This category is for Boshers Insurance News and articles about Boshers the Holiday Home Insurance Specialists. They are of interest to owners of holiday homes, cottages and holiday complexes across the UK which are used for holiday letting.

Articles include updates on Boshers and news and notifications about the insurance market of interest to owners of holiday lets.

Check out these posts, using technology to give you a better insurance service, Boshers listed in the Top 100 Short Term vacation rental Blogs and Holiday Homeowners encouraged to take action as wintry weather takes hold.

Checking your holiday home

Holiday home owners encouraged to make regular checks during severe weather

Holiday home insurance specialists Boshers are highlighting the importance of property owners making regular checks on their homes.

The advice comes with more severe weather forecast and with the first school half term of the year bringing visitors in to those areas already affected by extreme wind and flooding.

Checking your holiday home

The firm has issued guidance including checking roofs, guttering and downpipes along with ensuring surrounding trees are monitored for potential damage. Mark Lavington, Director at Boshers Ltd explained; “With many holiday home owners living away from their properties it is vital that they are regularly checked in order to proactively deal with any potential damage from the weather. Identifying issues and damage to property early can make a massive difference in the cost and speed of repair.”

Mark added “The February half term has always been the first major tourism window in the calendar and we are very keen to support the message that the country is open for business.  We want to ensure that holiday home owners are fully prepared to give their guests the warm welcome they always do.”

For more information on Boshers Guidance on holiday home property checks during extreme weather please visit www.boshers.co.uk/blog

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VisitEngland Tourism Accommodation and the Law

Tourism Accommodation and the Law

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VisitEngland Tourism Accommodation and the LawTourism Accommodation and the Law – A One Day Conference on Legislation Affecting Tourism Accommodation Businesses including self-catering holiday homes, cottages and apartments run as furnished holiday letting properties.

VisitEngland hosted the above conference in London on the 12th February 2013 to update attendees on recent and forthcoming legislation changes that affect tourism accommodation in England and no doubt also of interest to owners and operators across the rest of the UK. The conference was aimed at accommodation assessors, including National Quality Assessment Scheme franchises and local schemes, self-catering agents, destination managers, TIC managers, trade associations, tourism consultants and suppliers such as ourselves as specialist holiday home insurance advisers to the UK holiday letting market.

The day was split into two main sessions covering aspects of Tourism Accommodation and the Law, the morning one concerned with Rules and Regulations and the afternoon with Legal Duties and Responsibilities.

Rules and Regulations – in particular the topics covered included:

  • Trading Standards – including Consumer Protection from Unfair trading Regulations, Cancellation Policies, Terms and Conditions etc
  • Fire Safety Regulations – in particular the requirement for both a fire safety risk assessment and a fire safety policy for your guest accommodation
  • The Planning System – an interesting insight into a private and public sector inititive to improve the fortunes of Great Yarmouth
  • Music Copyright – clarification of Performing Right Society (PRS) licence requirements and reference also to the PPL and their licence requirements

Legal Duties and Responsibilities – topics covered included:

  • Discrimination, Equality and Human Rights – including an interesting presention on guests with Assistance Dogs
  • Terms and Conditions – highlighting the importance of writing your terms and conditions in plain english and avoiding legalese
  • The Digital Business – Wi-Fi data protection and the online environment including a snippett of information on the forthcoming Digital Economy Act and Defermation Bill

The day provided a great insight into the Laws affecting tourism accommodation. Look out for a series of blog posts of interest to holiday home owners over the coming weeks which will expand on some of the above areas, there effect on furnished holiday letting owners together with some solutions to challenges faced by you whilst managing your holiday home, holiday cottage complex or holiday apartments.

For further information on UK holiday home insurance visit the website page most relevant to you:

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Escape of water protection and prevention for holiday home owners with Autostopcock

Escape of water protection and prevention for holiday home owners with Autostopcock

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Escape of water protection and prevention for holiday home owners with AutostopcockIt’s a sobering thought but 9 out of 10 burst pipes happen when no one is at home. Escape of water accounts for approximately £1billion of damage annually in addition to the distress caused and loss of irreplaceable items. There is a solution which will be of particular interest to holiday home owners:

Escape of water protection and prevention for holiday home owners with Autostopcock

Protect your assets with an intelligent automatic stopcock which monitors water flow in the property and automatically terminates the mains water if a flood risk occurs. Go to www.autostopcock.co.uk and read how to guard against water damage and watch it in action on the Autostopcock video.

Autostopcock have kindly agreed to offer Boshers holiday home insurance clients a special introductory discount of 25% simply use the discount code BOSH25 when purchasing an Autostopcock for your home or holiday home.

The Autostopcock will detect if there is a flood risk in your holiday home and isolate the water accordingly in instances such as:

  • Abnormal constant waterflow for more than 45 minutes indicating a rupture in the pipe
  • If the temperature falls below 3 degrees celcius and there is a risk of freezing
  • If there has been no water flow for 72 hours indicating that the property has been left vacant

Normal mains water pipes can gush out up to 1 tonne of water of water per hour and the effects can be catastrophic. Recent statistics indicate that water leaks now cost UK insurers more than fire and burglary thus putting pressure on premiums and increasing excesses.

Whilst fitting an Autostopcock is not an alternative to complying with the conditions set out in your holiday home insurance policy and maintaining your plumbing and heating pipes, it will provide you with valuable additional peace of mind and potentially reduce the risk of you having a holiday home insurance claim or at the very least minimise any damage suffered. For further details on Autostopcock visit www.autostopcock.co.uk and remember to enter your discount code BOSH25 at the checkout.

Escape of water protection and prevention for holiday home owners with Autostopcock

 

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Cockermouth Flood RNLI Rescue

PRESS RELEASE: Holiday Home Owners should check their holiday home properties more regularly during adverse weather.

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Holiday Home Owners should check their holiday home properties more regularly during adverse weather. Specialist Holiday Home Insurance broker, Boshers Ltd suggests that holiday home owners would be wise to inspect their furnished holiday lets more frequently during periods of adverse weather, irrespective of their holiday home insurance policies minimum inspection requirements.

Already this winter the UK has been buffeted by a number of storms, bringing high winds, heavy rain and flooding. The latest storm continues to batter North West England and Scotland and according to the Met Office more inclement weather is on the way.

Holiday Let Owners are well advised to inspect their properties on a regular basis and if at all possible, every few days during this inclement weather. Claims instances and their financial, physical and psychological impact can be reduced or mitigated if slipped slates, lose chimney pots, broken branches, blocked watercourses and drains or burst pipes are spotted in time and rectified quickly.

If you live some distance away from your holiday home consider appointing your holiday letting agent, a holiday home services company, your housekeeper or a friendly neighbour, to regularly inspect the property for you.

Through careful property management and good housekeeping, owning a second home for the purpose of holiday letting needn’t be stressful and insurance premiums can be sustained at sensible levels.

Mark Lavington Cert CII, Director of Boshers Ltd commented that, “during the extremely cold spells last winter, many second homes suffered water damage through burst pipes and the extent of some of the insurance claims were exacerbated by delays in discovering the damage”.
For additional guidance on preventative maintenance for holiday home owners, please refer to Boshers Winter Maintenance Checklist

How to make a claim – If your holiday home or main residence is insured via a Boshers Insurance scheme underwrtten by Ecclesiastical – during business hours, please telephone our dedicated claims staff at Boshers on 01237 427992 or alternatively call the Ecclesiastical claims helpline to report your claim on 0845 603 8381. Out of hours, to report a new claim other than legal expenses claim, please call 0845 603 8381 quoting your Holiday Home Insurance policy number, insurer and state that Boshers Ltd are your broker.

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Visit England

VisitEngland Announces New Marketing Campaign To Develop And Promote Accessible Tourism

VisitEngland Announces New Marketing Campaign To Develop And Promote Accessible Tourism

VisitEngland today unveiled plans for a national marketing campaign to promote accessible tourism in England next year. The national tourist board will work with five destinations to develop exciting itineraries with top class accommodation and attractions that provide a warm welcome for all visitors including those with access needs.  The campaign, a first of its kind, will be promoted through marketing activity starting in late Summer 2013, and is designed to highlight the fantastic tourism experiences on offer to all across the country.

VisitEngland will work with Leicester Shire Promotions, Visit Brighton, NewcastleGateshead Initiative, Bath Tourism Plus and Chester & Cheshire to identify tourism businesses in their area that provide particularly excellent levels of service to visitors with access needs – such as those with hearing and visual impairments, wheelchair users, older and less mobile people and people with pushchairs.

The national tourist board will then work with the destinations and businesses to ensure that they all meet the same high standard of accessibility, focussing on key issues such as customer service and visitor information. This will incorporate a number of VisitEngland’s tools and resources, such as Access Statements and online disability awareness training.

The campaign is funded by £100,000 from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) plus contributions from partners. It will provide a cost-effective opportunity for English destinations to showcase their accessible tourism businesses and attract more visits from disabled travellers and their companions; a sector worth almost £2billion a year to the domestic tourism industry*.

Paralympic Medallist and TV Presenter, Ade Adepitan, commented: “VisitEngland’s accessible tourism campaign is a fantastic example of Paralympic legacy.  Promoting destinations in England which are easily accessible and cater to the needs of disabled visitors should inspire all of us to take a break here at home, with the peace of mind that our specific needs will be met so that we can enjoy our holidays to the full.”

James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive, commented: “The RGF money is a huge boost for accessible tourism in England; these new itineraries will showcase the best this country has to offer to all visitors, regardless of disability. We know that accessible tourism in England is worth almost £2billion, and we want to harness this growing, high-value market to become internationally recognised as a leading destination for people with access needs.”

This marketing activity is phase two of a three-year investment project called ‘Growing Tourism Locally’.  Funded by £19.8million from the RGF, the project aims to generate £365million in additional tourism spend over the three year period and inspire more Britons to take more holidays at home.  The project should help to stimulate employment to grow jobs in the tourism sector by 9,100 over the three years.

The total investment of the three-year campaign will be approximately £41m including £19.8m from the Regional Growth Fund, £9m from VisitEngland, £12m leveraged from the national and local tourism sector.

You may also be interested in the VisitEngland free guide to Your Business Case and Guide To Improving Accessibility

As holiday home insurance specialists we are well placed to advise holiday home owners who are making improvements to holiday let properties to improve access or installing special equipment such as hoists. For holiday home insurance queries call our advice line on 01237 429444.

 

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Boshers website as displayed on a range of devices

Boshers insurance all new web design, same friendly team

www.boshers.co.uk our Specialist Insurance Solutions website has had a major makeover.

Boshers insurance all new web design - same friendly team

Boshers insurance website as displayed on a range of devices

Boshers insurance has continued to develop it’s brand by launching a new website and integrating it’s popular blog. From our HQ in Devon, Boshers deliver specialist solutions for holiday home insurance, home insurance, let property insurance and business insurance to landlords and business owners across the UK. With emphasis always on trusted advice and the service that you deserve from your insurance broker, Boshers website is a facilitator to the broker client relationship and not a replacement for real time discussions. We still truly believe “it’s good to talk”!

www.boshers.co.uk is a portal to enhance your customer experience, a resource for useful guides and information about Boshers and how to contact us. The design and build of the new site was undertaken by digital design company DGTL.net who won the contract for their beyond the box approach and eye for detail. The brief included improving accessibility across a range of browsers and devices whilst pulling together all the best parts of our previous site and insurance blog. DGTL.net developed the site around Responsive Web Design, an approach that suggests website design should respond to the user’s behaviour and environment based on the device and browser used to surf the web.

Boshers new website is flexibly designed so we can change and develop the content to meet our customers needs. Please help us by viewing the site on your web enabled devices, whilst we have tested it thoroughly there are bound to be some gremlins. We welcome your feedback!

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Meet the Team

Different people, different backgrounds, a shared vision! Meet the team.

Boshers Specialist Insurance Team
Left to right, back row: Mark Lavington, Director, Neil Williams, Leon Hutchinson, Mark Stevens, Schemes and commercial insurance team. Eric Lang; Commercial Insurance Consultant front row: Christine Shorland, Commercial and claims, Claire Parkin, personal lines including home insurance, Nicky Lavington, Director and Company Secretary, Lorraine Pennington, Commercial and claims, Wendy Raymont, holiday home insurance renewals
Find out more about which insurance needs we can help you with here
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Boshers | Holiday Home Insurance Shares Images On Pinterest

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Boshers Holiday Home Insurance Shares Images On Pinterest. The latest social media hype is focussed on Pinterest. We at Boshers holiday home insurance are always looking for ways to communicate articles of interest to holiday home owners. Check out our first virtual pinboard for UK holiday home owners.

Boshers holiday home insurance shares images on pinterest
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Boshers are proud to offer Ecclesiastical home insurance as recommended by Which?

Which? Recommended Provider for home insurance
The UK’s leading consumer rights group Which? have awarded Ecclesiastical Recommended Provider status for their home insurance cover and customer service.
Their home insurance has been judged by Which? experts to be a quality insurance product backed by great customer service.  Strong positive feedback from Which? members who bought Ecclesiastical’s home insurance was a deciding factor.
Ecclesiastical Home Insurance
Ecclesiastical Home Insurance includes all the following benefits:
  • Up to £500,000 limit as standard on Buildings Insurance
  • Up to £60,000 limit as standard on Contents Insurance
  • Contents Insurance includes Sentinel® card protection for lost or stolen credit & debit cards
  • Up to £50,000 legal protection at no extra cost.
  • High levels of cover as standard
  • >5 Star Rated product by Defaqto, the independent financial research company
One of the UK’s top ten corporate donors**.
Ecclesiastical’s home insurance cover is 5 Star Rated by independent research company Defaqto.
With Ecclesiastical, you can rely on a claims service that has a reputation for excellence.
Boshers are proud to be one of a limited number of brokers able to provide Ecclesiastical home insurance. Our holiday home insurance, property owner insurance and business insurance clients can benefit from this award winning cover for their main residences.
Call 01237 429444 for a home insurance quote today or visit www.boshers.co.uk   

** Source: The Guide to UK Company Giving 2009/10, Directory of Social Change.
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Boshers Top Ten Holiday Home Insurance Blogs of 2011

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Boshers are pleased to bring you their top ten holiday home insurance blogs from 2011. These articles will be of interest to owners of UK furnished holiday lets. Enjoy reading them….

1.Top Tip To Deter Holiday Home Thefts

2.Free Impartial Advice On Energy Saving For Home Owners

3.Visit England Launches Free Guide On Accessible Tourism

5.The UK’s First Police Approved Key Safe

6.Holiday Home Insurance – improved wording and increased cover 

7.Holiday Home Maintenance Checklist

8.Theft Of Heating Oil From Holiday Homes

9.Seven Tips For Safe Holiday Home Letting

10.Holiday Home Winter Maintenance Checklist

Holiday Home Insurance

 

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