Insurance on house during these times

Sncjw

Hi all

has anyone been through getting insurance during these times. I’ve asked admiral for advice as they were the lowest and best cover quote I found before this pandemic. I will be competing by Thursday. I did ask for help on admiral but they said they would need to contact the underwriters about the situation.i would have thought other people in the same situation so would have something g set out.

the situation is that the house is vacant and we can go in to make it safe and to decorate. Because we will only be there during the day it won’t be the day and night as said on the forms which I would normally tick. Also won’t be fully moving in until this is over as we need help to do so. 

Anyone got advice what to do. We want to pay for the year upfront and don’t want to be in beeech of mortage conditions and also to be covered

anselld

Empty properties are a special case regardless of the "situation" as most insurers don't like for property to remain empty for any significant length of time.  You might be better to use a broker to find an insurer who will accept empty property but it will be more expensive than "normal".  

Sncjw

But it’s only going to w empty for however long this situation is 

Sncjw

I have entered information to compare the market and I have put 45 days when it’s going to unoccupied but when I look on the definitions on admiral they say if it’s unfurnished for 45 days . It will have furniture in. So does this mean occupied or unoccupied. 

The quote I had was a few quid more 

[Deleted User]

Have you exchanged contracts because you're meant to insure the property from the date of exchange...I think.  The current pandemic is a red herring.  Insurers don't like properties being left unoccupied for extended periods of time and being unoccupied usually means you not living in it full time.  My property in the UK has furniture in it but it still counts as being unoccupied because I'm not living in it.

AdrianC

Sncjw said:

Also won’t be fully moving in until this is over as we need help to do so. 

You don't need to "fully" move in to live there. Bare minimum furniture would be a pair of camping chairs, a big cardboard box, and an airbed. Anything up from there is a bonus.

MovingForwards

I was going through insurance last night. One of the questions was about when the property will be occupied, there was a little 'info' button and reading through that it said answer based on normal circumstances, not what the current circumstances are due to Covid.

I've ended up picking DL due the the high values on contents, saves having to alter anything throughout the year as possessions change / get added to, also liked the amount of buildings insurance cover as that saves me worrying about working out rebuild costs (it was different in the homebuyers report compared to my mortgage valuation). The assumptions were easy to go through.

@Sncjw

greatcrested

Sncjw said:

I have entered information to compare the market and I have put 45 days when it’s going to unoccupied but when I look on the definitions on admiral they say if it’s unfurnished for 45 days . It will have furniture in. So does this mean occupied or unoccupied. 

The quote I had was a few quid more 

You cannot rely on the info you enter on a comparison site - that is a generic form to give you an idea of prices. What metters is that you check all the information you provide on the specific insurer's website, and read the T&Csof that insurer.

Just done a sample application for Admiral and see:

Other Included Benefits

• Unoccupancy: there is an allowance of up to 30 days if you are not regularly residing in your property before restrictions apply.

In the definitions section of the policy:

Unoccupied

When your home has not been lived in, by you or any member of yourfamily longer than the ‘Days unoccupied limit’ on your policy documents. By lived in, we mean stayed in and slept in overnight by you or yourfamily and day-to-day activities such as cleaning, cooking and bathing are regularly carried out. If you exceed the number of days shown on yourpolicy documents, we consider your home to be unoccupied from the first day

Slithery

Why aren't you moving in straight away?

Sncjw

I have contacted admiral and have to move In and stay overnight . It means insurance on current place will be cancelled. 

The unoccupied thing they said wouldn’t count as it’s a new policy. They don’t insure for unoccupied homes. I found that bizzare even though they allow 30 days. They said they couldn’t insure if I left it unoccupied. 

What I ment by fully move in because we have big bulky items that we need family to help us move and we were planning to decorate before bringing stuff over. But looks like we will have to bring stuff over while we do it.