Insuring deceased's property

CaptainWales

I need to insure the deceased's property, buildings and content, before it goes on the market to be sold. Nobody is living in house. Anybody know of insurance companies that would offer cover? 
Comparison sites just dont help in this situation 😒

74jax

Insurance can be in the names of the Estate (if probate is going through). 
Remove contents, try and sell as much as you can, and just get buildings insurance. 

p00hsticks

Have you asked the company that was insuring the property prior to the death ? In my experience they agreed to  honour the existing policy until it was due to expire, with a few provisos.

There are companies that specialise in this sort of insurance - for example
Probate House Insurance | Executor Insurance | Homeprotect 

poppystar

I used Vasek which was recommended by the brokers (I’d found them online but wanted to check they were genuine so went to a broker).  It seems expensive but no problem getting a refund once the house sold. It suited me because it only required fortnightly checks rather than weekly or more frequent. It’s a specialised market and each company have different requirements with regard to checking the property, heating it, water on/off etc.

BooJewels

I went through a broker, having had no luck finding my own insurer - the name of which escapes just at the moment - but I'll edit my post shortly when I can check my computer.  ETA: Vasek was who I used too - thanks @poppystar - you saved me going upstairs.

But what you need to look for is unoccupied property insurance - a quick look showed there are many more options than when I first took it out in 2019.  We couldn't empty the house initially, as Dad had gone into care, it was still his home, so we needed contents cover too.   It also might not be practical to just empty it, if you want to keep it furnished for selling, or if you need to stay there whilst clearing it, as I had to.

With the more recent one I did, the existing insurer - Saga - allowed us to continue until renewal, then as I only needed a few more days, allowed me to pay for an extra month.

Also be mindful of endorsements - like draining the water, or keeping the heating on, internal doors and loft hatches open and I couldn't continue with the exisiting insurer, as they had a totally inflexible policy on what locks you had to use on the outermost door.  In our case, the main doors were very secure and alarmed, but the outer porch doors were the only ones that interested them and as both doors were rotten (one was held closed with a bungee cord) they wouldn't insure unless I put certain BS standard locks in place.  So do check all these details to ensure any policy meets your requirements. 

CaptainWales

Thanks all. Probate granted - is there any benefit in transferring property into beneficiarys name for insurance purposes? I was just going to sell property myself as the executor (with beneficiaries approval)

BooJewels

I wouldn't change the name - just sell it as the executor - the Grant of Probate authorises you to do just that.

Plus, it would cost money to do it and when the buyer completes,  they'll have to do it anyway, so why pay to repeat that process unnecessarily.

RAS

There are major downsides to transferring the property to the beneficiaries, particularly if they don't already own a home.

And it takes up to 18 months for the Land Registry to actually register the property. So you end up having to try and expedite the transfer when you want to sell.

Also as executor you have the right to sell the house, possibly the duty to do so. You don't need their permission if the will is written correctly. Once you transfer the property to the beneficiaries, if one of them is difficult or even just lax, things could get messy.

p00hsticks

CaptainWales said:

Thanks all. Probate granted - is th

Homeprotect also do unoccupied property insurance
Unoccupied House Insurance | Empty Homes Cover | Homeprotect

SacredStephan

I recently used the broker Adrian Flux for an unoccupied property.

Mothman

We recently used a company called Deeside Insurance for insuring an unoccupied property. As mentioned above these types of policies usually come with host of endorsements regarding heating, security, property inspection etc. so check the terms carefully.