2 questions. i4me insurance, and bank account.

[ClareW]

Sorry- I have 2 more unrelated questions!

1. Does anybody have any experience of i4me holiday home insurance?
2. I am about to set up a new bank account for the holiday let, can I just open use a normal personal current account or should it really be a business account (with associated charges)?

Thank you so much in advance for your help and advise!

[Ben McNevis]

Can't comment on the insurance as I've never heard of 'em.

The new bank account thing: I'm wondering why. Is it because you've spoken to an accountant and he/she advised that you keep business and personal money completely separate?

As far as I know, there's no legal requirement for keeping business and personal money separate (I speak as UK resident) so long as all business transactions are properly recorded. Accountants like separation because then reconciling a bank account can be done in an automated way. That said, I do have a Euro account to make it easy for Europeans to pay and easy for me to transfer deposits back to them. I also have a paypal account, particularly handy for USA/Canadian visitors.

So, yes I did set up additional accounts, at least partly for the holiday lets but we accept the bulk of payments and pay the bulk of the expenses from our personal account and it's never been a problem. So do you really need an extra account?

[ClareW]

Thanks for your reply Ben- I want a separate bank account just to make it easier for myself to keep track of whats going in and out without it all getting mixed up with my personal account. Think new personal account should be fine though thinking about it rather than a business account.... I think its just that the banks prefer business accounts as it means they can charge!

[zebedee]

I have just got a separate current account. It means that statements etc are all to do with the property and everything is transparent.
No costs. No personal info going to the accountant.

It was the bank that suggested this approach

[Joanna]

My accountant recommended a separate account and it does make keeping track of everything a lot simpler. Mine was a personal current account which came bundled with a savings account. I send out bank details for the savings account when guests want to send bank transfers and there's very little risk - there are no cards associated with that account, no overdraft facility and, as far as I remember, no facility for direct debits either. So if you're likely to be receiving bank transfers I'd recommend having 2 personal accounts - current and savings.

[SusanMay]

Yup, I don't think there's a need for a separate business account too. For several years I just used our usual personal current account. I do give out details by email if people want to pay by bank transfer. I don't think there is much risk attached to doing this. Quite recently I set up a separate account for the cottage but only because I wanted an excuse to get a Santander 123 account. I track all the finances associated with the cottage in a spreadsheet anyway. This has a yearly overview with all the direct debits on it, and then a sheet a month which feeds into the year one, for all other costs and all incoming money. This is the basis for the annual tax return.

[ClareW]

Thank you all very much for your replies- very helpful as usual!

Nobody with any experience of i4me insurance??

[Joanna]

Just reviving this thread as I've had a quote from i4me insurance which is cheaper than our current insurer (Schofields). The policy looks comparable with our current one so I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of their service?

[ClareW]

Hi Jo, I did go for the i4me insurance in the end because of the price and also because they offered insurance from when we bought the property and were (and still are) doing it up as a vacant property which will carry through to when it is up and running as a holiday let (very shortly!) Their customer service was fantastic when I was ringing around with all my preliminary questions and they seem very efficient. Fortunately I haven't had to make a claim so can't comment on that eventuality!

[Casscat]

For over 50s I do recommend Saga's holiday home insurance. The policy appears to be very good and the premium was highly competitive when I was doing my initial comparison. Again I have no claims so I cannot comment on the efficiency of their claims handling.