Insuring an empty house - help?

[spud989]

Is proving more difficult than I thought. I'm trying to find a good price for my mum who has recently jointly inherited my nana's house. Comparison sites seem to indicate that they offer it, but then there's no way of selecting 0 occupants on the form? It's always 1+ or policyholder or policyholder and spouse, etc.

Does anyone know how to get a reasonable price on insuring an empty property? Never had to do it before. The house is just a regular semi-detached and all contents have been removed. It's basically a shell, so shouldn't be costing more than about £100/year.

Any help appreciated on where to actually find it would be great. Tried searching on compare the market and moneysupermarket so far. Maybe I'm just being thick.

[n3il123]

We had to insure my father in laws house when he died last year and it cost a fortune even as an empty shell.

[Mr Pointy]

Google throws up some hits:

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/home-insurance/un...
https://www.gocompare.com/home-insurance/unoccupie...

Try phoning NFU & you current insurer.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

You'll need to speak to somebody (broker) I'd think.

When we had this problem our insurance had several covenants. (Limit on time empty plus visits on a regular basis to name a couple).

[Parkette]

If you can find the previous insurer I would start there.

It may be neccessary to accept limited cover, for example Fire, Lightning Explosion only.

Suggest that you drain the water including the radiators and any tanks in the loft.

[cml24]

Depending on location of the house, couldn't be worth staying there overnight every couple of weeks?

Would this comply with more 'normal' polices perhaps?

[hutchst]

I insured mine last year no problem after the last tenant moved out, before I sold it. If we can't name names, it's the one that used to be a town in Norfolk. If you can't arrange weekly inspections then some risks are excluded.

[Mabbs9]

We did it successfully through A-plan. They'll forward you to their specialist in this. I think it's the Cheltenham branch that specifically deal with it. Good luck.

[Evoluzione]

So you're saying that if you insure a property when you're living in it, but then leave and it's empty it's no longer insured?
Genuine question as i'm about to be in that situation.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Evoluzione said:

So you're saying that if you insure a property when you're living in it, but then leave and it's empty it's no longer insured?
Genuine question as i'm about to be in that situation.

Check the terms. You usually sign up for it not being empty more than XX days.

[bennno]

Just had to renew my empty commercial to house conversion insurance - took a lot of finding but these were the best of the bunch

https://gsi-insurance.com/products/household/unocc...

[Parkette]

Evoluzione said:

So you're saying that if you insure a property when you're living in it, but then leave and it's empty it's no longer insured?
Genuine question as i'm about to be in that situation.

You need to check the terms and conditions. If you leave a house other than for holidays etc then you are likely to find that the Insurers will alter their terms of acceptance and may decide to come off risk. If you don't tell insurers and a claim occurs you are unlikely to be paid.

[Andy 308GTB]

n3il123 said:

We had to insure my father in laws house when he died last year and it cost a fortune even as an empty shell.

This.
Plus as has been said, monthly visits during the warmer months, fortnightly throughout the winter.
Record of visits has to be made.
Heated over the winter or water system drained.

[condor]

Presumably there isn't a solicitor named as executor otherwise they would sort it - usually they would have an assistant that visits the property each week/fortnight to comply with insurance requirements. Otherwise, I'd suggest asking local estate agents who they use to do weekly/fortnightly visits. Then, local petsitters or gardeners can do this service for a small charge.

[Mr Pointy]

Evoluzione said:

So you're saying that if you insure a property when you're living in it, but then leave and it's empty it's no longer insured?
Genuine question as i'm about to be in that situation.

Most policies will state how many days a property may be left empty or unvisited. Some are as short as 30 days, mine with Nationwide is 60 days.

[Evoluzione]

Thanks for the answers, luckily mine is up for renewal just before we're due to move out so able to do something. Never even considered it before seeing this thread.

[Sheepshanks]

We were in this situation a couple of months ago and I contacted Insurancejon off here.

As it happened the current insurer, Saga, came back and said in view of the current situation they would continue cover until policy expiry.

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

I didn't bother insuring an empty house. Some thieving gits broke in and stole my brand new gas boiler off the wall. It cost me an absolute fortune to repair all of the damage and have a new boiler installed. Make sure you get insurance!!!

[redexstyle]

I used these guys to insure an empty property.

https://www.brightsideinsurance.co.uk/home/non-sta...

[Parkette]

You should be aware that only limited cover can be bought, fire, lighting, earthquake and explosion or FLEE,
this means no theft cover or damage caused in the act of theft, no 'wet' perils cover.

It might even be worth persuading a family member to live in the house so that it is not unoccupied.