There are some things you can do to help better protect your vacation home.

You'll find that most homeowners insurance policies include personal property coverage — this coverage helps replace the stuff you own, such as furniture, electronics, and clothing, after you file a covered claim. However, it's important to remember that personal property coverage may provide limited coverage for certain items. For example, say you keep a boat at your vacation home. If your boat was destroyed by a covered peril, the personal property coverage in your policy might only pay a small amount toward repairs. In this case, you may want to consider a separate boat insurance policy.

You might also want to consider a personal umbrella policy, which provides greater liability protection. This protection generally extends to a second home, the NAIC says. But, some insurers may require that you don't rent out the property for the coverage to be extended — otherwise, a separate optional coverage may be required when renting out the property. Here's an example of how a PUP policy works. Say a guest at your vacation home is injured and sues you for $1 million, but the liability coverage limit in your homeowners insurance policy is $500,000. You'd be responsible for coming up with the extra $500,000. A personal umbrella policy would help cover these additional costs beyond your homeowners insurance coverage.

You may also want to talk with your insurance provider to find out if there are any other insurance protections for your second home that you may want to consider. For instance, if you have a waterfront property, you might want to purchase flood insurance, because flood damage usually isn't covered by a typical homeowners insurance policy. Or, if you have a boathouse on your vacation home's property, you may be able to increase coverage limits to better protect that structure.