Holiday let insurance exists because a property let by the week behaves nothing like one let on a twelve month tenancy. Strangers arrive with keys they were sent by email, the property stands empty between bookings, and the person sleeping there tonight has no contract with you beyond a booking confirmation. Standard landlord cover is written around a tenancy agreement and an occupier who stays, and most policies say so in their definitions rather than in their marketing.
What a short let changes about the risk
Turnover of occupants raises the chance of accidental damage and theft, and lowers the chance that anybody reports a leak before it spreads. Guests are not tenants, so the liability you owe them is the liability an occupier owes a visitor rather than a landlord's duty to a tenant. Periods with nobody in the property are frequent and short rather than rare and long, which matters because unoccupancy clauses in ordinary policies count days. And the contents are yours rather than theirs, because a holiday let is furnished by the owner down to the cutlery.
The sections a holiday let policy carries that a tenancy policy does not
Public liability at a limit that reflects paying guests on the premises, usually higher than a standard landlord policy offers. Employers liability if a cleaner or changeover team works for you. Loss of income covering cancelled bookings after an insured event, rather than loss of rent under a tenancy. Accidental damage by guests as standard rather than as an option. Contents cover for the furnishings, linen and equipment. Some policies add cover for a guest's own possessions and for the cost of rehousing a booking you cannot honour.
Unoccupancy, which is the clause that catches owners out
Every property policy limits how long the building may stand empty before cover narrows to a restricted set of perils. On a standard landlord policy that limit is short and a seasonal cottage will breach it every winter. Holiday let wordings are written with longer or seasonal unoccupancy allowances, and the conditions attached, heating left on, water drained, inspections at stated intervals, are the ones to read and diary rather than skim.
Telling the insurer what the property actually is
An owner who insures a holiday cottage as a second home, or as a standard buy to let, has a policy that does not answer. The disclosure that matters is simple: the property is let commercially for short stays, to paying guests, through named channels. Say it plainly at inception. A misdescribed property is the most common reason a holiday let claim is reduced, and it is entirely avoidable.
Questions people ask about holiday let insurance
Is holiday let insurance different from landlord insurance?
Yes, and the difference is structural rather than cosmetic. Landlord policies are written around a tenancy and an occupier who stays; holiday let policies are written around bookings, changeovers, guest liability and seasonal emptiness.
Do I need it for an Airbnb room in my own home?
Letting a room in your own home usually needs a permission or an extension on your home insurance rather than a holiday let policy. Letting a whole property to paying guests needs the commercial product. Tell your existing insurer either way, because most home policies exclude paying guests.
Does it cover cancelled bookings?
Loss of income after an insured event such as a fire or a flood is standard. Cancellation because a guest changed their mind, or because demand fell, is a commercial risk and is not insured.
Is a furnished holiday letting treated differently for tax?
It can be, and the qualifying conditions are set by HMRC rather than by an insurer. Tax status does not decide the insurance, but it is a useful check that the property really is being let commercially for short stays.