Holiday home insurance
Insurance for second homes and holiday lets, whether you use the property yourself, let it out, or both.
What Pikl covers
Flexible insurance that allows you to choose your cover options depending on how you use your holiday home.
Buildings & contents
Cover for buildings, contents or personal belongings, including fire, storm, flood, subsidence, heave, landslip and escape of water damage.
Theft, accidental and malicious damage
Cover for theft, intentional and accidental damage, including damage or loss caused by paying guests if needed.
Liability cover
Up to £5 million public liability for guest claims, plus personal, owner and domestic employers’ liability if required.
Lost rental income
Lost income cover for confirmed bookings when the property is empty more than 14 consecutive days due at an insured event.
Legal expenses
Cover to pursue or defend a claim in court, including personal use or guest claims depending on how you use the property.
Home emergencies
Home emergency cover for urgent callouts, repairs, and fees.
Why choose Pikl for your holiday home?
Compare insurers
Get a standard buildings and contents quote through our panel of insurers, with household names such as Allianz, Prestige, AXA, Aviva, and Arkel Insurance.
Dedicated holiday let insurance
In addition to covering personal use of your holiday home, we also provide specialist cover designed for owners renting out their home to paying guests.
Highly rated
Choose a company with hundreds of 5-star customer reviews.
Dedicated UK centre
Our customer call centre is based in the UK and can help with any queries you may have about your policy.
My go-to Holiday Let Insurer. Great Staff!
Really friendly and helpful organisation.
Excellent service as ever from Pikl Insurance.
What insurance do I need for holiday lets?
In addition to personal use of your holiday home, Pikl’s dedicated holiday let insurance covers several key areas that you may want to consider.
Buildings and contents insurance
Buildings insurance covers the physical structure of your property and contents covers the items inside of it. For guest-related claims, Pikl can cover up to £1 million for buildings (£50,000 for flats or apartments) and up to £100,000 for contents if you select our guest cover add-on for short-term rentals. The level of buildings and contents cover for personal use of your second home will depend on the insurers providing a quote on our panel. Make sure your level buildings and contents cover is high enough for what you need.
Theft, malicious and accidental damage
Unlike Pikl Insurance, it is common for some providers to exclude theft or malicious damage by a guest that you allowed into your home where there is no forced entry. Accidental damage is also a typical type of claim caused by guests, so make sure this is covered when conducting a holiday let insurance comparison.
Public liability insurance for holiday lets
Parts of the UK such as Scotland now require appropriate public liability insurance as part of its requirements for obtaining a short-let licence, which is mandatory if you are renting out a property to short-term guests. Outside of legal requirements, public liability insurance protects you against significant hassle and costs. A large liability claim due to third-party property damage or guest injury can result in £10,000s in damages against you. Here are some examples of where someone could make a claim against you:
- A guest falls over a trip hazard and injures themselves.
- The neighbour’s house burns down after one of your guests accidentally causes a fire to your property.
- An overseas guest electrocutes themselves on faulty wiring and is repatriated to their home country.
Be sure to check your property for any potential hazards that could cause injuries or result in property damage. If you are found to be legally liable for anything, having the right cover in place can provide you with peace of mind knowing that you are protected.
Disruption and lost income
Disruption and additional costs can often be overlooked when considering short-term holiday let insurance. Typical issues include:
- Lost income and cancellation penalties.
- Legal expenses.
- Pest infestation following a guest stay.
Issues such as pest infestation caused through guest negligence or expensive legal disputes could also take some time to put right and impact future bookings in addition to draining resources.
Lost income and penalties as a result of cancelling bookings are another issue to consider. Protection such as Pikl’s loss of income (covered after the first 14 days of a successful claim under our guest cover add-on that insures you for short-term rental confirmed bookings) can mitigate the impact of these issues.
Which properties does holiday let insurance cover?
Multiple types of homes can be covered when rented out to guests. Examples of short-term rental properties that Pikl can cover include standard-construction homes and cottages, as well as non-standard properties such as log cabins, chalets, static caravans, park homes and holiday lodges.
Where underlying insurance for personal use of your holiday home is also needed, cover may be decided on a case-by-case basis for properties made of non-standard construction.
Is holiday home insurance mandatory?
Some holiday let regulations in parts of the UK such as Scotland now require appropriate liability and buildings insurance in order to rent out a holiday let to guests. Holiday let insurance also helps cover the extra risks of guests, protecting your property and income if something goes wrong. These costs can be substantial, and insurance is typically the easiest way to protect yourself. Even where you do not rent out your holiday home to guests or where insurance is not legally compulsory, it may be required to obtain a mortgage or as part of a contract.
Holiday home insurance FAQs
Regular home insurance may not be suited for homes that may be empty for longer periods of time or dedicated to short guest stays. Being unoccupied for longer may create different risks that could require a specialist holiday home policy, such as burst pipes during winter, burglaries, or issues that may arise as a result of the property not being used as a primary residence. Cover for guest claims may also not be included as standard on a regular home insurance policy. Holiday let insurance can provide dedicated cover when renting out a second home to guests on a regular basis.
Holiday home costs for insurance may be higher than standard home cover because it includes different risks, especially when the property is empty more often. Premiums will vary depending on the insurer and your circumstances.
Costs are influenced by factors such as your excess, cover level, add-ons, no-claims bonus, property type, and location. Buy the cover you need without over or under-insuring. Paying annually for your core holiday home insurance cover is usually cheaper if you can afford it.
Our cover for guest-related claims is fixed and can be applied as an optional add-on to your insurance to give you comprehensive protection.
Some platforms such as Airbnb provide some coverage but this is limited compared to dedicated holiday let insurance in terms of cover and what kind of regulatory protection you get. With some platforms providing no protection at all, comprehensive holiday let insurance can give you peace of mind. Our Airbnb insurance page discusses the differences between platform protection and Pikl Insurance in more detail.
Holiday homes can typically be left empty at any one time for no more than 60 days as standard through Pikl, depending on which insurer underwrites your policy and how your home is used. This may result in certain requirements being met over the winter period to ensure risks such as burst water pipes are reduced. Homes that are left empty longer than this may need to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Properties that are likely to be left empty for a significant length of time may require dedicated cover for unoccupied properties.
Distinct from the purchase price of your home, your rebuild cost is the amount it would take to rebuild the property from scratch in addition to clearing the site. When you get a quote through our panel of insurers, we will estimate your rebuild cost for you. If your property is non-standard, you may need a professional rebuild valuation from a surveyor.
It is important to make sure your rebuild cost is accurate. Undervaluing the rebuild cost could result in your claim not being paid out in full. Overvaluing it could mean that you end up paying more than you need to.
Your contents are the items inside your home that you would take with you if you moved house. This includes typical items such as electrical equipment and furniture in addition to commonly overlooked contents such as carpets and blinds. To work out the value of contents in your home, consider writing a room-by-room checklist. List the items in each room and estimate their value.
You may also want to write a separate list for high value items worth over £1,500. Any high value items may need to be individually specified when getting a quote.Yes. You can purchase holiday let cover through Pikl for guest-related claims only, as long as you have your main buildings and/or contents insurance for personal use of the property with another provider and they are aware of the use of the property. This means you are still covered for major risks (for example, fire and storm damage) elsewhere, as well as protected against issues specifically associated with guests staying in your property through Pikl.
Yes. If you only need cover for personal use of your holiday home, we allow you to select this option when getting a quote.
We only cover holiday homes and holiday lets in the UK at the present time.
Guides
Helpful guides for holiday lets
Clear answers to popular holiday let questions, written to help owners get started, stay up to date, and grow.
Holiday home guides
Key UK holiday let rules and regulations
Holiday home guides
UK holiday let profit calculator
Holiday home guides
View all holiday home guides.
Get a quote in minutes
Compare insurers for a combined home and host insurance package.