Insuring A Deceased Family Members Property?

fleabagfan

Hi,

I'm new to the MSE Forum and have been reading through a lot of the threads in this area of the forum but haven't found anything on insuring a unoccupied property .

My uncle passed away suddenly in his house a month ago, we eventually got the keys to the property from the police, got all of his paperwork that we could find and after much searching through it all have found that his house insurance policy renewal date has passed leaving the house uninsured at present.

My mother is the executor and sole beneficary, however due to her age and frailty I am doing most of the administration, though probate which is being applied for is in my mums name.
Im not sure where we stand with insuring the property? We are emptying the house at present, there is nothing of any worth so it doesnt need contents insurance and the house will be completely empty shortly but how do we go about insuring the building and are we responsible for paying it?

The house is old and in a poor state and we are looking to sell ASAP as my uncle had an equity mortgage that will need to be repaid to the bank and debts and no life insurance..... it might sound mean but were worried that we have spent money on the funeral, death certificates, costs of emptying the house etc and will never get it back.... we dont want the added responsiblity of an uninsured house!


Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Robin9

Contact the insurers who provided the now lapsed property and get a quote from them.

The property needs to be insured and you may find the insurers required the water system to be drained and the house visited weekly.

The estate bears these costs.

Have you diverted the post ?

DigForVictory

If the insurance company requires a name, you can put Executor of [Uncle]'s estate rather than your mother's, but it's more important to get the locks changed & the post diverted, on the estate's dwindling tab.

Best of luck in these difficult times.

Savvy_Sue

I agree you should get it insured: if the previous insurer won't do it, find a broker who will know where to ask for a quote.

Having said that, there were so many exclusions once Mum had died that I actually asked what WAS covered! I think if someone had driven into the house and caused some damage, that was covered, but an awful lot of things you take for granted were NOT covered.

Definitely get any valuables out as soon as you can.

fleabagfan

Thank you so much for the replies, really appreciate the advice thank you:)

getmore4less

If you are going to do the work why not get the grant in your name?

The POA option would be suitable.

konark

A) How much is the house worth?


How much is the equity mortgage outstanding?
C) How much other debt



If A-B-C- funeral costs < £0 you've got an insolvent estate, and it may be worth not administering it.


If the net assets are positive then go ahead, any expenses can be reclaimed from the estate.

4leafclover_2

When I had to do this I called up the insurers they continued the insurance as a now 'Empty' property for what was a similar price. Conditions they gave were things like property thermostat set to 10C minimum or system drained, litter and junk mail cleared from around the property weekly, alarm set and windows locked when no-one at the property, and to let them know once probate was complete.
I didn't realise costs would be covered by the estate as our solicitor just told us to make sure we got insurance continued and didn't advise of this!

Uxb1

I had mega hassle with this
The scum bag existing insurers wanted all sorts of things including a full scale inspection by a responsible adult (ie verifiable and recorded) every 7 days.

Despite the fact that under my control the property was far more secure than it ever was under the deceased (lack of) control.
I actually locked the door and windows for a starter!

Even more mysteriously I can go away from my own property for up to 60 days in the middle of winter to say Spain (I know those who do!) with no intermediate inspections required at all while as "executors of" I have to inspect this other property every 7 days.
In short they wanted to get rid of me by creating impossible conditions for me to comply with
I hate the !"£$%^ ers

So I got insurance from A plan via insurance for holiday homes and insured it as "executors of"
Strange to report they did not require 7 day inspections though there were clauses about heating it to a min temperature during Nov to Mar and that the loft hatch must be left open.

Best of luck..................

4leafclover_2

My dad had insurance with LV, they were so helpful in extending the cover. We almost moved to the co-op because they were doing the probate but they wanted the house emptying, and checked inside every week in case of leaks - and were more expensive!