You’ve worked hard for the life you have, including for your vacation home. Make sure it’s protected from natural disasters and unfortunate accidents with the right insurance coverage.
Protecting your vacation home isn’t quite the same as protecting other property. Here’s what you need to know.
Separate Policy vs. Secondary Home Endorsement
In order to save money, you don’t have to purchase a separate homeowners insurance policy for your vacation home. You can typically add a secondary home endorsement to your existing coverage. The problem, however, is that you may not have the same kind of coverage in your vacation home as you do your primary residence.
If your vacation home is located in an area that’s at risk for natural disasters, like hurricanes or fires, a separate insurance policy with full coverage may be better. You want to be able to rebuild your beautiful vacation home if the worst happens and the right insurance policy will help.
Insurance for Out-Buildings and Other Structures
Some vacation homes are condos on the beach while others are on the water with a pier or in the backcountry with a farm. When you insure your vacation home, talk to your independent insurance agent about any other structures on your property. For some people this may be a boat house or it might be a farm or big workshop.
Most homeowners insurance only offers about 10 percent of the value towards out-buildings. If this isn’t enough to replace or rebuild it after a disaster, you may want to purchase an additional rider.
Beef Up Your Liability Coverage
With vacation homes often comes vacation guests. Whether you invite friends and family for the weekend or the whole summer, you’re likely to do more entertaining. You also may have more people in and out of your home for cleaning, repairs, and maintenance. Make sure you have plenty of liability coverage.
Talk to your insurance agent about adding additional liability coverage to your existing policy. If you want extra protection, an umbrella insurance policy offers liability coverage above and beyond your homeowner’s policy limits. If someone gets hurt or sues you, your homeowners policy will pay up to its limits, and then the umbrella policy will pay the difference up to that policy’s limits. It’s like insurance for your insurance
Protect Your Toys
Your vacation home was just the beginning and now you have toys to play with when you visit. This might be a large boat, luxury cars, or even custom motorcycles, ATVs, and other recreational vehicles. Make sure you’ve got the right kind of insurance for them. Separate boat, RV, motorcycle, and other forms of insurance should be purchased. Your homeowners insurance policy won’t be enough for these particular toys.
If you need to add extra coverage and protection for your vacation home, contact Charlotte Insurance. We understand your unique needs and can offer the solutions that will protect your home, your family, and your fun.