How do I insure an empty property between exchange and completion?

Ksw3

I'm trying to get insurance to cover the period between exchange and completion.

I'm finding it hard to find quotes as the property has gone through probate it's been empty for over 60 days, I can't seem to find anyone to insure. It will be our primary residence so won't be empty once we complete but there'll be a week between exchange and completion.

Anyone else have this or now any insurers that would cover this? 

thegreenone

Do the Estate of the deceased have it insured?  Surely, until Completion, the property is their responsibility?

Willing to be corrected.

Flugelhorn

thegreenone said:

Do the Estate of the deceased have it insured?  Surely, until Completion, the property is their responsibility?

Willing to be corrected.

normally the buyer is advised to insure the property from exchange (unless it is a long period between exchange and completion - we had this and solicitor put into contract that vendor had to continue to insure).

I must say I don't ever remember being asked if a property was empty when I bought it and was insuring it from exchange

user1977

thegreenone said:

Do the Estate of the deceased have it insured?  Surely, until Completion, the property is their responsibility?

It is one of the somewhat weird bits of English conveyancing practice that the buyer is expected to insure from exchange - but I think it can be negotiated, particularly in situations like this where there's difficulty in getting a new insurer to take on the risk of an unoccupied property.

silverbanana

Thank you so much for this post - I didn't realise I was sleepwalking into a similar scenario. The house has been vacant for 60+ days too (former rental), wrongly presumed standard insurance would cover it, so I am going back to my solicitor with the following:-

Re: Insurance, I cannot seem to find a policy that covers me for the period of completion to exchange, as it is a condition of all the proposals I have viewed that the vendor occupies the house until the completion date. This won't be the case - the home is a former rental property and has been vacant for over 60 days.

What is the feasibility of a same-day completion and exchange? Is there anything else I can do, such as insist the vendor maintains insurance?

J63320

I came across the ‘buyer insures from exchange’  thing when I moved last year. As it was explained to me, from exchange the buyer is committed to buying the property; if the seller is insuring it after exchange and a claim arises, any payout made by the insurer would go to the seller who would, by then, no longer be the owner. I was enquiring about this as a seller, and my insurer insisted on terminating my cover on the date of exchange - at which point I started insuring the property I was buying.

silvercar

Why can't you find insurance? You need a broker prepared to do the work rather than an online scraper website. Try Alan Boswell. https://www.alanboswell.com/ (No connection, other than I have used them in the past when having an empty property)

GDB2222

Our house insurance (AXA) specifically says it will insure a buyer after exchange of contracts if they don’t have insurance. I was just looking through the policy booklet, as we had a leak, and I noticed that paragraph. 

Nels77

I've just done exactly this with Admiral yesterday. They were fine with the property being empty as long I'm moving in within 30 days. I'm with them already so not sure if that makes a difference, they've added the property as buildings cover only and then will automatically upgrade to contents as well from completion.

If you're taking out a new policy you may find that the period it can be unoccupied starts from the policy start date (eg exchange date) and the amount of empty time prior to that isn't considered. So if you're moving in within a few weeks then that's fine. Worth calling your preferred insurer to ask.

You can also get specialist empty property insurance but will likely be more expensive.

diystarter7

From memory all good solictors will advise and offer this type of insurance at that stage. The properties were empty and chain free and we left it to the solicitors as part of the package and dont recall being unhappy with the price etc or seeing the insurance docs for that matter. A lot easier IMO

Ksw3

Thanks all, some good leads that I'll follow up.