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Buying holiday homes abroad has become a major business in the UK, with more British citizens than ever before purchasing a second property overseas. But whether you’re looking to buy, or you already own a property abroad, you’ll need a solid overseas holiday home insurance package to properly protect your investment.

So how tough is it for a UK citizen to get good holiday home insurance? The most obvious, and most major issue is the language barrier, which can prove too difficult a barrier to overcome for many Brits. There are also the differences in law; European property law can be drastically different to UK laws and can represent a major stumbling block for UK second home owners. Add to this the real differences in cultural outlook and behaviour and you can see why negotiating these kind of policies can be a minefield.

Due in no small amount to these difficulties, many British overseas home owners waive getting decent holiday home insurance all together, thinking of it as something they can ‘take or leave’. However i really wouldn’t recommend taking this approach, decent insurance for holiday homes is a vital part of protecting yourself and your investment. Without a strong policy on your second home you could find yourself hit extremely hard in the event of a loss.

So we can understand the why getting overseas property insurance is extremely pertinent, but how should you go about it? Should you utilise a UK based agent or a foreign agent to take out your policy? Many UK holiday home buyers will opt for the latter, but actually I would advise the opposite. Taking out insurance with a foreign broker will, in most instances, be a fair bit cheaper than going through an agent in the UK; however you’re likely to come up against the same problems already mentioned. These difficulties may well result in your not fully understanding your insurance policy, which could result in real difficulties if you need to make a claim. You’re far better off in general going with a UK agent; they’ll be able to fully explain your policy to you, provide all prices in pounds sterling and generally work to prevent any nasty shocks in the future. In the event that you need to claim on your policy, you’ll always be dealing with English speakers (even if you’re abroad), which makes the whole experience that little bit less stressful.