Home from home insurance

Over 800,000 households now own a property abroad in ever more emerging markets, presenting unique insurance dilemmas for Brits trying to protect their overseas investments.

Overseas property specialists, HiFX Insurance, have responded to this increasing demand for a place in the sun or snow by widening their insurance protection to cover destinations such as Dubai, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Croatia, Morocco, Poland and Romania.

Mark Bodega, Marketing Director for HiFX comments, “Emerging markets present their own challenges but there are some fundamental factors that people need to consider when insuring any property aboard.”

1. Do not be tempted to use a normal home insurance policy and avoid disclosing that the property is a holiday home as this could invalidate your insurance.

2. When arranging your cover, it is important that you carefully consider what you will be using your overseas property for. Will you be using it occasionally as a holiday home or residing there permanently? Or do you intend to let the property out to tenants? In particular how long is the property likely to be empty?

3. Consider the language difficulties of local language insurance policies. Understanding the specifics of cover levels and making a claim in a foreign language can be tricky.

4. It is also vital that you have the relevant insurance in place by the time you exchange contracts on your property as often the notaire/notario will require your policy document before the sale can be completed.

5. With increasing cases of ‘Land Grab’, where local authorities reclaim the land that a property has been unwittingly illegally built on, it is important to bear in mind that most insurance rarely covers the reclaiming of land from ruling authorities. Therefore, anybody buying in Spain should do vigorous checks prior to buying to protect themselves.

HiFX, who help over 30,000 individuals buy and sell currency each year, recently discovered that insurance was low on peoples list of priorities when considering buying property abroad; whereas investment viability and the legal issues of buying abroad were ranked as the top considerations.

Bodega continues, “Adequate overseas property insurance is essential to safeguard the viability of your investment. Storm damage and burst pipes rank amongst our most common claims. Overseas repairs can be expensive and, in order to protect your investment, it is essential that any material damage is repaired by trustworthy skilled tradesmen.”