Beach Hut Insurance

Our beach hut and chalet policies provide specific cover for structures by the sea. The reason beach huts and chalets require specialist cover is because they face different risks from inland structures made from bricks and mortar.

For example, beach huts are generally made from wood which requires more maintenance and can be damaged more easily. Also, the seaside location of beach huts mean they often feel the full force of the sea and are more susceptible to strong winds and storms that hit the main land at full force.

You may ask, “what makes a beach hut different from a chalet?”. We define the two very simply. You can sleep in a chalet, you can’t sleep in a beach hut – easy!

Beach hut insurance is also there to provide cover for when you’re not there. That means we cover risks such as vandalism and liability cover should you chose to rent your beach hut or chalet out to others.

As we’ve had worse weather than usual in recent memory, many councils now require beach hut owners to hold public liability insurance as a minimum. This is so that the public and the owner are covered should debris from a damaged hut cause damage or injury to someone else or their property.

Our beach hut and chalet policy aims to cover you for a range of risks to your property. That means the building itself and some of the items you choose to keep in it. We hope that as a consequence, you feel comfortable leaving your beach hut knowing that should something happen to it while you’re gone, you can afford to get the damage fixed.

Here are just a few of the key benefits provided by Towergate’s specialist beach hut and chalet insurance:

• Almost every cause of physical loss covered – That means lightning strikes, sea damage, vandalism, wind damage, impact (i.e. something crashing into your beach hut), earthquake, even asteroid damage is covered by our policy.

• Cover if you chose to rent out your beach hut – We provide public liability cover as standard which will also apply should you wish to let your beach hut or chalet out to others. That means, if someone has an accident whilst staying at your hut (provided you take all reasonable care to limit any loss, damage or injury), you’ll be covered if they take you to court. Unfortunately however, we can’t currently cover you for damage or theft caused by tenants.

• Loss of rent, licence fee or ground rent - This aspect of the cover is designed to compensate you for financial losses that are not directly related to the hut itself. If you would have received rent, but can’t have people use the hut due to a claim, we will pay 10% of what you would have earned in that time.

  Similarly if you pay ground rent or a licence fee, you will usually continue to pay this even if you can’t use the hut. We will reimburse you 10% of this cost in the time the hut is not available for you to use.

• Accidental damage to cover those little mishaps – You can’t defend against every eventuality. Accidents will happen and when they do, our policy is there as a safety net. As we’ve noted above, this cover does not apply to accidental damage caused by tenants.

There is one key difference between a beach hut and a beach chalet: a beach chalet has a licence to be slept in overnight and a beach hut does not. Your local council will be able to let you know you if you are unsure.

You don’t need to insure your hut for the price you bought it for. You need to find out a rebuild cost from your council, a local builder or your beach hut association. Make sure you ask for demolition and removal costs too.

Chalets are usually a different type of construction to beach huts and do not need shutters over the windows for cover to be valid.

Not quite. Our insurance is based around the rebuild value of the beach hut or chalet. This is different from the purchase value because it’s based around what it would cost to rebuild your beach hut if it were to be totally destroyed.

That includes clearing away debris, materials and labour. We can also cover solicitors and architects fees where appropriate provided it’s covered in your sums insured.

If you want to know more about our monthly payment option, please read our dedicated page on Direct Debit.

We have provided a summary of the key features of the policy, above. For details of the terms and conditions applicable, please refer to the insurance product information document and policy wording, which are available during the quotation process.

This policy does not cover for loss or damage caused by river or coastal erosion and there is no cover for any claim due to an epidemic or pandemic infectious disease. Please check the policy wording for full details of restrictions to the cover.

Watch our video about the benefits of joining a beach hut association.

Beach hut associations are established to cater for local beach hut communities. Some have been around for many years while others are just starting up but either way, they provide a great service to beach hut owners.

In most cases the fee for joining a Beach Hut Association is annual and can be as little as £5 for the year.

You will often find that beach hut insurance companies may offer a discount to beach hut association members. This is due to the association's work towards protecting Britain's beach huts. Many associations run beach patrols and work with the police to ensure that the vandalism and theft from huts is prevented as much as possible.

It’s the little things that can make a big difference and the role of beach hut associations can sometimes be as simple as a phone call. By having your details on record, many associations will alert you if something has happened to your hut. That way you may be able to fix any problems before they get worse.

Another benefit comes with the sense of community and social aspects. Joining an association is a good way to meet your neighbours and get involved in events that are happening on beaches near you. Associations such as Mudeford will through annual fun days in the summer which is a great way to spend the day.

One last benefit comes with insurance; some companies may offer lower excesses to BHA members meaning you would pay less towards a claim if something happened to your hut.

All in all, beach hut associations provide a fantastic service to owners and it’s well worth seeing if there is one in your area.

If you need a quote, or have any questions, please call the team or request a beach hut insurance quote.

Be sure you’re adequately insured – With any kind of property insurance, it’s important to get your sums insured right. In the case of our beach hut cover, it’s especially important to know the rebuild value of your hut. You can check with any local beach hut builder to get an accurate estimate of how much it would cost to rebuild your hut from scratch. Your beach hut association may also be able to help you with these figures.

Update us every two years or so – to avoid being underinsured, you should get your beach hut valued roughly every two years and update us if it has changed.

Let us know if you’re a member of a beach hut association - We offer zero excess claims to those who are members of approved beach hut associations. These include: Bournemouth Beach Hut Association, Tankerton Beach Hut Owners Association and many more. A full list of registered associations can be found on the right of this page.

Let us know about any additional items you keep in your beach hut or chalet – We can cover surf boards, canoes and other sports equipment. Just be sure to let us know you’d like these included in your policy. Unfortunately, we can’t cover laptops and other electrical items.

We strongly recommend to all of our customers they familiarise themselves with the exclusions on their policy. This means that you’ll know exactly what you’re covered for and the circumstances under which that cover doesn’t apply. You can find full policy documents on our beach hut insurance page.

In the meantime, here are some aspects which our policy unfortunately can’t cover:

• Windows on beach huts must be covered by shutters – to reduce the risk of your windows breaking we require them to be covered by shutters when you’re not there. If you don’t fit shutters to your windows we will be unable to pay out if you claim for a broken window. If you own a chalet however, you do not need to have shutters.

• Utilities must be switched off at the mains – if your beach hut or chalet has running water, electricity or gas supply you must turn all these things off when you leave to go home. We may not be able to pay out for an escape of water claim if you haven’t done this for example.

• Contents exclusions – unfortunately we can’t cover money, credit cards or electrical items such as laptops and tablets in your contents cover