It has been revealed that a third of holiday home owners are putting themselves, their homes and their guests at risk by having the incorrect insurance for their properties, as misunderstandings and seeking the cheapest deal often results in getting completely the wrong product.
A holiday home insurance provider based in the UK has revealed that a third of holiday home owners have invested in the wrong insurance for their properties, resulting in substantial risk to both the owners themselves and their guests.
It has been revealed that a third of holiday home owners are putting themselves, their homes and their guests at risk by having the incorrect insurance for their properties, as misunderstandings and seeking the cheapest deal often results in getting completely the wrong product.
The survey, conducted by schofields.ltd.uk, intended to find out more about holiday homes and their owners, in order to learn more about the market. The research surveyed 1,633 British holiday home owners, all of whom have at least one holiday property abroad or in the UK.
Initially, all respondents were asked: “Have you ever come to the realisation that you have had the wrong type of insurance cover for your property, or one which was not what you wanted?” to which a third (33%) stated that that they had. When asked to reveal how they came to realise that they had the wrong insurance, the majority of home owners found out the hard way with their wallet suffering the consequence, as four out of five (81%) realised their error when trying to make a claim which they thought would have been covered by their insurance, but wasn’t.
The respondents who had taken out the wrong insurance policy were asked how this had happened. The top five reasons were revealed as follows:
1. Did not fully understand the policy I was buying – 21%
2. Details about my holiday home were incorrect which compromised the insurance – 18%
3. Had insufficient service which did not advise me properly about my policy – 15%
4. Did not fully understand what I needed –13%
5. Did no research into what else was on offer – 8%
To investigate this further, the disappointed respondents who had the wrong policies were then asked: “Did you take out a policy with a foreign or UK-based insurer?” to which the majority (53%) stated that they had policies with foreign insurers.
Those who identified incorrect details as a cause for difficulties were asked how this had happened. Although two fifths (39%) stated that they had accidently provided the wrong details, almost half (48%) confessed that they had purposely misinformed their provider in the search for a cheaper deal. A further 10% said that it was likely there was ‘miscommunication or misunderstanding’ when providing their details.
When asked, on average, how much this mistake had cost the holiday home owners when they realised their claim was void, the average answer given by the holiday home owners was £2,800.
Phil Schofield of Schofields Holiday Home Insurance said: “The consequences of having the wrong insurance can be utterly devastating. To lose a property is the worst case scenario, but even to have to find the average sum of almost £3k is just not something most people can rustle up out of nowhere. It really is incredibly important to take the time and make the investment in good insurance, to protect yourself and your property from potential heartache and financial difficulty come any kind of problem.”
He continued: “A huge mistake that many home owners make is looking for a cheap deal, which leads them down completely the wrong route, such as getting policies from unknown insurers and cutting corners. My advice is to look for a good value deal instead. Make sure you understand what you need, what’s out there and what you are getting for your money. A good way to assess an insurer is to do your research; read up on not only the small print, but also on other customer reviews from claimants. This will give you a good insight into how they operate and the service and cover they provide. You really never know when you will need it.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
