Buildings
- Structure, as the policy defines it
- Often the part a lender asks to see
- Rebuild cost, rather than the price you paid
- May already sit in a community policy
Insurance
Property insurance across borders
Understand buildings, contents, liability, occupancy and local risks when you own property in another country.
A policy written for a permanent home may not be suitable for a holiday home, rental property or house left empty for long periods.
How a property is used can matter as much as where it is located.
Property insurance depends on where the property is located, how it is used, whether it is occupied year-round, what it contains, and which insurer or broker can legally cover that risk.
Occupancy, rental use, natural hazards, rebuild cost and local legal requirements can all affect whether a policy responds as expected.
Buying the building is a separate set of questions, on buying overseas and the Property section.
The contract
What property insurance covers
Property insurance is a group of promises about a building and what is in it. Buildings, contents and liability can be in one policy or in several. Owner-occupied homes, second homes, holiday homes, rentals, vacant property and homes abroad can be different risks even when the architecture looks the same. A local insurer and an insurer in another country can both be relevant. Which you need depends on the property, the mortgage and any local rule. This page does not say that one is always enough.
Two sums
Buildings and contents are separate decisions
The building is the structure: walls, roof, and the fixtures the policy defines as part of it. Contents are the things you would take if you moved: furniture, clothes, equipment. A claim on one does not pay the other. In an apartment, the structure may already be insured by the building, while your contents are not.
Contents
- Belongings inside the home
- Often left out of a buildings-only or community policy
- Valuables may have a smaller cap
- A second home can have a thinner list than a main home
The sum insured
Rebuild cost and market value answer different questions
Market value is what a buyer might pay, including the land and the location. Rebuild cost is what it might take to reinstate the building. They can diverge, especially where land is expensive or construction is not. Insuring the sale price can leave you short of a rebuild, or paying for land you would not rebuild. Underinsurance is the risk that a claim is reduced because the sum insured was too low. How a policy applies that reduction is in the wording. This page does not calculate a rebuild.
Market value
What the property might sell for
Includes land, location and demand. Useful to a buyer. A weak guide to the cost of putting the building back.
Rebuild cost
What reinstatement might cost
Materials, labour and the way the policy says the building should be put back. Ask a local professional. Do not copy the purchase price.
Use
An owner-occupied home is the assumption many policies start from
A policy written for a permanent home usually expects someone to live there, to notice a leak, and to keep the place secure. If that is true, say so. If you are about to leave, the assumption stops being true on the day you go. Tell the insurer before the use changes, not after a loss.
Occupancy
The same building can be four different risks
Owner-occupied
You live there. The wording often assumes regular occupancy, someone on site, and ordinary household use.
Second or holiday home
You are away for long stretches. Vacancy, security and who checks the property become part of the risk.
Rental
Someone else lives there, or guests come and go. Landlord wording, liability and loss of rent are separate questions.
Vacant
Empty for a period the policy may limit. Unoccupancy is a common reason a claim is looked at differently.
Away from home
Second homes and holiday homes spend time empty
Vacancy, security, water damage and who is looking after the place are the practical questions. A local manager, a neighbour or nobody are different answers. Occupancy rules in the policy may limit how long the house can stand empty. Heating, water and alarms are sometimes conditions, not suggestions. Ask what you must do, and what happens in the weeks you are in another country.
Letting
A rental is a different use, including a short let
Landlord cover is the usual name for a policy aimed at a property someone else occupies. Tenant damage, your liability to the tenant or to a visitor, and loss of rent are concepts that may appear — or may not. A short-term or holiday let is often a further distinction: more people, more turnover, different expectations about contents. Disclose the use you actually intend. A yield in a brochure is not an insurance wording.
Empty
Vacant property is noticed by insurers for a reason
An empty building is slower to reveal a leak, a break-in or a fire. Policies often limit unoccupancy, or change the terms once a number of days has passed. That number is in the contract. This page does not state one. If a move, a sale or a renovation will leave the house empty, ask before the period starts. Security and regular visits may be conditions of the cover that remains.
Place
Natural hazards depend on the address, and on the wording
Flood, earthquake, storm, wildfire and coastal exposure are features of a location. They are not automatically features of a policy. Some contracts include them, some limit them, some exclude them, and some expect a separate local arrangement. Ask of this address. Do not treat a headline as cover for a catastrophe.
Flood
Ask whether water damage from outside the building is included, limited, or set aside.
Earthquake
Ask whether ground movement is a covered event in that place, or a separate wording.
Storm
Ask how wind and storm are described, and what you must do to limit damage afterwards.
Wildfire
Ask whether fire from outside the property is treated like fire that starts inside it.
Coast
Ask about erosion, surge and any restriction that applies because of where the building sits.
Other people
Liability is injury or damage beyond your own walls
A visitor who is hurt, a neighbour whose property is damaged, a tenant, or someone working at the house can give rise to a claim against you. Whether the policy responds is a liability section, not the buildings section. In a shared building, the community policy may cover common areas and leave the inside of your unit to you. Ask where one policy ends.
Items
Valuables often sit under a smaller limit
Jewellery, art, watches and some electronics are commonly subject to a sub-limit, or to a requirement that you name them. A general contents sum does not mean every item is covered to its full value. Ask what must be declared, what evidence of value you should keep, and whether an item is covered away from the house. No limit is stated here.
The lender
A mortgage can require buildings insurance
A lender may ask for buildings cover as a condition of the loan, sometimes with the lender noted on the policy. That requirement is about their security. It does not tell you that contents, liability or a hazard at that address are included. Ask the lender what they need, and ask the insurer what the policy actually does. Currency can differ between the loan and the sum insured.
The borrowing questions are on expat mortgages.
Shared buildings
An apartment may already be partly insured
A building or community policy often covers the structure and the common areas. Your contents, and your liability inside the unit, may still be yours. Improvements you have made — a kitchen, a floor — can fall into a gap between the two. Ask the manager for the master policy, read what it excludes, and insure the remainder on purpose. Co-owners should agree who is responsible for arranging it.
Works
Renovation can change both the risk and the duty to tell the insurer
Builders on site, an unoccupied period, and structural work are events many policies want to know about in advance. Cover during the works may differ from cover when you live there. A contractor’s own insurance is a separate document. Ask what you must notify, what the contractor must carry, and when your policy returns to its ordinary terms.
After damage
A property claim starts with limiting the loss
Make the building safe, photograph what happened, and tell the insurer on the timetable the policy sets. Keep damaged items until you are told you can dispose of them. Theft and malicious damage often need a police report. Invoices, estimates and a loss adjuster’s visit are part of larger claims. An adjuster investigates. Their appointment is not a decision to pay.
- 01Make the property safe
- 02Photograph the damage
- 03Tell the insurer
- 04Keep damaged items until you are told otherwise
- 05A police report where theft or malicious damage is involved
- 06Invoices and estimates
- 07A loss adjuster, if the insurer appoints one
A change of country
Moving can change how the property is used
Tell the insurer if you leave a home behind, if it will be empty, or if it will be let. A policy in the country you are leaving and a policy in the country you are entering are two contracts. Local rules may expect a local policy. Renewal is the moment to check that the use, the sum insured and the address the insurer holds are still true. The wider move is on moving country.
Due diligence
Questions worth asking
01Is the building insured, or only the contents?
Ask which part of the property the policy covers. In a shared building, a community policy may already insure the structure.
02Is the rebuild value adequate?
Ask what it would cost to rebuild, not what the property would sell for. This page does not calculate either figure.
03Are long vacant periods allowed?
Ask how many days the property may be empty, what you must do while it is empty, and what changes if you go past that.
04Is rental use covered?
Tell the insurer if someone else will live there. An owner-occupier wording may not respond to a let property.
05Are short-term lets covered?
Ask specifically. A long let and a holiday let can be different uses in the same contract.
06Which natural hazards are covered?
Ask about flood, earthquake, storm, wildfire and coastal risk for this address. Do not assume a standard policy includes them.
07What excess applies?
Ask the amount, whether a higher excess applies to a particular hazard, and the currency.
08Is liability included?
Ask whether injury to a visitor, a tenant or a neighbour, and damage to their property, is part of this policy.
09What does the building or community policy already cover?
Ask the manager for the master policy before you buy a second one that overlaps it, or before you assume it covers your contents.
10What happens if I renovate?
Ask whether you must tell the insurer before structural work, and how an unoccupied or open building is treated while the work is underway.
11How are overseas claims handled?
Ask who you call, which documents they want, and whether a local loss adjuster is used.
Pause
Red flags
- A sum insured taken from the market price, with no rebuild discussion
- Rental use that has not been disclosed
- Vacancy rules that nobody has explained
- An assumption that flood, earthquake or wildfire is included
- Liability left unread
- A second policy that duplicates the apartment or community cover, or leaves a gap beside it
Situations
Common scenarios
An expat keeping a former home
Ask whether the policy still assumes you live there, and what changes when the house is empty or let.
A second home abroad
Ask about vacancy, who holds the keys, and which local hazards the address actually faces.
A holiday-let owner
Ask whether short stays, guest damage and liability to guests are in the wording you have.
A retiree relocating
Ask which property is now the home, and which policy should be rewritten because the use has changed.
An apartment in a managed building
Ask what the community policy covers before you insure the same walls twice, or leave your own contents out.
A property being renovated
Ask before the work starts. Structural work and an empty site are often a notification, not a detail.
Advice
When a closer look is especially useful
- An unusual building or a non-standard construction
- High-value contents or art
- Short-term rental
- Property in more than one country
- Ownership through a company or with other people
- A location exposed to flood, earthquake, storm or wildfire
Compare property insurance providers
International property insurance is not just buildings and contents
Compare property insurance providers by buildings cover, contents, valuables, second homes, transit, liability, catastrophe exposure, unoccupancy and multi-property capability.
A standard household policy, international personal-property policy and high-value private-client programme are different products designed for different risks.
Start with the property
What kind of property risk are you insuring?
What to compare
The important differences are in the risk details
01
Property location
Which countries and territories can be insured?
02
Buildings
Is the physical structure insured?
03
Contents
What personal possessions are covered?
04
Valuables
Can fine art, jewellery and collections be scheduled?
05
Occupancy
What happens when the home is empty?
06
Natural catastrophe
How are flood, hurricane, wildfire or earthquake risks handled?
07
Liability
Is personal, occupier or landlord liability included?
08
Claims
Who supports you if something goes wrong?
Filter property insurance providers
4 providers listed for comparison.
Chubb Private Client
High-value home and valuables insurer
A high-value home and valuables insurer, distributed through brokers and advisers. The published proposition is market-specific.
Best aligned with
HNW households · multi-home families
Global reach High
Primary audience Affluent and HNW households with high-value homes, multiple residences and valuable collections
- Buildings
- Core
- Contents / personal property
- Core
- Second / holiday homes
- Strong
- Multiple homes
- Strong
- Valuables
- Exceptional
- Transit / moving
- Policy dependent
- Rental / tenant liability
- Policy dependent
- Catastrophe cover
- Territory dependent
- Personal liability
- Strong
- Unoccupied / seasonal
- Product dependent
- Claims and servicing
- Specialist claims
- Provider model
- Direct insurer
- Pricing
- Quote based
Country and product availability varies. Do not generalise UK private-client wording to all markets.
Gallagher / Clements Worldwide
International personal insurance broker
International personal-property and household-effects cover for expats and globally mobile households, with transit and storage described as a core part of the proposition.
Best aligned with
Expats · internationally mobile households
Global reach Very high
Primary audience Expats, diplomats, government contractors, international educators and globally mobile households
- Buildings
- Selected markets
- Contents / personal property
- Core
- Second / holiday homes
- Available
- Multiple homes
- Case dependent
- Valuables
- Available
- Transit / moving
- Exceptional
- Rental / tenant liability
- Selected programmes
- Catastrophe cover
- Policy dependent
- Personal liability
- Available
- Unoccupied / seasonal
- Product dependent
- Claims and servicing
- Specialist international claims
- Provider model
- International broker
- Pricing
- Quote based
Current branding and contracting entity should use Gallagher/Clements transition wording correctly. Property product availability varies materially by country and residence.
Howden Private Clients / R K Harrison
Private-client insurance broker
Private-client household broking for high-value homes, overseas properties, holiday homes and collections.
Best aligned with
HNW homeowners · overseas-home owners
Global reach High
Primary audience Affluent and HNW homeowners with high-value homes, overseas properties and collections
- Buildings
- Core
- Contents / personal property
- Core
- Second / holiday homes
- Strong
- Multiple homes
- Strong
- Valuables
- Exceptional
- Transit / moving
- Policy dependent
- Rental / tenant liability
- Policy dependent
- Catastrophe cover
- Market dependent
- Personal liability
- Available
- Unoccupied / seasonal
- Broker dependent
- Claims and servicing
- Broker claims support
- Provider model
- Broker
- Pricing
- Bespoke
Use only confirmed territorial and product scope. Overseas home availability depends on insurer appetite and local regulation.
Lockton Private Clients
High-net-worth private-client insurance broker
Private-client broking for prestige homes, holiday homes, valuables and portfolios held by HNW and UHNW families.
Best aligned with
HNW / UHNW families · prestige-home owners
Global reach High
Primary audience HNW / UHNW individuals and families with prestige homes, holiday homes and international lifestyles
- Buildings
- Strong
- Contents / personal property
- Strong
- Second / holiday homes
- Exceptional
- Multiple homes
- Exceptional
- Valuables
- Exceptional
- Transit / moving
- Policy dependent
- Rental / tenant liability
- Policy dependent
- Catastrophe cover
- Territory dependent
- Personal liability
- Strong
- Unoccupied / seasonal
- Broker-led
- Claims and servicing
- Private-client support
- Provider model
- Independent broker
- Pricing
- Bespoke
Territorial limits, insurer appetite and risk-control requirements vary by home, location and portfolio.
Compare international property insurance providers
Short published facts only. These labels describe product role. They are not ratings, premiums or claim decisions.
A broker arranges cover. The insurer that issues the policy is a separate party.
| Provider | Best aligned with | Buildings | Contents | Second homes | Valuables | Unoccupied | Multiple homes | Provider model | View |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNW households · multi-home families | Core | Core | Strong | Exceptional | Product dependent | Strong | Direct insurer | View |
| Expats · internationally mobile households | Selected markets | Core | Available | Available | Product dependent | Case dependent | International broker | View |
| HNW homeowners · overseas-home owners | Core | Core | Strong | Exceptional | Broker dependent | Strong | Broker | View |
| HNW / UHNW families · prestige-home owners | Strong | Strong | Exceptional | Exceptional | Broker-led | Exceptional | Independent broker | View |
| Provider | Best aligned with | Second homes | Valuables | View |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNW households · multi-home families | Strong | Exceptional | View |
| Expats · internationally mobile households | Available | Available | View |
| HNW homeowners · overseas-home owners | Strong | Exceptional | View |
| HNW / UHNW families · prestige-home owners | Exceptional | Exceptional | View |
Chubb Private Client
High-value insurer
- Provider type
- High-value insurer
- Best aligned with
- HNW households · multi-home families
- Buildings
- Core
- Contents
- Core
- Second homes
- Strong
- Valuables
- Exceptional
- Seasonal / unoccupied
- Product dependent
- Multiple homes
- Strong
- Provider model
- Direct insurer
Gallagher / Clements Worldwide
International broker
- Provider type
- International broker
- Best aligned with
- Expats · internationally mobile households
- Buildings
- Selected markets
- Contents
- Core
- Second homes
- Available
- Valuables
- Available
- Seasonal / unoccupied
- Product dependent
- Multiple homes
- Case dependent
- Provider model
- International broker
Howden Private Clients / R K Harrison
Private-client broker
- Provider type
- Private-client broker
- Best aligned with
- HNW homeowners · overseas-home owners
- Buildings
- Core
- Contents
- Core
- Second homes
- Strong
- Valuables
- Exceptional
- Seasonal / unoccupied
- Broker dependent
- Multiple homes
- Strong
- Provider model
- Broker
Lockton Private Clients
Private-client broker
- Provider type
- Private-client broker
- Best aligned with
- HNW / UHNW families · prestige-home owners
- Buildings
- Strong
- Contents
- Strong
- Second homes
- Exceptional
- Valuables
- Exceptional
- Seasonal / unoccupied
- Broker-led
- Multiple homes
- Exceptional
- Provider model
- Independent broker
Understand the difference
Standard home insurance or private-client cover?
Standard / international home cover
Often discussed for buildings, contents, liability, holiday homes and ordinary household possessions.
Private-client / high-value cover
Relevant where there may be a luxury home, several residences, high-value contents, art, jewellery, wine, collections or a specialist claims need.
High-value insurance is often designed around broader cover, valuations, risk management and specialist claims service rather than price alone.
Cover structure
Buildings, contents and valuables are different risks
Buildings
The physical structure and permanent fixtures.
Contents
Possessions inside the property.
Valuables
Items such as jewellery, watches, fine art and collections that may need separate limits or scheduling.
Moving country
What happens while your possessions are being shipped?
- Home cover may not apply during transit.
- Storage may need specific cover.
- International removals create different risks from a house that is already occupied.
- Damage or loss during shipping depends on the transit wording.
On this comparison, worldwide transit and storage are described as a core differentiator only for Gallagher / Clements Worldwide. The other providers are policy or broker dependent. The household move itself is on moving country and relocation.
Second homes
Holiday homes create different insurance questions
Unoccupancy
How long can the home remain empty?
Security
Are alarms, locks or caretaker arrangements required?
Short-term letting
Can the property be rented to guests?
Catastrophe
Does the location have flood, hurricane, earthquake or wildfire risk?
Claims
Who handles claims locally?
Location risk
The same property can be a very different insurance risk in another country
Flood
Earthquake
Hurricane / windstorm
Wildfire
Storm
Landslip / subsidence
Coverage, exclusions and deductibles should be checked for the specific property location. None of the providers in this comparison is described as covering every peril.
Common scenarios
Which property-insurance situation is closest to yours?
How we compare
What WiT Access looks at
Geographic reach
Can the provider support an overseas property risk?
Property scope
Buildings, contents, second homes and portfolios.
Valuables
Fine art, jewellery and collections.
Occupancy
Holiday homes, seasonal use and unoccupancy.
Catastrophe
How location-specific risks are described.
Portfolio capability
Several homes or a private-client arrangement.
Claims
The type of servicing described.
Provider model
Broker or insurer?
These are questions used in editorial review. Internal numeric scores are not published.
Guides
Related guides
Tools
Related tools
These organise a move or a transfer. They do not value a building or check a policy.
Explore insurance
Explore other insurance topics
- International health insuranceOngoing healthcare while living abroad, read as policy features rather than a ranking.
- Life insuranceResidence, beneficiaries, ownership and whether an existing policy still fits after a move.
- Travel insuranceTrips, cancellation and emergency treatment, and why a trip policy is a different contract.
- Business insuranceLiability, people and operations when the work crosses a border.
Insuring a property outside your home country?
Get clear on occupancy, rebuild cost, liability and local hazards before you assume a home policy still fits.
WiT Access provides general information and comparison resources. Property-insurance coverage, exclusions, catastrophe terms, unoccupancy conditions, premiums and geographic availability vary by provider, policy, property and jurisdiction. Nothing on this page constitutes insurance, financial, legal, tax or property advice. WiT Access does not determine whether an insurer will accept a risk, the terms it will offer or whether a claim will be paid. Read the full policy wording and obtain appropriately regulated insurance advice where required.