Unoccupied Home Insurance

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Part of Brightside Insurance Services Ltd

Homes insurance for empty properties

Finding empty home insurance can be confusing and take up a lot of your time. This is the last thing you want when you are potentially dealing with building works or probate.

At One Insurance Solution (a trading style of Brightside Insurance Services Ltd), we search our panel of non-standard insurers to provide you a quote based on your individual needs.

With over 15 years experience you can be confident that our team will work collaboratively with you to provide you a quote.

We can help cover your home if:

It is unoccupied pending sale
It is unoccupied whilst works or renovations are ongoing
It is unoccupied whilst probate is going through
It is unoccupied for a long period of time

Unoccupied property Insurance

Homes can become unoccupied for a number reasons. Perhaps a family member has passed away and the house has been left to you. With standard insurance, unoccupied limitations can vary by insurer. 30 days is usually the allowance for a home to be empty but some insurers can provide home insurance with 60 days unoccupied cover as standard. Anything over this would generally mean the need for non-standard home insurance.

You can insure an empty home 365 days of the year but with certain restrictions in place. Restrictions will depend on the reasons for the property being empty and the insurance requirements you have.

The very basic level of cover is fire, lighting, earthquake and explosion or FLEE. This would only cover those perils mentioned for buildings and/or contents.

You can then opt to increase the levels of cover from the basic to include cover for subsidence, flood, vandalism, escape of water, theft and others.

Alongside the cover there is usually endorsements applied to the policy. Endorsements are amendments to the standard policy wordings or requirements of the home owner that have to be met for insurance to be valid. For example, inspecting the property once a week and keeping the heating on during the winter. All endorsements will be clearly laid out to you at the point of sale.

Unoccupied properties FAQs

How long can an empty home be left unoccupied?

As long as premiums are paid and insurer requirements met, a home can be left empty for as long as needed. Most insurers would require the owner or an appointed representative to inspect the property once a week to make sure there are no problems or damage to the property. In most cases it is usually a requirement to either drain the water from the pipes or maintain the heating to a certain temperature. Some elements of cover may also be removed depending on the length of time it is left empty.

How much is unoccupied home insurance?

Home insurance for unoccupied property prices will vary depending on circumstances and the level of cover required. FLEE cover will be the cheapest option but also gives the least amount of cover. FLEE could be useful if you've purchased a run down empty property and plan to do works on it some months down the line. If you are looking for almost full buildings and contents cover then expect to pay a premium for this. Costs are higher due to the increased risk in damage or theft.

How to keep pipes from freezing in an empty house?

If your property is going to be left empty for a prolonged period of time, there are a few steps you can take to help prevent damage during the winter. If you have the lowest level of cover (FLEE), it is best to turn off the main water supply to the home and drain the property of water (pipes, radiators etc). It is then a good idea to make the property as weather proof as possible, turning the electricity off as well as the gas supply.

The alternative to shutting everything down is to maintain a constant temperature at the property. Insurers will have different terms but a normal winter requirement is to have the heating on, maintaining a constant temperature of 15 degrees centigrade within the home. Failure to comply with the insurers requirements could mean the insurance becoming invalid or a costly excess increase.

We work with a panel of Non-Standard insurers

We do more than Unoccupied Home Insurance

We can provide a quote based on your home and individual circumstances Check out some more pages below:

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