Many people are not even taking out cover on the second homes at all, insurers have suggested.
Many second home owners are leaving themselves uninsured, the AA warned today.
According to the firm, some people who own homes abroad are insuring the properties through local providers - even though they provide insufficient levels of cover. The comments also follow figures which suggest that underinsurance is rife among much of this group.
Zurich Private Clients found recently that around ten percent of people do not have insurance for their holiday homes at all, while a further eleven per cent were "not sure" whether or not the cover they did have was sufficient.
Ian Crowder, public relations manager for the AA, advised: "It obviously will be cheaper if you insure abroad, but you're not comparing like for like because overseas insurers don't provide the same levels of cover. For instance, you would get flood cover but that is fairly unique in the UK. In most countries you have to buy flood cover as a separate policy."
He added: "If you're looking to insure a holiday home, these are the sorts of things that you really ought to consider. If [there is] a fire in the kitchen, then you need to get out there and sort it out.
"Or there has been a burglary and the police contact you and say: 'Your home has been burgled', then you can jump on a plane and get out there and you would get emergency travel cover for up to £1000."
According to most recent annual official statistics, 211,000 UK residents own a second home abroad. The data also shows that 278,000 have a second home in Britain.
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