DIY villa holiday - best insurance?

am1712

I recently booked a DIY villa holiday for my family through Owners Direct. The holiday is to take place in April 2011, plenty of time away, but I don't want to leave anything to chance.

The Owners Direct website automatically offered insurance, but at £160 it seems quite high. What I liked about it though was that it included a clause if the villa turns out to be a con.

We're a family of 6 (3 18+, 3 kids) and I'd like to have all the trimmings and of course protection if its a con. Which hopefully it won't be, but you just never know.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Suggestions would be most appreciated, thank you

HXDave

The Owners Direct website automatically offered insurance, but at £160 it seems quite high. What I liked about it though was that it included a clause if the villa turns out to be a con.

Excuse my ignorance on this, but if the villa is a con, surely it is upto the company you booked it through to reimburse you. after all, they should know if the villa is there or not.

peachyprice

am1712 wrote: »

IThe Owners Direct website automatically offered insurance, but at £160 it seems quite high. What I liked about it though was that it included a clause if the villa turns out to be a con.

£160 :eek:
If you'd have booked the villa through home-away.com
you'd have got that part of the insurance for free, you could have got an annual insurance policy for that much and got change

HXDave wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance on this, but if the villa is a con, surely it is upto the company you booked it through to reimburse you. after all, they should know if the villa is there or not.

Owners Direct, as the name suggests, is an advertising portal for villa owners, you book direct with the owner. I'm suprised, as a travel agent, that you've never heard of them.

am1712

HXDave wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance on this, but if the villa is a con, surely it is upto the company you booked it through to reimburse you. after all, they should know if the villa is there or not.

The website takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the listings, rather it's a 'good faith' agreement for the owner to provide the advertised accommodation. The actual booking was done through another website, rentalsystems (dot) com

peachyprice wrote: »

£160 :eek:
If you'd have booked the villa through [link edited]
you'd have got that part of the insurance for free, you could have got an annual insurance policy for that much and got change

Expensive isn't it?! I've not heard of that website, but unfortunately your link does not work?

I've seen quotes for MUCH cheaper elsewhere, but whether they provide the same level of cover is not quite clear. I want all aspects covered. I'd think perhaps no more than £60 would be acceptable?

peachyprice

Sorry, typed that link in a bit of a hurry.

The UK site is http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/, which is part of homeaway.com, got it a bit muddled!

We booked a villa with them this summer, once you've booked you send them full details and they send you your guarantee.

lagoslife

Owners Direct is a website portal where owners advertise their holiday properties. As with other portals, the website takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the listings.

As a safeguard they offer the Europ Assistance insurance (7% of holiday cost) to protect against fraud. Btw, this is the same for holiday-rentals.co.uk as homeaway own both Owners Direct and holiday-rentals. The old 'free' guarantee has finished.

The insurance isn't cheap. Although scams do exist, they are rare. Do some simple checks before booking;
http://blog.schofields.ltd.uk/416/how-to-check-for-bogus-holiday-rentals/

Can you pay by credit card as this offers the most protection?
Contact the owner to put your mind at ease.