If you have a seasonal home, you must ensure that you have all the right coverage in the case of an accident or incident. This is especially true if your seasonal home will sit vacant for extended periods of time, and there is no one there to check up on things regularly.
Today we will cover some of the basics of homeowner’s insurance for your seasonal home.
Before You Buy a Seasonal Home
Before you purchase a second home or seasonal home, you want to do some research to find out if your insurance coverage will be higher due to certain risk factors. Does your seasonal home have a pool? Is it in a location that is prone to flooding? These are things to consider because they can greatly influence the cost of your homeowner’s insurance.
Purchasing Insurance
You can usually purchase a second policy through your primary home’s insurance company. Otherwise, you can find a different insurance company that actually specializes in insurance policies for seasonal homes.
When looking for insurance, make sure to watch for a primary residence requirement. If you find this, then you may have to also purchase your primary home’s insurance policy through them to obtain the policy for your seasonal home.
How to Minimize Risk
Since your seasonal home will be vacant, you want to do everything you can to lower your risk and ultimately lower your overall insurance costs.
Home Security
The first thing you can do is invest in a high-quality home security system for your seasonal home. Not only is it a good deterrent, but it can also trigger an alarm that notifies you and the authorities if anything happens.
Hire Maintenance
Another good way to protect a seasonal home when you aren’t there is to invest in a good landscaping or maintenance company. You want to keep the property looking its best at all times. An unkempt property usually signals that it is a seasonal home and is vacant, making it an easy target.
Check-Ins
You should also have someone close by that can do regular check-ins on the home and make sure everything is secure. If you rent out the property as a vacation rental, then having someone close by will prove beneficial for this as well since they can make it to the premises quickly when needed.
Conclusion
Homeowner’s insurance for a seasonal home protects your home, property, and related buildings and personal property safe and secure. It is also not as difficult as you may initially think to insure a seasonal home.
However, you have to factor in additional costs that you may incur if the property sits vacant. An insurance company considers home as unoccupied if there has been no one living there for around 60 consecutive days or more.
There also may be maximum times you can leave the home unoccupied and still be able to receive full coverage for your seasonal home on your home insurance policy.
For more information on homeowner’s insurance policies near Northridge, CA, and what you need to do to ensure a seasonal home or vacation home, then contact the experts at Panorama today to get started.
