House remains empty and unsold- do I need special insurance for a vacant house?

R

rory22

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I moved house a few months back, before I sold my old house. My old house is still on the market with a couple of interested parties but no offers. Do I need a special type of insurance for a house that has no occupants for a period of time and do I need to let the insurance company know of the situation. Would appreciate any advise offered.
 
Yes, because if the property is left unoccupied for more than 90 consecutive days (my policy I think) the insurance may lapse.

Could you spend the odd week-end there, assuming its not on the other side of the world?
 
Alot of insurance companies will not insure a property if it is vacant. I bought a house but will not start to live in it until renovation works are carried out which will be about 4 months. Rang about five of the main insurance companies and they would not insure it as it is not occupied.
 
Hi mathepac, the house is fully furnished and so it would be impossible to prove if we were or were not staying there sometimes. Do you think it is safe to assume that we could simply say that we were staying there periodically should the need arise?
 
mcb said:
Alot of insurance companies will not insure a property if it is vacant. I bought a house but will not start to live in it until renovation works are carried out which will be about 4 months. Rang about five of the main insurance companies and they would not insure it as it is not occupied.
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Try FBD. I got cover on my unoccupied house on a "fire & accident damage only basis", some wording like that anyway, while I had tilers, floorers, decorators and so on in last year and converted to full contents etc. cover when I moved in. I'd be very surprised if other insurers don't do this cover; maybe try a broker.
 
rory22 said:
Hi mathepac, the house is fully furnished and so it would be impossible to prove if we were or were not staying there sometimes. Do you think it is safe to assume that we could simply say that we were staying there periodically should the need arise?
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Personally I would be inclined to tell them the truth and to do whatever is necessary to ensure that my policy stayed valid - there's too much to lose, IMO.
 
Thanks for that, I think I'll have a chat with the broker who handled our current deal to see if he can adjust it suit.
 
if you do not tell the truth and in the event of a claim you are found out, then you will not get paid. Therefore, if you do not intend to tell the truth, do not insure and at least save the premium!
 
In the event of a claim the insurance provider may request proof of occupancy by asking you to provide an ESB bill so just by having furniture in the house is not sufficient to prove occupancy. You should advise your current insurers - the worst they will do is to give you a fire only policy.
 
mcb said:
Alot of insurance companies will not insure a property if it is vacant. I bought a house but will not start to live in it until renovation works are carried out which will be about 4 months. Rang about five of the main insurance companies and they would not insure it as it is not occupied.
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Hi Mcb , can I ask where you got your insurance in the end??
I am currently having the same problem. I'm buying a house that needs refurbishment which requires planning permission. so it will be unoccupied for at least 4-5 months.

thanks
R
 
Hi
I ended up getting the insurance with Allianz.
However, all my other policies and old house insurance were with Hibernian and when I rang them on their call centre number they said that they would not do the house insurance as vacant. But then recently I went into our local Hibernian branch with regards to motor insurance and I explained to them about the issues I had with the house insurance and they did tell me that they would of done it for me if I had of went directly into the branch as basically the people in the call centre just do what they are told and they have no authorisation to alter things if you know what I mean. So might be worth a try to call into a branch rather than over the phone.
 
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