?
Apples versus Oranges. There's no comparison.
...but if you want comparisons
Internet quote with the same details input each time:
54.88 Annual, worldwide, max 30 days away each trip, full cover. 291.16 Backpacker, 51wks, same medical cover, reduced other cover. 412.75 Single trip, 51wks, full cover.Nick
In message , tim..... writes
My philosophy is to only insure what you can't afford to lose
the trend is to get people to over insure them selves for every possibility
In all my years of travel and expatmanship, basic bricks and mortar insurance was all I needed. As for travel insurance - for what for extended trips ? health insurance, the couple of times I've needed medical attention (10 stitches in my arm when I impaled myself on a fence) the cost didn't even exceed the policy excess
If I were to have died ? past caring
As for drain insurance, insurance that covers your radiators etc - money for old rope for the insurers
I know they are different
my previous point was that they are lots that don't and make the mistake of buying the wrong policy just because of the cost difference, not understanding that it doesn't cover them
tim
And if you are in a motor accident, perhaps not even of your fault?
You do know that compulsory third party insurance in many US states is no-where near enough to pay for this, don't you.
tim
In message , tim..... writes
Indonesia, insurance ?
managed to avoid the states until now
Can't afford to replace the house but happy to carry a 4 figure excess. Can't afford £20,000 to repatriate one of us if we have a nasty accident. EHIC covers emergency treatment but not ongoing costs if you end up in a long term coma. Again I am happy to carry hefty excesses but not to carry the small catastrophe risk.
exactly
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.