Buyer advice: Secure and insure your holiday home

If you’ve just bought a holiday home or weekend property, you need to make sure it is just as well-secured as your primary residence – and properly insured.

Security awareness tends to slip when we’re on holiday, relaxing and taking a break from our everyday stresses, but the unfortunate truth is that criminals don’t relax, and are always on the lookout for easy pickings.

In addition, they will quickly notice any pattern of “occasional occupation” of a property, perhaps only during school holidays, for example, or only every second weekend – and the likelihood of the property being burgled or vandalised is even greater if it is a freehold house in a holiday spot where many of the surrounding houses are also unoccupied for much of the time.

Even worse, if you haven’t taken adequate steps to secure your holiday home, you may find that your insurers won’t pay out in the event of a claim, so we suggest that you do the following as soon as possible:

* Install an alarm and an external and internal electronic surveillance system linked to the operations room of a security company that will respond promptly to any attempted break-in, and that you trust to gain access to the property and reset the system if necessary;

* Fit strong burglar bars, security gates and door locks. Outside locks should be minimum of four lever locks or double cylinder security locks;

* Check regularly to make sure there is no damage to your wall or fencing and that there are no overhanging branches or other easy points of access to your property;

* Hire a garden service if necessary to ensure that the property is kept tidy and doesn’t become overgrown;

* Remove the postbox so junk mail cannot build up in your absence, and redirect any real correspondence to do with your holiday home to your permanent address; and

* If it is a large property, consider employing a full-time caretaker.

Such measures will have the additional advantage of keeping your insurance premiums down – which is an important issue, considering that these are likely to be higher than those for your primary residence unless the leisure property does have a permanent occupant.

It is also vital to make sure that you have cover for both the structure and contents of your holiday home, so that you are protected against the effects of fire, storm, flood and subsidence as well as possible theft of or damage to all furniture, appliances and garden, braai and sports equipment kept on the property.

Your policy should also include a clause that provides proper cover for the clothing, electronics and other valuables you and any guests may bring with you on holiday.