Insurance for unoccupied House following a Death

cb1979

My Mother passed away last week and my brother and I are left the house in her will

I contaced her present insurers to inform them as her bank account is now frozen they will not be able to take any payment for premiums and can I provide them with new payment method

They will not do anything without grant of representation letter from a solicitor but this could take a while to sort out and the next premium is due next Tuesday

They said if it was not paid the insurance will cease

We put the house up for sale and have signed the contracts but the sale is now on hold until we get grant of probate

Does anyone know of a company to do short term buildings cover for an unoccupied property
Thanks

dunstonh

The existing provider will usually continue as long as you pay them. You will usually find this the easiest option rather than the rather small pool of providers that will offer new business to executors.

LutonGirl

Similar situation when my Dad died last year. I called his insurer and explained what had happened. Set myself up with them to pay and also discussed their requirements to cover what would largely be an unoccupied house until it was sold. Remove valuables, TVs etc.

magpiecottage

Clearly this is a distessing time for you and it is unacceptable that the insurer should add to this by discontinuing cover in these circumstances.

Clearly the cover needs to continue for the time being so I suggest you complain that they are being unreasonable and unfair.

warez22

Most Insurance Companies have a clause which states that cover will be restricted after 60 days.

After this date you need to find an Insurance Company that will provide cover for the unoccupied property.

Towergate are the Insurance Company that come to mind who offer both annual and short term policies.

Hope that helps.

my_names_dave

cb1979 wrote: »

My Mother passed away last week and my brother and I are left the house in her will

I contaced her present insurers to inform them as her bank account is now frozen they will not be able to take any payment for premiums and can I provide them with new payment method

They will not do anything without grant of representation letter from a solicitor but this could take a while to sort out and the next premium is due next Tuesday

They said if it was not paid the insurance will cease

We put the house up for sale and have signed the contracts but the sale is now on hold until we get grant of probate

Does anyone know of a company to do short term buildings cover for an unoccupied property
Thanks

So this is not actually an insurance issue? This is a payment problem?

bouncydog1

Insurers transferred MIL's property to Executor of Estate of. However it sounds as if this is an instalment policy so you will need to pay the instalment to keep the cover going.

Spikey1

Hi there,

Have a solicitor been appointed?
If the Insurer won't accept the premium from you then get the solicitor to pay (then you pay the solicitor back).

The policy will be changed to Executors of ..... (as per last post). If the person you're speaking to won't accept this arrangement just seek an escalation. As soon as you speak to someone sensible they will sort out your problem with no further fuss. Its often the case that the first person you speak with isn't empowered to be flexible...they stick to rigid 'process' and don't know how to handle issues which fall outside the standard script.

Best of luck and so sorry for your loss.

cb1979

Thank you for all the replies,some good suggestions there i will try and sort this problem today

magpiecottage

We had no problem with Aviva following my in-laws' deaths last year although it took well over a year to get the sale completed.

The only thing they insisted on was that there were window locks downstairs. I bought a job lot on ebay and fitted them myself.

dunstonh

I've never known any problems with any of those we have used with clients. Most common request is to turn water off at mains when no-one is in the house.