Finding Home Insurance Cover for an Empty Property

Fiasco55

My mum died earlier this year and i informed her home insurance. They said that for the duration left on the policy they would only offer FLEA cover ( fire, lightening, explosion and something fallening from aircraft). Not covering escape of water, malicious damage or attempted break ins - basically things you would want to have.

I am regularly at the house as it is going to take quite a while to clear out her possessions at least until the end of the year. The home insurance is up at the end of the month and the current company has sent out a renewal again for FLEA not covering things I want especially with winter looming. I've tried various specialist home insurance and as the property is empty they can't insure. I've been referred to a broker instead by J. Lewis. Got a couple of quotes but they are pretty steep as I want the escape of water cover.

So, anyone have any recommendations I haven't thought about. I'm not happy about just having the FLEA cover over winter as its a cold house and can't deal with the thought of a burst pipe.

jackyann

Prudential covered us in the same situation - but they just continued with the existing policy so I'm not sure if they would take a new customer. I did emphasise that someone would be in twice a week, and I think that may have helped.
They obviously don't want to cover water damage that could have been going on for several days!
In a specialist situation I have used sennocke.co.uk. I'm not sure if it's fair to call them "steep" - a lot more than the average on-line quote, but it is a specific situation.

superbigal36

My MILs property (Now Vacant) was insured contents & buildings by Halifax.
They were hugely helpful after the bereavement outlining all options.
If the property was to be insured EMPTY that was a problem as all utilities etc had to be switched off.
No use to family as we need power for decoration, gardening etc.
They were more than happy to continue existing cover as long as someone stayed over once a month.
I actually dropped contents as the property is empty (Apart from a bed).
No charges no admin. Great stuff.

Hermia

My mum was with Swinton and I was just able to continue her cover as normal. I just had to agree that someone would stay once a month and I think there were some other terms, but they were all things I was going to do anyway.

Fiasco55

Thanks for the replies and it's confirming what I've heard from the solicitor today. I've been a bit unlucky with the original company and it seems what they have reduced my cover to is not the norm.

So it boils down to me having piece of mind and going with the cover by the month option which includes everything I want. Until I can clear the house and get it ready for let.

Yorkshireman99

Make sure that the company you choose also does landlord insurance. You also need to check all the liabilities you will have as a landlord and laws you have to comply with. Not a task to be taken on lightly these days.

Savvy_Sue

You ask for recommendations, so here are my thoughts ...

Fiasco55 wrote: »

I am regularly at the house as it is going to take quite a while to clear out her possessions at least until the end of the year.

Get help. Use a de-clutterer to work with you, or a house clearance company once you've done the first trawl. I am sure that will speed things up no end ...

Fiasco55 wrote: »

I'm not happy about just having the FLEA cover over winter as its a cold house and can't deal with the thought of a burst pipe.

Keep it warm: if it has central heating, keep it on 24/7 on a low setting. And tell the insurer you're doing this. If no central heating I'm not sure what to suggest, beyond getting it installed before you attempt to let it!

Obviously I don't know what's in your mum's estate apart from the house, but the costs of keeping it warm and insured can be charged to the estate, and sometimes the best way of solving a problem is to throw money at it ...

HHarry

I used a Broker - A Plan Insurance - who were very good.

They found me full cover, with the only special conditions being that I have to visit every week, and between November and March the heating needs to be on, or I have to drain down the water.

£320 a year, with a pro-rata refund anytime after the first 6 months, when house is sold.

Fiasco55

Thanks everyone. I went with a broker and have a policy that runs on a monthly basis and can be cancelled without penalty so it will get me through the winter months on full cover. Totally agree with Sue about throwing money at the problem on this one now. I just wouldn't be happy with such a limited cover with so many conditions.

Ended up with one that requests I either drain down the system over winter or keep it on low. I'm opting for keeping it on low so I can still work about and get some workmen in as I get through the to do list.

Savvy_Sue

Fiasco55 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I went with a broker and have a policy that runs on a monthly basis and can be cancelled without penalty so it will get me through the winter months on full cover. Totally agree with Sue about throwing money at the problem on this one now. I just wouldn't be happy with such a limited cover with so many conditions.

Ended up with one that requests I either drain down the system over winter or keep it on low. I'm opting for keeping it on low so I can still work about and get some workmen in as I get through the to do list.

Good plan. Mum died in October, and we sold the house in March. It would have been just too depressing to visit for de-cluttering etc if the house hadn't been warm when we visited.

BTW, I don't know how long you are planning to let the house out for, or what sort of house it is, but I heard something on Radio 4 (probably You and Yours!) about new legislation which means you can't legally start a new tenancy unless the house / flat meets a certain standard of energy efficiency. So you might want to investigate what's going to be needed if this isn't just a short term thing: there was a landlord there with a lot of Victorian properties in his portfolio, he was explaining how hard it would be to get each one up to scratch, with most of the work being impossible to do while the properties were tenanted. Which was going to lead to longer vacancy periods and so on.

This is on top of all the other regulations a landlord has to meet, it's certainly not an easy thing to do!

Fiasco55

Thanks Sue, already done a bit of research online and had a meeting with a property management company to find out of the legal bits and pieces. They are adding more every year. This whole process has really given me a glimpse into what you don't know, you don't even know yet!