Letting out a holiday or second home is a great way to earn extra money, especially if it’s in a popular tourist hotspot.
However, you may wish to lend it to your friends and family free of charge, but are you allowed to do this, and does your holiday let insurance cover you to do so?
Here we look at the rules around lending your holiday home to your family and friends for nothing, and if you’re covered by your insurance during their stay, should anything happen to them or the property.
Can I lend my holiday home to non-paying guests?
It’s your home, so yes, of course you can lend your holiday home to non-paying guests such as family and friends. However, like with most things, there is a caveat.
Non-paying guests should be treated the same as paying guests under your holiday home let insurance policy.
This means you could let your friends and family members stay in your holiday home all year round. But if this is the long term plan, it’s probably best to change your holiday let home insurance to a personal holiday home.
Will my home technically be unoccupied?
Your home will not be classed as unoccupied as long as the property is not left vacant for 30 days or more.
Unoccupied means the private residence is not occupied by either the homeowner, tenants or guests.
Non-paying guests will still be classed as guests in this instance, meaning you will not be invalidating your insurance.
Do you need liability cover if a friend is injured at the property?
If you already have liability cover for your holiday home, you needn’t worry because you will still be covered as the owner while your friends and family are staying.
This will cover you for accidents that happen both inside the house and anywhere on the property, including bodily injuries to anyone staying there excluding policyholders and domestic employees, such as cleaners or gardeners.
It will also cover you for any losses or damages to the property that are not owned by domestic employees or the policyholder.
What is the biggest drawback to letting your holiday home to friends and family?
While allowing loved ones to stay in your home for free is a lovely gesture, a big drawback to letting your holiday home be used free of charge is the loss of rent you’ll incur for that period.
Of course, you are doing this out of the kindness of your own heart, but there are pros and cons to owning a holiday home in the UK.
If you typically rent the accommodation to paying guests, but then lend it to someone you know free of charge for a week, and the property becomes uninhabitable following insured damage, there would be no loss of rent cover, because no rent was being received from them.
Adrian Flux offer holiday let insurance policies that allow you to rent out the property for short periods, or leave it unoccupied between lets, offering you cover all year-round.
We would cover the rent you might have received from paying guests, or the cost of alternative accommodation if your holiday home was damaged, but only for the time that is needed to carry out repairs.
Should I still give guest guidelines to friends and family?
Ultimately, this is a personal decision, but we think it’s a good idea. Whilst you’d hope your friends and family would not damage your home, sometimes both accidents and carelessness can happen.
Like you would for your paying guests, you can draw up a list of important house rules, or for greater ease, use the same list as for those who pay.
Stipulate clearly whether guests are allowed to bring pets or throw parties, and how you expect the home to look when they finish their stay.
Remember, you are doing them a really big favour, so don’t feel guilty for setting some basic house rules. And if they don’t want to stay after reading them, you haven’t lost out on any money, after all, they were going to stay for free.
What insurance do you need for a UK holiday home?
You will need to buy specialist holiday home insurance when buying in the UK, ideally from a specialist insurance broker such as Adrian Flux.
Holiday home insurance is a tailored policy designed to protect your second property, whether you use it for personal holidays or let it out as holiday accommodation.
We also offer bed and breakfast insurance and holiday let insurance, and if you’re worried about the possessions you keep in your second home, there’s our contents insurance too that will help put your mind at ease.
For our best rates, call 0800 369 8590 or book a callback at a time that works for you.
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