Bulgaria Buyer - Insuring your Bulgarian property


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INSURING YOUR PROPERTY

This is very important as your Bulgarian property is inaccessible to you personally for the majority of the time.

The insurance policy usually covers both the apartment itself and also the contents. We had a number of quotations, and found that not only did prices vary considerably, but on examination, so did the cover.
Some policies are all singing, all dancing and include every eventuality, and others just cover basics and if you want to add specific eventualities, it then costs extra.

We initially used a Bulgarian company, Halifax Consultancy Ltd who recommended we take out our insurance with HDI.

We found them to be responsive, helpful and communicative as they speak good English. We therefore would have no hesitation in recommending them if you are insuring your property purely for yourself, family and friends. Contact Natalia Nikolova or Theo Stamose.

However, we have recently been informed that to rent out our ski apartments we will need to have third party liability insurance. Unfortunately insurance taken out with a Bulgarian company does not give adequate cover for third party liability. A typical figure in Bulgaria is around 10,000 euros. In the unfortunate event of a short term tenant having an accident in your apartment it may be possible to take legal action outside of Bulgaria. It is therefore essential that you are covered by UK law. There are a number of UK companies providing third party liability insurance giving protection up to £2 million. However to obtain this, you will need to take out buildings and/or contents cover.

The company we now use is Underwood’s Insurance in Gwent, South Wales, who provide us with the necessary cover. Underwood’s Insurance provide policies which offer the following advantages:

Accidental damage cover including damage caused by tenants (subject to a signed rental agreement)

Standard Policy excess £100

Earthquake cover provided

Storm and flood cover

Public and Landlords Liability £5,000,000

Contents new for old

Replacement locks

Your cash/money covered

Accidental damage to fixed glass and sanitary fittings included as standard

Loss of rent

Emergency travel cover of £1,000 included as standard

You also have the added benefit that:

Your cover is underwritten by one of the most established and experienced overseas underwriters
All policy documents are in plain English
All telephone calls answered by a person (no automated messaging)
All claims are reported and resolved by a UK based English speaking claims handler
Claims are paid in sterling.

To obtain a quotation from Underwoods, please click on the link below:

Alternatively, contact Sally Sullivan at Underwood's on Tel: 01633 247741
or email at overseas@underwoodisl.co.uk. please quote ref: Bulgaria Buyer when calling.

Page last updated: 27th January 2012