Your vacation home is where you go to relax, and likely one of your most valuable assets. If you own a vacation home in Florida and it is damaged or destroyed, you need your claim settled by an insurance company that understands the complexities of a vacation home.
Vacation homes can be beacons of relaxation in a chaotic world, and in order to preserve you mental peace you want to make sure that your vacation home is properly insured. If you own a vacation home, you may not know that the homeowner’s insurance policy on your primary resident provides limited coverage for personal property at another residence. In addition, each location typically needs its own coverage for the structure(s) on the premises.
A Vacation Home policy covers much of what a traditional homeowner’s insurance policy does except it is rated as being occupied less than full time and sometimes has special underwriting or occupancy requirements, depending on the company’s guidelines.
Usually a vacation home requires you to think through some different insurance and risk related issues than you may have considered on your primary home historically. Here are just a few things you’ll want to consider:
- Location: Is your vacation or secondary home far from your primary residence? What are the specific insurance related factors for the location of the property? For example, Florida is a hurricane prone state and thus hurricane coverage and deductibles are relevant topics to consider. If the home requires you to travel a long distance to access it, who will look after it or check in on it while you are away to help prevent any possible claim situations becoming worse due to being undiscovered? Home watch services are a common way to monitor the status of your vacation home when you aren’t using it. Monitored alarms and sensors are another common way to protect your second home when you aren’t visiting for weeks or months at a time due to distance.
- Property Type: Is your vacation home a single-family home or condo? Depending on the style of your property, the cost of insurance will vary. Single family homes typically cost more to insure than condos because you are insuring the outside and inside of the building. With condos, you typically just buy a condo unit owner or HO-6 policy to protect the interior portions of the unit which are your responsibility per condo association guidelines. You also insure your removable personal property in both single family homes and condos.
- Rental: If your plan is to rent your secondary or vacation home when you’re not using it, you’ll need a Landlord Insurance policy also commonly referred to as a Dwelling Fire policy. Dwelling Fire policies differ regarding what rental terms they allow. Some have minimum rental term lengths which are longer than you may wish to make your home available to tenants/vacation renters. Some companies allow rental periods for as little as one day at a time. You will want to consider whether you will rent the property and for how long when discussing coverage with your agent. Renting your property without the property coverage can leave you uninsured for certain losses.
Owning a vacation home is not only a great way to relax, but it can be a great financial investment as well. Be sure to protect it properly by getting the right home insurance policy for your usage. We can help.
What if you need to make a claim?
You never know when you may need to make a home insurance claim and it’s always great if you are totally organised and have all the necessary information at hand when you make your insurance claim quickly.
Check out the Home Inventory Checklist below:-
HOME INVENTORY CHECKLIST
A home inventory will make it easier to file an accurate, detailed insurance claim in case your home is damaged or destroyed.
Photos
Proof of Ownership
Purchase Date
Amount Paid
Cost to Replace
Keep Receipts
Information courtesy of Vacay & Co Real Estate Team’s Recommended Providers for Property Insurance: www.4cornersinsurance.com in Davenport.
Selling your home fully-furnished can generate a higher selling price, which can help you earn extra money on the sale of your vacation home and offset other expenses. Consulting with a real estate professional is the best way for homeowners to maximize the return on the sale of their Orlando vacation home. Contact us today for more information: Tel (321) 284 3600. Or Email: [email protected] to arrange a FREE Phone Consultation.