Empty Home Insurance

Empty home insurance

Whether boarded up and unoccupied for many months, or simply awaiting new owners for a few weeks, a home can be vulnerable if it is left unguarded and without occupants. A landlord may simply be experiencing a big gap between tenants or somebody may have inherited a house and be looking to rent it out. Whatever someone's reasons, it could be a good idea not to forget empty home insurance, which does not have to come from a big name insurance company but can be bought from an increasing number of specialists.

Somebody may already have buildings cover if they bought the home as the mortgage company will often have applied this as a condition on offering the home loan. Therefore it can be easy to (wrongly) assume that the property is covered adequately if it is left empty for a period of time, and people may hardly ever think about the idea of sorting out their policy and changing it.

You need adequate cover

But if left for a period of time the existing insurance might be inappropriate. Traditional insurance policies may take a different approach to issuing a payout if they then realise a home has been damaged after being left empty. Some will even reduce the level of cover or even consider the insurance invalid while it is empty.

Insurance for empty properties can cover this period of vulnerability and guard against some of the simple problems which in an occupied home would be dealt with quickly, but in an empty property can quickly turn into a crisis. A fire which would otherwise result in minor damage can lead to the property being burnt to the ground, or keen-eyed squatters may move in and wreck the fixtures and fittings, running up a repair bill of thousands. Vandalism may also be more of a risk if passers-by spot that it is empty.

An empty home insurance policy can take away some of the concern about whether or not a home is covered properly when it is left empty for a considerable period, and in the worst circumstances can protect the landlord or owner from a hole in their pocket in the event of a disaster.