House ins - house unoccupied for 8 weeks after completing sale - re-decorating

catriona79

Hi All,

I am in the process of buying a house and will need approx 8 weeks to do decorating in the house before I move in.
I will not be able to move in during the first 8 weeks, so teh house will be left unoccupied.
Regular incurance quotes are around the £150-180 mark, but when i searched for insurance which included the info about the house being unoccupied, I only had 5 results returned and the lowest is £300.

I wondered if there was anyone on here who had any experience with a similar situation and whether they found a solution to this.

Essentially, after the first 8 weeks I will not leave the house unoccupied and so could have the cheaper insurance.

How to handle this?

Any advice greatly appreciated

societys_child

If you or someone is working at the house on a daily basis, would that be classed as unoccupied?

TSx

societys_child wrote: »

If you or someone is working at the house on a daily basis, would that be classed as unoccupied?

Usually, yes, unoccupancy refers to the property not being lived in. Exact definitions can be found in policy wordings.

societys_child

So if you do a bedroom first and get that room furnished, stay there some nights. :beer: Would that work?

TSx

societys_child wrote: »

So if you do a bedroom first and get that room furnished, stay there some nights. :beer: Would that work?

Usually the wording is "unoccupied and unfurnished"

unoccupied is as above
unfurnished usually means "furnished for normal living purposes" (or something like that), so just a bedroom wouldn't get around it unfortunately

dogbot

OP - you need to select a bunch of insurers from the best prices you got for the 'normal' situation declared (i.e. without this unoccupancy) and phone them, explain the situation and see what they can do. Most will be able to offer cover for a smaller additional premium than some of the other quotes you have had, though will likley reduce the cover a bit for the duration of works.

The issue with unoccupancy comes about when no-one is there for prelonged periods - pipes freeze or rust and burst, leaking water everywhere and causing huge damage. Fires can also start in dodgy electrical systems, empty property can attract theives, vandles etc. If there are workmen in there every day (and the extent of the work is largely cosmetic) then insurers will likely be happy to offer cover. This isn't a completely unheard of situation - it is more common, of course, for people to move out while they have an extention done or loft conversion etc but the principle will be the same.

The insurer will expect any contractors to have contract works cover.

kford224

catriona79 wrote: »

Hi All,

I am in the process of buying a house and will need approx 8 weeks to do decorating in the house before I move in.
I will not be able to move in during the first 8 weeks, so teh house will be left unoccupied.
Regular incurance quotes are around the £150-180 mark, but when i searched for insurance which included the info about the house being unoccupied, I only had 5 results returned and the lowest is £300.

I wondered if there was anyone on here who had any experience with a similar situation and whether they found a solution to this.

Essentially, after the first 8 weeks I will not leave the house unoccupied and so could have the cheaper insurance.

How to handle this?

Any advice greatly appreciated

We are going to be in a similar situation to you! We are likely to complete in late April, but aren't planning on moving in until September whilst we get CH installed/plastering done/doors replaced...etc. Whilst insurance is more expensive if it is unoccupied, if it is unoccupied then you can be exempt from Council Tax for up to six months.

We were initially going to get exempt from Council Tax and get insurance, but it might be cheaper to pay the cheaper insurance AND the tax if the cheapest quote you found was £300!! :eek:

Doozergirl

I'm on the reverse side of that. We have moved out temporarily, the house is unfurnished, but we are able to visit the house at least five days out of seven. I spoke to our insurers (Lloyds TSB and Sterling through Lloyds TSB) and they are keeping cover for us. It is more expensive by about £9 a month, which is fair enough for the time we are away.

I would organise the cover you want, and then when it's set up, call to explain the situation and adjust the cover. If they can't then you have your cooling off period...

dacouch

Doozergirl wrote: »

I'm on the reverse side of that. We have moved out temporarily, the house is unfurnished, but we are able to visit the house at least five days out of seven. I spoke to our insurers (Lloyds TSB and Sterling through Lloyds TSB) and they are keeping cover for us. It is more expensive by about £9 a month, which is fair enough for the time we are away.

I would organise the cover you want, and then when it's set up, call to explain the situation and adjust the cover. If they can't then you have your cooling off period...

I'd recommend you get a note book and sign and date and time it each time you visit / stay at the home and make a note of any damage / anything that needs to be done. This can save a lot of hassle if you have a claim and the Insurers ask for evidence of when you were at the house.