Accidental damage insurance between exchange and completion

PhiL_P_3

We're about to exchange contracts on a house but completion will not be until the end of August. I'm just sorting out the buildings insurance for the exchange, but a key question I have which I've not been able to find an answer to is whether there is benefit to including buildings accidental damage cover for this period?

Note, the house is unoccupied and relatively remote in a rural setting, owners sadly passed away and it's being sold by the daughters who live quite far away (but visit occasionally, every few weeks I believe).

Adding the accidental cover more than triples the premium(!) so want to be sure it would actually be of value. Advice greatly appreciated!

DullGreyGuy

Is your insurance comfortable with the duration it's going to be unoccupied for? Are you going to be able to comply with any requirements (eg draining down fixed water systems if unoccupied more than 60 days)?

AD is less common if there is no one in the building but under some policies a tree branch falling when its not storm conditions would be an AD item others its an explicit peril in its own right. 

youth_leader

I'm in a rural setting and have always erred on the side of caution because of the storms we've experienced over recent years,  but the premium tripling seems expensive? Could you use the comparison sites to see if you could get a better deal?  

PhiL_P_3

DullGreyGuy said:

Is your insurance comfortable with the duration it's going to be unoccupied for? Are you going to be able to comply with any requirements (eg draining down fixed water systems if unoccupied more than 60 days)?

AD is less common if there is no one in the building but under some policies a tree branch falling when its not storm conditions would be an AD item others its an explicit peril in its own right. 

Thanks. I'm specifically stating it will be unoccupied for the ~80 days between for the quote.

PhiL_P_3

youth_leader said:

I'm in a rural setting and have always erred on the side of caution because of the storms we've experienced over recent years,  but the premium tripling seems expensive? Could you use the comparison sites to see if you could get a better deal?  

Thanks. That IS from comparison sites 

DullGreyGuy

PhiL_P_3 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Is your insurance comfortable with the duration it's going to be unoccupied for? Are you going to be able to comply with any requirements (eg draining down fixed water systems if unoccupied more than 60 days)?

AD is less common if there is no one in the building but under some policies a tree branch falling when its not storm conditions would be an AD item others its an explicit peril in its own right. 

Thanks. I'm specifically stating it will be unoccupied for the ~80 days between for the quote.

But how many days has it already been unoccupied? You will need to check if the count starts from when it first became unoccupied or from when the policy incepts. 

Albermarle

From what I have read on these forums, accidental damage cover is a waste of money as you are unlikely to ever have to claim on it. Most of this type of damage tends to be minor and not worth claiming.
I have had it for 20 years and never claimed so have now stopped paying for it.
However it only added about 15% to home and contents cost, not tripling it!
Must be connected to your special situation. 

KittenChops

You could investigate having the seller insure it for the period between exchange & completion.  This is what we did when we had 5 weeks between them, and I struggled to find a policy for us to insure it.

AlexMac

When I last bought on a Nationwide mortgage, they offered the incentive of house insurance cover from Exchange to Completion if you also bought theirs. Might be different now? 

But I did, then simply shopped around at first annual renewal