Aviva home insurance - How long can property be unoccupied?

TheShape

My home insurance is due for renewal and following a price increase I'm looking at other providers.  My LV insurance allows the property to be unoccupied for up to 60 days.  I'm happy with a quote from Aviva but cannot find out for what length of time I may leave the property unoccupied.  The policy booklet only refers to ' the number of days shown on your schedule' which I, of course, don't yet have.

I'm only checking because this was mentioned as something to check on the Insurance page on the main site.  I might not have thought of it otherwise.

Does Aviva have a standard length of time that a property can be unoccupied or is it recorded somewhere?

MalMonroe

It's 60 consecutive days according to this -

https://connect.avivab2b.co.uk/brokerPublicProductDocuments/BHHYH0123?productCode=PYH

(I just googled what you put as your title and the booklet popped up.)

My home contents insurance is with Aviva and it's 60 days for me, too. If you wanted to double check, though, you could phone them of course.

dunstonh

Which version of the Aviva home insurance do you have?  (it may vary across the versions).
It is probably best to check your own policy documentation.

DullGreyGuy

Be aware that there are dozens of different Aviva Home insurance products ranging from fairly basic to HNW and this almost certainly will vary by product. You'd be best off asking Aviva themselves rather than have people guess at which version of the product you are looking at

TheShape

dunstonh said:

Which version of the Aviva home insurance do you have?  (it may vary across the versions).
It is probably best to check your own policy documentation.

DullGreyGuy said:

Be aware that there are dozens of different Aviva Home insurance products ranging from fairly basic to HNW and this almost certainly will vary by product. You'd be best off asking Aviva themselves rather than have people guess at which version of the product you are looking at

I do think that I may need to call them as they do seem to have a rather large range of home insurance products, the cheapest being an online self-service (no access to any telephone support apparently) service.

To be honest, I suppose I could always purchase and cancel within 14 days if I consider the period that the property can remain unoccupied to be too short.

DullGreyGuy

TheShape said:
To be honest, I suppose I could always purchase and cancel within 14 days if I consider the period that the property can remain unoccupied to be too short.

You can but remember that just because you have a right to cancel doesnt mean its fee free and so check cancellation charges before going down that path.

bargainhunter888

I would like to know a definition on this.
What's the reason for being unoccupied and also if a family member stays every couple weeks, does it constitute as occupied or not? 

DullGreyGuy

bargainhunter888 said:

I would like to know a definition on this.
What's the reason for being unoccupied and also if a family member stays every couple weeks, does it constitute as occupied or not? 

Depends on the definition in the policy... most will define the frequency that they have to be there, who they are and how long each stay will be. It can vary significantly between policies

moneysaver128

For those that are interested in the time that a property can be unoccupied, I have just read on Marks and Spencer home insurance there is a facility for 90 days. This may be one of their better policies and therefore expensive and always check with them first. They also appear to be underwritten by Aviva.