Query re house being unoccupied for 60 days +

robc281274

I am travelling to Australia and New Zealand later this month January... in total I will be away for 80 days. My home insurance policy only allows the house to be left unoccupied for up to 60 days without certain exclusions kicking in - essentially my policy will not cover malicious damage/ theft etc, neither will it cover water damage. I have spoken with a number of other companies but have been unable to locate an insurer who will allow the house to be unoccupied for the length of time I will be away. This struck me as odd- there must be lots of people who have to temporarily move away because of work. Any help would be appreciated.

Quentin

See if a local broker (not swinton) can help.

custardy

no friends or relatives can pop in and spend a night or two?

ACG

Whats your address...ill check :P only joking.

https://www.propertyquotedirect.co.uk/unoccupied.html
http://www.homeprotect.co.uk/specialist-insurance/unoccupied-insurance/landing.aspx?bid=1068&agentid=454&gclid=CJ6WjNa8u60CFS9ItAodtTCf_A

Im nothing to do with either of these, but if you type empt property insurance into google, it helps :-)

robc281274

I've tried one broker but without any success, I'll perhaps try a couple more. The small print in my small print specifically has something about (well, along the lines of) it not counting if people stay over for odd nights.

robc281274

Thanks ACG - however to me these firms look to cover empty properties? Ours will still have contents in - albeit we'll remove the valuable stuff.

2sides2everystory

robc281274 wrote: »

This struck me as odd- there must be lots of people who have to temporarily move away because of work. Any help would be appreciated.

Well if you think about it, there are very good reasons why an underwriter would not want to cover those risks whilst the property was unoccupied. The water damage one particularly - tens of thousands of pounds of damage can be caused in just a few days if a burst pipe occurs for example and is undetected. Think also of the storms we have had recently - you will have noticed broken roof tiles in the street and perhaps not given it much thought but someone responsible for nearby buildings needs to rectify the damage pronto or that will equally well quickly become an expensive new ceilings / internal redecorations job soon after the next rainstorms / snow storms or whatever happens next with no one keeping an eye out.

As has been suggested, it might be a very good idea to speak with an established main town insurance broker (if usch a thing still exists, but not a "bucket shop" - one with a good mix of personal and business insurance who will have good underwriting connections (maybe not a shopfront type of broker but one with an upstairs office). They might for example be able to negotiate something on the basis of you arranging for a relative to visit regularly and/or you accepting you must pay a substantially higher amount of the first part of exactly those types of loss which they think are borderline insurable as you have already discovered.

BTW, this isn't anything new. It is common practice based on decades of industry experience of underwriting insurances of dwelling houses. When people don't live in them, any damage usually ends up much worse than it would have been if someone had been home and reacted to the first sign of trouble.

robc281274

2sides2everystory- Absolutely accept and agree with all your points. However I'm not expecting something for nothing as you seem to imply. I'm more than happy to pay a higher premium for the increased risk

2sides2everystory

robc281274 wrote: »

2sides2everystory- Absolutely accept and agree with all your points. However I'm not expecting something for nothing as you seem to imply. I'm more than happy to pay a higher premium for the increased risk

No I wasn't implying you were looking for something for nothing (although there's nothing wrong with that as a first principle of moneysaving :money: )

A first principle in insurance however is that the inevitable is uninsurable. Damage in this case isn't inevitable, but the risk of it is greatly enhanced and the likely larger than 'normal' claims cost if it does happen are such that few underwriters would want to take a punt on it as a book of such business. But as you suggested earlier - the question must arise quite frequently so there might be one or two underwriters who fancy their chances at it via a select few intermediary introducers whom they can trust not to take the mickey with any old rubbish.

Keep trying - you will surely find someone who will have a go for you. Most likely it will be someone on the lists you can find here, but do choose wisely before setting more than one off on the same task - the market may be limited so different brokers may go to the same underwriters. It is all a question of who makes the best presentation on your behalf and who has the best relationship with underwriters but if the less favored one arrives first and makes a bad presentation, then you'll have shot your bolt with that underwriter because the same underwriter will generally not offer two different or inconsistent deals via different intermediaries. But as with all things it is a two way street and whilst they may not admit it, underwriters do have their favorites, especially if they present first.

Edit: Link above updated to show BIBA / IIB brokers nationally who have evidently made it known to their professional body that they may be able to place Unoccupied Property risks.

Catherine12

Most insurers will still insure you for majority of risks, just not things like vandalism, eow etc.
Some may put clauses on e.g you must drain your water tank etc, and they will still insure you- but like others have said try brokers, as this will put the price of any policy up significantly, as it is a much higher risk if it is left with nobody in it.

TBagpuss

There are specialist insurers who cover this. It's been a few years since I needed it (moved for job, took a while to sell my house) and I think I went through Hiscox.
if you can get hold of a copy of the Law Society gazette, check the ads there (lawyers dealing with estates for probabte often need to arrange insurance on empty properties)