Holiday Let Security

Recently, I attended a job where a family holidaying in Norfolk were demanding widow locks to be fitted to the upstairs windows. The gentleman was very apologetic for getting the property owner to call me out and said I must think he was being over cautious, not because of any security issue, but because he was worried his toddlers might open a window and fall out. I was actually more surprised that the property owner hadn’t already thought about this, especially as the windows were very low with a deep enough sill for an adult to sit or a toddler to play on.

The fact is, if you own a holiday cottage, you should really make sure that every possible opening has a working lock on it.

Families don’t just bring their clothes and a Frisbee on holiday any more. They bring their mobile phones and ,possibly, tablets and hand held games consoles as well. My own children seem to go into meltdown if they can’t take at least one gadget on holiday to get their fix of screen time.Some adults may bring their work laptops so that they can keep abreast of what they will be coming back to after the holiday (or more likely, catch up on who’s posting what on social media). All this means the holiday cottage owner is more obliged to make sure the security of the property where all these expensive gadgets will be kept, should be properly protected. I know from experience too many properties in Norfolk do not have the correct locks for home insurance, and this includes plenty of holiday lets.

I therefore urge holiday let owners to have regular security checks and lock services. And holiday makers, check that your cottage does have adequate locks. You are quite within your rights to have a safe and secure home to live in for the duration of your stay.

I know many owners buy these second properties as an investment for topping up the pension. But the pension will not be topped up if you are spending it on compensation claims.

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Thanks for reading.