House insurance at probate

robvts

Hi 
mum and dad have both pasted away and left me the home, iv got probate but not decided to move in or rent and at the moment just trying to clear it out. Trying to get house insurance but not many companies do it or they have really bad ratings. Should I put the house in my name and then would it be easier to get house Insurance? Or anyone know a company that will insure me now. 

I know nothing about all this and driving me mad lol

Keep_pedalling

I don’t think it will make it easier, the issue is the fact that the property is unoccupied. Hopefully someone will be along with some recommendations shortly.

naedanger

robvts said:

Hi 
mum and dad have both pasted away and left me the home, iv got probate but not decided to move in or rent and at the moment just trying to clear it out. Trying to get house insurance but not many companies do it or they have really bad ratings. Should I put the house in my name and then would it be easier to get house Insurance? Or anyone know a company that will insure me now. 

I know nothing about all this and driving me mad lol

The problem getting insurance is likely to be because the house is unoccupied. So unless you plan to move into the house the problem will exist whether or not you put the house in your name.

Try a specialist insurance broker e.g. 
https://www.ukinsurancenet.com/unoccupied-insurance/empty-house-insurance/
(Not a recommendation, just an example.)

thegreenone

Sorry for your loss of both parents.    Phone the insurance co. your parents used and explain the situation. I hope they had insurance?
I phoned Aviva (her provider) after my Mum passed and paid £130 for a year for my late Mum's flat including a top-up fee for Unoccupied Status.  We had a break-in but nothing left to steal so didn't need to make a claim but I did inform them.  They were very good, no problems at all.

Technosaurus

Hi - as others have said, it's not whose name the house is in, but the fact it is unoccupied that is the issue.

There are unoccupied house insurers out there, they just aren't on the main insurance comparison websites because it is considered quite a 'niche' cover. naedanger's link details who offers it, and as thegreenone says, the existing insurers may well do it for an additional fee. When we had a similar situation 6 years ago, we used Towergate - we only needed the insurance for 5 months while the sale went through, we paid the annual premium and they refunded the 'unused' months at the end.

A few of things to be aware of with unoccupied insurance:
- the premium is likely to be higher than what you might think, almost certainly higher than a normal 'occupied' house insurance would be. This is because unoccupied buildings have more problems - not just from thieves (who spot that nobody's home quickly) but also from stuff like water sitting in pipes or just basic everyday issues going undetected because nobody lives there that soon turn into bigger problems (eg a dripping tap undetected for several days on a sink with a plug in can actually flood a room)
- there are also much higher excesses than you might be used to on normal house insurance. £1000 is pretty standard, as insurers look to avoid small claims.
- there are usually conditions that you need to adhere to. For example, we had to physically go to the property once every 14 days, leave heating on with the thermostat set low (to avoid frozen pipes) and a couple of other things that I can't quite remember. They weren't too terrible, but just something to be aware of, it's not quite as simple as just locking the door and forgetting about it. The insurers who do unoccupied buildings will expect these conditions to be met and documented in the event of a claim, and they'll look for any excuse to dodge a claim so make sure you comply!

Flugelhorn

I got continued cover from mum's previous insurance company - the premium was not much more expensive, the property had to be checked once a week (which a neighbour did for us - documenting each visit ), we had to leave heating on with low thermostat etc 

robvts

i did try and get insurance with the company they was with but they told me they didnt do it and cancelled the policy.
just looked at Towergate and looked at some reviews and its got alot of bad ones, reviews just put me off everything lol
Thanks for everyones help much appreciated. looks like ill be looking aound more lol

Technosaurus

Insurance is always a bit of a strange one with reviews. Nobody ever needs insurance until the worst happens, and then 'good service' is paying the claim - ie exactly what the product was intended for. Giving it a good review is a bit like giving petrol the thumbs up for getting your car from A to B, it's what you buy it for rather than any 'good' behaviour from the insurer.

Whereas negative reviews of insurance are plentiful because people are incensed when they don't pay out, or don't pay out quickly enough while it's being investigated. As I've said above, with unoccupied properties it's not quite as simple as a lot of people think and they rarely pay attention to the small print - so claims take longer to sort out and negative outcomes much more common.

As long as you are happy with the cover/excess and comply with the conditions, whatever policy you choose should pay out, and if it doesn't then the Ombudsman will help (assuming the insurer hasn't gone bust). 

poppystar

Following a recommendation on here I used Vaseq. For me they were best as they required less inspection in summer and only once a fortnight in winter - with heating on low and loft hatch open. A friend used a different company and is having to check every three days. So I’d say look at the conditions and see what is best for you. I can’t say if the company was good but the conditions and requirements were clearly set out -  thankfully never had to claim.

Note that if existing insurers are willing to continue cover do also look at the small print - the existing insurers in my case were reasonably priced and willing to continue cover but basically unless a plane hit the property and set fire to it there was probably no actual cover as the policy had so many exclusions for unoccupied property! 

Technosaurus

poppystar makes a very good point... unoccupied insurance is USUALLY restricted to "Fire, Lightning, Aircraft, Explosion" cover only by the big household-name insurers. You have to really scout around to get Escape of Water/Theft (which are the most likely cause of claims) - although it is possible, these will still come with chunky excesses.