Secondary Home Insurance

Secondary home insurance throughout Arizona.

Your vacation property is an amazing getaway from the daily grind, but it comes with unique risks. We’ll make sure you have the right coverage specially designed for the unique exposures involved.

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Can You Insure a Vacation Home?

Not only can you insure your vacation home, but you must insure your vacation home if you have a mortgage. While your secondary home insurance policy will look different than your main home insurance policy, you must ensure that your vacation home has proper insurance coverage. 

What is Second Home Insurance?

Getting secondary home insurance for a property that serves as a vacation home (not your main residence) can feel confusing, so here are a few basic guidelines and points to consider.

The precise definition of a seasonal and secondary home can vary from insurer to insurer, so be sure to ask us about it. Generally, there are two different types of vacation homes. 

• Secondary home – A secondary home is one that you only stay in for short periods of time. 
• Seasonal home – A seasonal home is one where you may have a longer stay but only at particular times of year.

Is Second Home Insurance More Expensive?

The general principles of vacation home insurance are the same as homeowners insurance. However, there are two differences. 

• One is that a vacation home is more likely to be unattended for extended periods, increasing the risk of burglary as well as both the risk of and potential damage from fires or flooding.
• On the other hand, coverage limits will often be lower at a seasonal or secondary home, simply because you likely keep fewer and less valuable possessions in a vacation property, particularly when it’s unattended.

Additional factors that might affect the cost of your secondary home insurance policy include: 

• Location – Every location brings a different potential for damage. From the beach to the mountains, a specific location might be prone to floods, fires, earthquakes, storms, or damaging winds. These possible hazards will affect the cost of secondary home insurance.

• Type of home – The age and building materials of your home will also affect the cost of secondary home insurance. Additionally, insurance providers will adjust the cost of coverage depending on whether your home is a single-family home, condominium, or townhouse. 
• Special amenities – Amenities such as a pool and hot tub certainly add a relaxing perk to your vacation home, but they also add risk, which will affect the cost of your secondary home insurance policy. 

Because of these two factors, it’s well worth taking the time to find a vacation home insurance policy that provides you with the specific coverage you need at a fair price. We’ll help guide the way.

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Vacation Homes?

Typically, the main residence’s home insurance policy will not extend coverage to the secondary home. In most cases, you will need a separate home insurance policy for your vacation home. However, in some cases, the primary home insurance policy might extend liability coverage to the vacation home. This means that if you are held liable for someone’s injury at your vacation home, your primary home insurance policy might help with medical bills and legal expenses. 

All that being said, if you want to secure coverage for the structure and contents within your vacation home, then you need to have a secondary home insurance policy. It can be confusing to figure out exactly what kind of policy you need for your vacation home to ensure comprehensive protection. For example, depending on the limits of your secondary home insurance policy, you might want to consider additional coverages such as a boat insurance policy or flood insurance. AZCAL Insurance Services can walk you through the process from start to finish. 

Request a Secondary Home Insurance Quote

It can be overwhelming to find a secondary home insurance policy that takes into account all of the relevant factors and meets your specific needs. Let AZCAL Insurance Services help. As an independent agency, we offer multiple options at competitive prices.