Spending time with family on vacation can make for lasting memories. For some families, setting aside time to make these memories in a vacation home is a tradition. To secure future memories, it’s wise to ensure that your homeowners insurance covers your family, even while out on vacation. The typical homeowners insurance policy does not necessarily cover all of your liabilities when it comes to staying in a vacation home. It is important that you and your family find out what your homeowners insurance does and does not cover before leaving on your trip. Here are some general tips to help.
Do You Rent or Own?
This is one of the first questions you need to ask yourself when taking a look at the coverages you’ll need while out on vacation. Going out and renting a vacation home is an entirely different scenario than owning a secondary vacation home. If you are renting your vacation home, the homeowner is most likely the person responsible for making sure that home and property are covered by homeowners insurance. If you own your vacation home, that responsibility likely falls to you.
If You’re Renting Your Vacation Home:
Going to booking websites to rent your vacation home has many perks, including getting to choose a different vacation destination every year. Even though every homeowners insurance policy varies, chances are that your homeowners insurance policy extends to you, covering the personal belongings you take with you, such as tech and clothing.
So what’s your best bet? Ask your homeowners insurance agent to explain what the policy covers while you’re away from home. Keep an eye out for possible limits to your coverage for your belongings when you’re out of the house. When speaking with your agent, we also recommend discussing how your homeowners liability coverage will be affected.
Talk With Your Rental Home’s Owner
Renting a vacation home can also mean that the owner should be in charge of some of the responsibilities regarding this type of coverage. The general rule of thumb is to ask them if they have a homeowners policy with liability coverage. This way, you or a family member is covered in case of an accident.
If You Own Your Vacation Home:
Your vacation home is your residence (even if it’s for a short period throughout the year), and any residence requires coverage. Like we mentioned earlier, every policy is different, so your primary homeowners insurance might not fully protect your secondary vacation home. That’s why, you’ll likely have to purchase a separate vacation home insurance policy, sometimes referred to as second home insurance.
Even though your second home is an ideal place to unwind from the stresses of everyday routines, it could also be riskier from an insurance standpoint, which would cause higher insurance costs for your vacation home than your primary residence.
Why is a Vacation Home Riskier?
You probably stay in your secondary vacation home less often than your primary home, which means that from the insurer’s point of view, your vacation home is more susceptible to theft and damage since you spend more time in your primary residence.
While unexpected accidents are sometimes unavoidable, here are a few tips to save on your vacation home insurance costs:
Compare different rates – It’s tempting to go with a low priced vacation home insurance quote, especially if you’re in a time crunch. But by taking the time to check at least three quotes, you can make sure that you’re getting the most bang for your buck.
Check for policy bundle savings – Some insurers offer discounts on your rates if you bundle your primary homeowners insurance and your secondary vacation home insurance.
Invest in an alarm system – You can also reduce your vacation home insurance costs by just installing an alarm system since it reduces your risk.
All in all, whether you own or rent a vacation home, most homeowners insurance policies won’t fully cover your vacation home. The best way to have that peace of mind while on vacation is to ask your insurance agent for specifics on what your policy covers and possibly even purchase additional coverage, just in case.
Your home and your belongings are extremely valuable to you and your loved ones. Infinity Insurance understands that, which is why it’s important to have a reliable team at your service, to protect your home. Call an Infinity agent at 1-800-INFINITY or get an online quote today.