In the past month there have been many reports of holidaymakers loosing money and being scammed when they book a holiday home letting online. Generally people are scammed when it comes to booking last minute deals or bargain rentals.
To ensure you don’t get scammed this summer, here are some tips and tricks to ensure that the ideal villa you have seen is really genuine.
While you are viewing holiday home online, a good way to check to see if the property is legit is by finding out how long the advertiser has been using the rentals site. Many holiday websites will tell you how long the home owner has been a member which should give you a good idea of their experience.
Most of the time when you want to contact the home owners from the rental websites, you have to do so using an online form or email. However, if you are able to speak to the home owner over the phone, you can get a much better idea whether the home is genuine. By talking to the owner over the phone, you should be able to ask some questions regarding the local area. Remember, if the home owner is valid then they should have no problem talking to you via phone.
While you are talking over the phone, ask the owner some questions to ensure they really do own the home.One good thing to ask them is whether they have holiday home insurance because the manjority of holiday home owner should have taken this insurance out overseas property insurance if the property is overseas.If their property is in their home country, they would generally have some sort of holiday cottage insurance, obviously based upon what type of building it is.
A very important thing to ensure you receive is a booking contract. When you enquire about the property, the owner should send you a booking contract to sign which will inform you of the terms and conditions, if you don’t receive once, then this is a sign of a dodgy dealing.
Now for a few tips to help you detect fraud when it comes to paying for your holiday booking.
Normally, holiday home owners will request payment via electronic bank transfer or personal check, so if these are the only payment methods, don’t be turned off. The biggest problem with these methods is after the cheque has been cashed, you have no fraud cover over the money.
If they offer it to you, try and use other methods that allow you to use credit card such as PayPal. PayPal also have a 45 day payment cover so if you suspect fraud, you can still claim your money back. Another payment method would be by credit card, which tends to be the best, because you get much better cover. The biggest problem with this form of payment is that it costs the money receiver to obtain the funds.
Holiday home owners will generally request a 25% deposit and then 6-8 weeks before your visit, you’ll have to pay the rest of the money. If the full payment is requested, you should be concerned about fraud. Obviously if it was a late booking, the owner would ask for full payment upfront.
You never get alot of protection via holiday home letting sites because they never normally are protected by Atol or Abta. However, many holiday rental companies offer scheme to protect you against fraud up to a certain amount.
When you book your next holiday rental, consider the points I made above. If you are a holiday home owner and reading this, use this guide to help your customers feel more reassured when dealing with your property.
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