UK Holiday Home Insurance
- Property covered for non-paying and paying guests including Airbnb.
- Covers holiday homes empty for 30+ days at a time.
- Coastal properties and barn conversions covered.
- Underwritten by AXA Insurance.
More information
What is holiday home insurance?
Holiday home insurance is designed for properties that aren’t your main residence, but that you use for holidays, rent out to guests, or both. Because holiday homes are often unoccupied for periods or used by paying guests, standard home insurance usually won’t provide the right level of protection.
At Homeprotect, we offer 12-month holiday home insurance policies that can include buildings cover, contents cover, or combined cover — depending on how the property is used.
We consider factors like:
- How often the home is unoccupied
- Whether you host paying guests
- The property’s location, rebuild value, security, and condition
These factors influence both your premium, and the terms of your policy.
do i need holiday home insurance?
While holiday home insurance isn’t a legal requirement, it can offer peace of mind. We can quote for a wide range of UK-based holiday homes with fixed foundations, including cottages, lodges, barn conversions, and country homes.
We also offer protection for:
- Second homes used for weekend stays
- Holiday homes you visit occasionally
Holiday lets rented out to guests (including Airbnb)
Standard home insurance typically won’t cover properties used as holiday homes, especially if they’re left unoccupied for more than 30 days or are let out to guests.
To stay protected, you’ll need a specialist holiday home policy tailored to your use of the property.
If you rent out your holiday home to paying guests, we provide cover for:
Loss of rent if your property can’t be used following an insured event
Public liability in case a guest is injured, or their belongings are damaged while staying in your home
We offer specialist cover for both occasional and frequent holiday letting.
What our expert says…
“Our holiday home cover is very popular. We insure over 30,000 UK holiday homes. If you have paying guests, you can claim up to £30,000 for loss of rental income if the home can’t be used due to an insured event such as fire or flood.
There are restrictions: for example, if you have paying guests, we can’t offer alternative accommodation or accidental damage cover. But because of these exclusions, our policies are often more affordable than standard home insurance.”
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What’s covered by holiday home insurance?
Holiday home insurance protects the building and its contents against insured events such as fire, flood, storm, theft, and more. You can choose to insure the buildings, contents, or both — depending on your needs.
If you let your property to paying guests and they can’t stay due to an insured event, our Loss of Rent feature covers the rent you would have received (as shown in your booking confirmation), up to £30,000 per claim.
Cover includes:
- Buildings insurance – protection for the property’s structure and permanent features
- Contents insurance – protection for items inside the home
If your holiday home is unoccupied for short periods (between 31 and 180 days), your cover remains active, but with the following exclusions unless the property is inspected internally at least once every 30 days:
- Escape of water (claims between 1 October and 1 April)
- Theft or attempted theft, unless all security features listed in your Statement of Fact are in working order
- Jewellery and watches, unless kept in a locked safe with the keys removed
- Money, under any circumstances
You’ll need to provide evidence of inspections at the point of claim.
What we offer
Emergency help when you need it most
If you have a home emergency — such as a power outage, uncontrollable leak or a broken lock — our 24/7 Home Emergency cover is included as standard.
- We aim to get an engineer to you within four hours
- For serious water leaks, we’ll try to have a plumber with you in two hours
Response times may vary during extreme weather. Policy terms and claim limits apply.
Repair guarantee
We guarantee any buildings work we arrange after a claim for two years. Contents repairs are guaranteed for one year.
New for old
Where we replace a damaged or stolen item, we’ll do our best to match the original — on a ‘new for old’ basis. If that’s not possible, we’ll offer a suitable alternative or a full cash settlement.
Legal support when you need it
Family Legal Protection is included as standard. You’ll have access to expert telephone legal advice on personal matters under the laws of the UK and most of Europe.
What isn’t covered?
There are some things we can’t cover, including:
Gradual damage, wear and tear, or issues you knew about but didn’t fix
Faulty design, construction, or workmanship.
Theft, vandalism, or accidental damage caused by paying guests
Mechanical or electrical faults
Escape of water claims between 1 October – 1 April (inclusive) if the home is left unoccupied (without inspection) for more than 30 days
Alternative accommodation costs (if the property isn’t your main home)
Personal Possessions (e.g. bags, clothes, sports equipment used away from the home).
Gadgets, Bikes & Valuables Away from the Home (e.g. phones, tablets, watches, jewellery) .
Keeping your holiday home and belongings in good condition is essential. If damage happens because of neglect or poor maintenance, your claim may be declined, and your policy could be cancelled.
Recommended by our customers
72% Saved money when they switched to Homeprotect*
*Survey data of 1,089 buying customers from 30th October – 12th November 2024
HOME Insurance Cover Levels
Our home insurance is designed to protect your home against insured events such as fire, storm, flood, escape of water, theft, malicious damage, subsidence, landslip or heave.
Buildings cover
Protects the main structure of your holiday home, including attached garages and conservatories, and permanent outdoor features such as patios, driveways and boundary walls.
Up to £1 million
(more cover available if you need it)
Contents cover
Protects your holiday home contents — including furniture, clothing, appliances, gadgets and valuables — against events like fire, flood and theft. Cover is provided on a new for old basis.
from £25,000
Loss of rent
Covers lost income if paying guests can’t stay after an insured loss.
up to £30,000
Home emergency
Covers sudden, unexpected emergencies — like an uncontrollable leak — that require immediate action to prevent damage or make your home secure. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss.
up to £500
Family legal protection
Covers legal costs for certain insured events. There must be a reasonable chance of success, and the incident must happen during your policy term. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss.
up to £25,000
Trace and access
We’ll pay to detect the source of a water or oil leak, and cover the cost of reinstating floors, walls or paths that were disturbed in the process.
up to £10,000
Outbuildings cover
Covers detached garages, greenhouses, sheds, summerhouses and other outbuildings within your boundary or any communal area you’re legally responsible for.
from £20,000
Liability cover
Covers your legal liability for accidental death, injury or illness to someone else, or damage to their property.
up to £5 million
Your Questions Answered
If your holiday home is for family use only (not let to paying guests), you can choose to add Accidental Damage cover. This protects against sudden, unexpected mishaps that cause physical damage to your home or its contents — like spills or breakages.
If you have paying guests, optional extras, like Accidental Damage and Personal Possessions cover, are not available under your policy.
Yes. Public liability insurance is included as standard in our holiday home cover, with up to £5 million per period of insurance.
If your property is let to paying guests, we extend this cover to include liability arising from business use — such as injury or damage suffered by guests during their stay. This means you’re protected if a guest trips on a loose step or suffers damage to their belongings while staying at your home.
If your property is left unoccupied for more than 30 days or let to guests, you’ll likely need holiday home insurance. A second home used regularly as a residence may be eligible for different cover.
It varies based on your cover level, property type, rebuild value, location and usage.
No, Homeprotect only provides cover to UK residents.
No, we only insure properties in the UK.
We can cover UK-based homes with fixed foundations, including:
- Cottages
- Country homes
- Lodges
- Mansions
- Barn conversions
New Customer?
If you’re deciding on whether to buy home insurance with us, you can use our latest policy booklets as a guide.
Existing Customer?
Find answers to some of your questions here. Your latest policy documents are also available to view and download.
Prefer to SPEAK WITH us?
Our insurance experts are on hand if you have any questions.