Frequently Asked Questions

Holiday Let Complex or Non-Standard Construction

Policy Powerhouse

General

If your insurance requirements have any of the following features, we will treat your quotation as a Holiday Let Complex and provide you with a bespoke quotation:
  • Common facilities such as a games room, gym, sauna, or pool
  • A restaurant or café
  • A hot tub or swimming pool valued at more than £10,000.
  • You have employees.
  • You hold events such as weddings etc.
If the walls of your property are not made of brick, stone or block and or the roof is not made of tile or slate your property is non-standard and requires specialist underwriting. Most materials can be covered but additional information will be required and the premium may vary. It is important to fully disclose the construction of your property to ensure that you are fully covered.

A holiday let insurance is a specialist policy that covers properties that are let to paying guests on a commercial, short-term basis.

Holiday let policies should offer cover for Property Owners’ Liability, loss of rent, accidental damage, malicious damage by tenants and periods when the property is unoccupied.

Most standard home insurance providers will not cover holiday lets as they consider them to be too great a risk.

Most likely. If your property is a second or holiday home, you need to check that your cover includes insurance for claims caused by paying guests in your property. 

A traditional holiday or second home insurance policy is usually designed to cover personal use of the property by yourself, friends, or family members. Cover for things like loss or rent, malicious damage by tenant, theft, alternative accommodation or property owners liability insurance may not be included. 

If you previously let the property out to tenants, it is unlikely that your landlord insurance policy will be suitable for your holiday let. It is best to check the cover with your current insurer before you let your property out.
This covers legal liability for accidental bodily injury including death or disease, and accidental damage to material property not belonging to you.

Standard home insurance policies cover things such as theft, flood, storm, escape of water, subsidence or fire. A specialist holiday let policy should offer cover for:

  • Property owners liability including cover for accidental bodily injury and accidental damage to property.
  • Accidental damage to contents cover caused by tenants (optional cover).
  • Theft and malicious damage cover caused by tenants (optional cover).
  • Alternative accommodation for your guest if your property cannot be lived in following damage
  • Fire and escape of water damage caused by a paying guest (a standard household policy will typically exclude this).
  • Replacement locks following theft of keys.
  • Employers’ liability insurance which is a legal requirement if you employ staff such as a cleaner or gardener.
  • Loss of rental income if the premises cannot be lived in as a result of an insured event and you have to cancel bookings.
  • Optional legal expenses cover, an optional additional policy covering you against legal expenses incurred in defending yourself, or making claims against others.
  • Optional home emergency cover, an optional additional policy providing 24 hr protection in the event of a problem with the property’s heating, plumbing, locks or electrics.
  • Loss of rent receivable if your buildings cannot be lived in or access to them is denied as a result of an insured event.
  • Ground rent 
  • Professional accountant charges
  • Automatic rent review an increase to reflect the revised rent receivable amount.
  • How long can I claim for lost rental? When setting up your policy you can choose to be covered for 12, 18, 24 or 36 months loss of rental income. 
  • How much loss of rental can I be covered for? When setting up your policy you can decide how much cover you need. The default is 20% of the buildings sum insured but you can change this as required. Please remember that the monthly maximum cover is the sum insured that you have selected, divided by the number of months cover you have selected. For example, a sum insured of £12,000 over 12 months would allow you to claim for up to £1,000 per month for 12 months. The same sum insured over 36 months would only allow you to claim up to £333.33 for up to 36 months.
You should be offered a choice of indemnity period, during which rental income will be paid at the previously agreed amount. These payments are typically made over 12, 18, 24 or 36 month periods e.g. £10,000 annual rent would be paid at a rate of £833.00 per month over a 12 month period or £417.00 per month over a 24 month period.

This is purely down to personal choice.

Accidental Damage is included as standard on the buildings section of the Policy Powerhouse let property policy. It is optional cover on the contents section of the policy. Your policy schedule will confirm if this cover is included.

Contents should always be covered on a new for old basis. You should insure the contents for the amount it would cost if you were replacing them at today’s prices.
The rebuild sum insured should represent how much it would cost to rebuild your holiday let (including any outbuildings) as they currently stand from scratch.  Policy Powerhouse has taken away the worry of getting this amount right for the policyholder. We use data from a variety of sources to estimate the rebuild cost of the property. Rebuild costs don’t include the cost of land, so in most cases it will be less than the property’s market value. Make sure the rebuild sum insured is enough to cover the cost of rebuilding your holiday let including outbuildings, swimming pools, hot tubs etc. The costs for debris removal and professional architect and engineers fees should also be included. You should apply a sum insured that is sufficient to cover the rebuild costs of your property/properties including outbuildings/central services (pool houses, resturants, games rooms etc.). Failure to insure for the full reinstatement value could result in the claims settlement being reduced.
  • Pay annually
    It’s often cheaper to pay the premium annually rather than paying monthly. Most insurers will charge interest or an admin fee if you opt to pay monthly.
  • Buy a combined policy
    Buying buildings and contents insurance together from the same insurer will save you money compared to buying each separately.
  • Increase your voluntary excess
    Opting to pay a higher voluntary excess can lower your insurance premium.
  • Don’t over-insure
    Overestimating the rebuild cost of your property and the value of your contents will increase your premium, so ensure the figures are accurate as possible.

Please contact our broking team directly:

Very little! Policy Powerhouse have taken the hassle out of arranging specialist holiday let cover by pre-populating a great deal of the questions asked using purchased data from market leading third party providers. The process Is simple and fast.

Policy Powerhouse is an insurance broking business focused upon niche insurance sectors providing contingency and property insurance expertise.  The business operates as far as possible through its digital platform which is being created to provide exceptional customer engagement and seamless insurer reporting.  Policy Powerhouse Executives each have over 30 years specialist experience of the sector and the business is also supported by an Advisory Board who have extensive experience within related sectors such as Technology, Marketing, Advertising & Investor relations.  Policy Powerhouse Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA registration 946345 as an appointed representative of Innovative Risk Labs Ltd. Innovative Risk Labs Ltd is authorised and regulated by the FCA Registration 609155. You can check this by visiting Financial Services Register or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.

Each holiday let complex will be underwritten based upon the specific requirements and we work with a number of different insurers to ensure the best cover at the best price. Your quotation and policy documentation will clearly identify the insurer.

Our insurers include; Modus Underwriting, Prestige Underwriting, Compass Underwriting, AVIVA Insurance, AXA Insurance, Accelerant Insurance, Bspoke Underwriting and HCC.

A copy of the Policy Wording, IPID, Statement of Fact and Schedule will be emailed to you. Copies are available upon request.

A quotation is valid for 30 days from the date of issue.

Key exclusions and restrictions

Please read the policy wording, IPID, Statement of Fact and policy schedule to ensure that the policy is suitable for your needs.  Key exclusions can include but are not limited to:
  • Any loss or damage that happened before the start of the period of insurance.
  • Any loss or damage caused, or allowed to be caused deliberately, wilfully, maliciously, illegally or unlawfully by you.
  • Malicious damage to the property in any structure that cannot be locked.
  • Theft or attempted theft caused by any persons lawfully in your premises.
  • Storm or flood damage to walls (not forming part of the main structure), fences, gates, or moveable property in the open or in/to open sided structures.
  • Escape of water damage caused by the failure, wear and tear or lack of grouting or sealant or resulting in subsidence, heave or landslip.
  • Subsidence damage to yards, car parks, roads, pavements and walls unless damage is also affecting the main dwelling.
  • Any loss or damage or liability arising out of the activities due to building works.
  • Any damage caused by wear and tear or any other gradually operating cause.
  • Damage more specifically insured elsewhere by you.
  • The excess (the amount you have to pay on any claim). Please refer to your schedule for any excesses or endorsements that  may apply.
  • Certain causes resulting in damage to property when your premises are unoccupied.
  • Certain limitations may apply to your policy, for example: monetary limits for certain cover, conditions that exclude certain types of loss or damage.
  • If the sums insured for your property at the time of replacement are less, you will be responsible for a proportionate share of the claim.

Changing my policy

For any other changes please contact Policy Powerhouse.

Claims

Please refer to your policy document which gives contact details for your insurers claims team.

Contacting us

Policy Powerhouse Limited The Granary Hermitage Court Hermitage Lane Maidstone Kent ME16 9NT

0333 772 7453

You can put cover in place at anytime on our website but if you have a problem or issue you need to discuss with a human, our phone lines and chat tools are available Monday – Friday 9am – 8pm

Fees

Policy Powerhouse may charge a fee to administer your policy. This fee is per policy and will be displayed on your quotation and policy Schedule; a policy can include a single or multiple properties. Policy Powerhouse can also charge a cancellation fee of £50 if you cancel your policy after 14 days. We do not charge a fee for any changes to your policy. Full details of our fees are available within our terms and conditions.

Payments

You may choose to pay annual premiums by credit/debit card or select to pay 10, equal monthly payments by Direct Debit (an APR applies) this service is offered by PremFina Limited.
Sorry we are not able to accept payment by cheque

Innovative Risk Labs Limited are our Regulatory principal and receive all premium payments. Their name will appear on your Bank/Credit Card statement

Please visit the PremFina portal and amend your details

Cancellation of my policy

Please contact Policy Powerhouse if you wish to cancel your policy. Some policies do not provide a refund of premium if cancelled (typically short period policies). You will be made aware of this at the time you take out the policy. For all other policies: 

  • If you cancel within 14 days of your policy starting, we will refund all premium paid.
  • If you cancel after 14 days of your policy starting we will refund any premium paid calculated on a pro rata basis for the unused period of your policy less a £50 cancellation fee.
  • A refund of premium is only available if a claim has not occurred on the policy. If a claim is notified, then no refund is available.

Complaints process

If you have any cause for complaint, please address these in the first instance to:

The Compliance Manager,
Policy Powerhouse Limited
The Granary
Hermitage Court
Hermitage Lane
Maidstone
Kent
ME16 9NT

Email: complaints@Policypowerhouse.co.uk

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