Warning issued that sharing holiday pictures could invalidate home insurance; The warning has been issued as many head abroad for the first time in three years.
Byline: By, Steven Smith
A price comparison site has warned holidaymakers that their home insurance could be invalid should they do one small thing -take a holiday snap and share it on social media.
Holly Bennett, one of the personal finance experts at NerdWallet, says that if you get the urge to share that pic when you're away from home -even just in the UK, it could be wise to think twice, WalesOnline reports.
She said: "At the risk of sounding like a killjoy, you could be creating easy pickings for potential thieves while your home is unoccupied. If you make a claim after a break-in that happened while you were away, and the insurer checks your profile, these social media posts may not help your cause."
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It is important to note that while an insurer may not decline a claim just because you posted a photo, they do expect you to take reasonable care in protecting your home when it comes to security. Similarly, should you be heading on an extended stay away from home, your insurance could decline a claim made while the property is unoccupied.
Holly added: "If you have standard buildings or contents insurance and leave your property unoccupied for more than 30 or 60 days in a row, your insurer may not pay out if you make a claim. The risk of damage, leaks, vandalism and theft increases when nobody's home. And when damage stays unnoticed, it can cost more to fix if it gets worse."
To ensure you're covered should the unthinkable happen, it's wise to let your insurers know and take out extra cover. You can take out specialist cover like unoccupied home insurance, holiday home insurance or landlord insurance, which factor in properties being empty for longer stretches of time, along with offering other benefits, such as covering loss of rental income after damage to your home, like a burst pipe, makes your property uninhabitable.
And while standard home insurance policies usually last a year, these specialist policies last for anything from three months to 12 months, to cover the period it's unoccupied. Below are some other common mistakes people make when it comes to home insurance, including not locking windows, not carrying out repairs and presuming accidental damage is covered:
Assuming you're covered for accidental damage
Fewer than one in five home insurance policies automatically cover you for accidental damage, which is when you or someone else unintentionally and unexpectedly damages your building or belongings. That could be putting your foot through a ceiling, leaving the bath tap on and flooding your home, upending the paint tin on the carpet, dropping an antique vase, or hitting a golf ball...
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