Comparing Holiday Let Insurance: 9 Criteria

Most holiday let insurance comparison happens on one axis: annual premium, sorted low to high. That axis tells you almost nothing about what happens when you claim.

Quotes differ in price mainly because they differ in terms. A policy that is £180 cheaper is usually cheaper because the sum insured is calculated differently, the unoccupancy period is shorter, guest damage is excluded, or the indemnity period is half as long. Those are the four things that decide whether a claim pays out and for how much.

Here are nine criteria worth comparing instead, and a scorecard for running them across competing quotes.

This is general guidance, not insurance advice. Policy wordings vary considerably — confirm the detail with a broker who specialises in holiday accommodation before relying on any comparison.

1. Sum Insured Basis

The single most consequential figure on the schedule, and the one most likely to differ silently between quotes.

Ask: is the sum insured based on reinstatement cost or something else? Reinstatement cost is what it would cost to rebuild to current specification including professional fees and building-regulations compliance — not the property's market value, which includes the land.

Then ask whether a condition of average applies. Where it does, and the sum insured falls short of true reinstatement cost, settlements are reduced in proportion — on partial claims as well as total losses. Two quotes with different sums insured are not comparable on price at all until you know which one reflects an actual reinstatement cost assessment.

Also check whether index-linking is applied automatically.

2. Unoccupancy Period and Conditions

Seasonal lets sit empty for months. Standard wordings often restrict cover after a continuous unoccupied period — commonly 30, 45, or 60 days — withdrawing or reducing cover for escape of water, theft, and malicious damage beyond that point.

Compare: the length of the permitted period, whether cover reduces or ceases, and what conditions attach. Typical conditions are maintaining heating at a minimum temperature or draining the water system down, clearing mail, and carrying out documented inspections at a stated interval.

A March-to-October let will breach a 30-day condition every winter. If a quote is cheap and the unoccupancy period is short, you have found the reason.

3. Damage by Paying Guests

Split into two, because policies often treat them differently:

Accidental damage — spills, breakages, marks on walls
Malicious damage — deliberate damage by a guest

Standard residential wordings commonly exclude both when caused by people paying to be there. Specialist holiday let policies usually include them, but frequently with a separate excess and sometimes with conditions about deposits or guest vetting.

Compare the excesses, not just whether the cover exists.

4. Public Liability Limit and Structure

No statute requires public liability cover for a holiday let, so market convention sets the numbers rather than law. Common limits are £1m, £2m and £5m.

Compare three things:

The limit
Whether it applies per claim or in the aggregate across the policy year — an aggregate limit that has been eroded by an earlier claim is not the number on the front page
Whether liability extends to all lawful visitors, not just registered guests

The underlying duty is statutory even though the insurance is not. Section 2(2) of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 requires an occupier to take "such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which he is invited or permitted by the occupier to be there." (In Scotland, the 1957 Act doesn't apply — the equivalent duty is the Occupiers' Liability (Scotland) Act 1960, section 2(1).) The insurance responds to that duty; it does not create or limit it.

5. Loss of Rental Income and Indemnity Period

If the property becomes unlettable after an insured event, this covers the income you lose while it is reinstated.

Compare the indemnity period. Twelve months is common. It is often not enough: listed buildings, properties needing planning or listed-building consent, and anything requiring specialist trades routinely take longer than a year to reinstate. Twenty-four months costs relatively little more.

Check also how the income figure is evidenced — some wordings work from prior-year booking records, which matters if you have just started letting or have just expanded.

6. Alternative Accommodation for Guests

If the property becomes uninhabitable mid-stay, you have guests on site with nowhere to go and, depending on your booking terms, an obligation to them.

Compare whether the policy covers rehousing guests, the per-booking cap, and whether it also covers the cost of refunding or rebooking cancelled stays.

7. Rated Features and Their Conditions

Hot tubs, swimming pools, open water on the site, wood burners, trampolines, and games rooms are all rated separately by most insurers, and cover is frequently made conditional.

Compare whether each feature is covered, excluded, or covered subject to conditions — and read the conditions. Hot tub cover is commonly conditional on documented water testing and maintenance at stated intervals. A policy that covers your hot tub on paper but voids the cover because you cannot produce testing records is worse than one that excludes it, because you priced the risk as covered.

8. Employer's Liability — Where It Is Legally Required

Unlike everything else on this list, this one is a statutory duty rather than a commercial choice.

Under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, section 1, "every employer carrying on any business in Great Britain shall insure, and maintain insurance… against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by his employees". Regulation 3(1) of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations 1998 requires cover of "not less than £5 million in respect of — (a) a claim relating to any one or more of those employees arising out of any one occurrence". GOV.UK states the penalty for non-compliance: "You can be fined £2,500 every day you are not properly insured."

Two narrow exemptions exist: GOV.UK confirms you don't need EL insurance if you only employ a family member, or someone based outside England, Scotland and Wales. If your only "employee" is a relative helping out casually, check the exemption before buying cover you don't need.

Whether it applies depends on employment status, not job title. A cleaner who works only for you, cannot send a substitute, and is directed in how and when to work may be an employee under HMRC's tests regardless of the label. Compare whether a quote includes employer's liability at all, and at what limit.

9. Claims Handling and Evidence Requirements

The least comparable criterion and one of the most important.

Read what the policy requires you to be able to produce at claim time. Common requirements: a current fire risk assessment, gas safety records, electrical installation condition reports, hot tub maintenance logs, and evidence of unoccupancy inspections.

These are not administrative formalities — they are conditions. A policy with excellent cover and demanding evidence conditions pays nothing if the records do not exist. Our Compliance Checklist Generator sets out which records your property should hold, the Fire Risk Assessment Generator produces a documented assessment, and the Certificate Expiry Tracker keeps renewal dates visible so nothing lapses between quotes and claims.

The Scorecard

Run this across each quote before looking at the premium.

#	Criterion	What to record
1	Sum insured basis	Reinstatement? Average clause? Index-linked?
2	Unoccupancy	Days permitted, conditions attached
3	Guest damage	Accidental + malicious? Excesses?
4	Public liability	Limit, per-claim or aggregate
5	Loss of rental income	Included? Indemnity period?
6	Alternative accommodation	Included? Cap?
7	Rated features	Covered / excluded / conditional
8	Employer's liability	Included? Limit?
9	Evidence conditions	Records required at claim time
—	Premium	Compare last, not first

What Not to Compare On

Premium alone. Covered above, and it is the whole point of the exercise.

Headline cover lists. "Buildings, contents, public liability" appears on every quote. The differences live in the limits, excesses, and conditions underneath.

Platform host-protection schemes as a substitute. Some short-term rental platforms offer host damage guarantees. These are contractual promises from the platform, subject to their own caps, exclusions and claims processes — they are not a substitute for a policy with a regulated insurer. If you are relying on one, read what it actually covers and check the authorisation status of anything presented as insurance on the FCA register.

Where to Go Next

For what each cover type does, see our holiday let insurance types guide. For the sum-insured mechanics in criterion 1, see our holiday let buildings insurance guide. For criterion 4 in depth, see our public liability insurance for holiday lets guide. For the legal requirements around cover generally, see our holiday let insurance requirements guide.

Sources

Cover terms, excesses and conditions vary considerably between insurers, and this scorecard is a comparison framework rather than a recommendation. Confirm the detail of any policy with a specialist broker before buying.