What does lodge, cabin, and chalet insurance cover?

Your holiday home is somewhere you can retreat to, whether escaping the commotion of everyday life or creating adventure-fuelled memories with family and friends.

The last thing you want is for it to be damaged or broken into whilst you aren’t staying there. This guide explains what lodge, cabin and chalet insurance covers, and explores why you might want to consider it for your holiday home.

 

Building and contents

As is common with standard home insurance, your building and contents are prioritised through most policies since they’re usually worth the most.

They’re often covered against natural risks, such as fire, frost, or flood damage, and security risks, such as malicious damage or theft. However, the extent of cover varies from insurer to insurer.

Say your lodge, cabin or chalet’s roof is damaged during a thunderstorm. Building and contents insurance could cover the repair costs and ensure you return to your retreat as soon as possible.

Through Ripe, your holiday home is protected against the following:

• fire
• lightning
• storm
• flood
• frost
• falling trees
• accidental loss or damage
• vandalism
• malicious damage
• theft

Up to £500k of extensive cover is included, with contents protected up to £60k.

 

New-for-old replacement

Holiday lodges, cabins and chalets can depreciate at a rate of around 15% annually, which is a significant loss over a decade.

But if you have depreciation covered through insurance, you can rest assured that your investment won’t be affected if your holiday home is damaged beyond repair in an accident.

Through Ripe, your lodge, cabin or chalet can be covered on a new-for-old basis if it’s up to 10 years old. Or, if it’s older, it can be covered at market value.

This means you’ll receive a comparable brand-new replacement in the event of a total loss.

 

Injury to another person or third-party property

It’s easy to overlook these events if you haven’t experienced them. But there’s always a risk of accidents, especially if you rent out your holiday home.

Say a guest injures themselves whilst tripping on the steps of your chalet, or if your TV aerial falls from the roof of your chalet and damages a neighbour’s car.

Public liability cover could protect you against any claims that arise from these situations by covering the legal costs.

Through Ripe, you receive up to £2m public liability cover as standard but you can upgrade to £3m or £5m if you wish to up your protection.

 

Underground services

The workings beneath your lodge, cabin, or chalet might be the last thing on your mind when organising your insurance and holidays for the year. But it’s a good idea to at least be aware of the risks in case you’re unfortunate enough to have a fault.

Say your water pipe becomes damaged and isn’t functioning correctly—this cover can help you get it repaired at no extra cost.

If you choose this cover option through Ripe, you receive up to £1,500 worth of cover for any accidental damage to underground pipes, drains and cables and up to £10k for debris removal.

So, you can rest easy knowing you won’t be out of pocket if something goes wrong beneath your holiday home.

 

Optional extras

You can opt for additional cover based on your individual needs when purchasing insurance for your holiday lodge, cabin, or chalet.

The one thing to look out for is pre-bundled packages, which can leave you paying for add-ons you might not benefit from. For example, if you don’t own sports equipment, there would be no reason for this to be included as part of your premium.

At Ripe, we believe you should only ever pay for the cover you need, which is why we have a range of optional extras rather than bundling these together in one policy.

That way, you can choose your cover based on your lifestyle and preferences.

The optional extras include:

• personal possessions—covers loss or damage to personal possessions such as handbags and sunglasses up to a maximum value of £2k (the maximum amount you can claim per item is £500)
• rental cover and loss of rent—includes a maximum of £200 per week for loss of rent and £800 overall
• temporary accommodation—provides cover for accommodation expenses if an accident renders your lodge uninhabitable
• no claims protection—you can protect your no-claims discount with an additional premium
• legal expenses—UK legal expenses cover is included up to £25k for cases such as evictions, sale and purchase disputes, and property infringement
• sports equipment—gear such as bikes, surfboards and golf clubs are covered up to a maximum of £2k (the single item limit it £500, and £250 for bicycles)

You can read our holiday lodge, cabin or chalet insurance booklet to learn more about the cover, including restrictions.

 

Holiday lodge, cabin, and chalet FAQs

 

What age of holiday lodge, cabin, and chalet do you cover?

We can arrange cover for holiday homes manufactured in the last 20 years.

However, new-for-old replacement is only available for properties that are up to 10 years old. Others can be covered at their current market value.

 

How much does the insurance cost?

A few factors determine the cost of your lodge, cabin, or chalet insurance, including:

• your holiday home’s age
• its location
• security measurements in place
• the value of the holiday home and its contents
• your chosen level of cover
• your no claims bonus

The easiest way to price up your policy is to get an instant online quote.

 

Can I insure a lodge, cabin, or chalet that I live in year-round?

Since your lodge, cabin or chalet is classed as a holiday home rather than a residential property, we can’t arrange cover for those who live there all year round.

However, we do have a separate park home product for those who live on residential sites.

 

Can friends and family members use my lodge, cabin, or chalet?

Yes—insurance arranged through Ripe covers the person who takes out the policy, their domestic partner, members of their family (or families) who are permanently living with them, and their foster children who live with them.

Friends and family outside this group will only be covered to use your lodge, cabin, or chalet if you have included Rental Cover and Loss of Rent.

 

Specialist holiday lodge, cabin, and chalet insurance through Ripe

If you’re looking for peace of mind staying both at and away from your holiday home this year, you might want to consider specialist insurance.

Through Ripe, you can choose cover that protects your holiday home from theft, loss, or damage up to the value of £500k and your Public Liability up to £5m.

If you bought your lodge, cabin, or chalet new and it’s less than 10 years old, it can also be covered on a new-for-old basis, so you never have to worry about losing your investment.

Click here to learn more, or get an instant online quote today.