House and Contents Insurance - inc. 110 days unoccupied

VXman

Planing a special long holiday this year. I need to renew my Home insurance next month anyway so I'm looking for a policy which will keep me covered while I am away for this period. i am struggling to find anything at a reasonable price. Normal premium is about £277 but it seems to be getting up to £1000 with less cover. Any suggestions of companies or solutions?

Hoenir

Find someone to house sit. 

Smithcom

Hoenir said:

Find someone to house sit. 

 Good idea, but not necessarily an insurance silver bullet.   Many policies will deem houses to be unoccupied, unless a member of the household (as defined by the policy) occupies house at least xx every xx days.

DullGreyGuy

Smithcom said:

Hoenir said:

Find someone to house sit. 

 Good idea, but not necessarily an insurance silver bullet.   Many policies will deem houses to be unoccupied, unless a member of the household (as defined by the policy) occupies house at least xx every xx days.

Some might but looking at a handful of policies I have to hand from different insurance groups all state that it must be occupied by you or someone you have authorised 

It is however worth checking what is considered occupied as that does vary considerable, some are vague and just talk about "lived in" whereas others are more specific around it must be at least 2 nights and inc things people typically do at home (cook, sleep, shower etc) 

Smithcom

DullGreyGuy said:

Smithcom said:

Hoenir said:

Find someone to house sit. 

 Good idea, but not necessarily an insurance silver bullet.   Many policies will deem houses to be unoccupied, unless a member of the household (as defined by the policy) occupies house at least xx every xx days.

Some might but looking at a handful of policies I have to hand from different insurance groups all state that it must be occupied by you or someone you have authorised 

It is however worth checking what is considered occupied as that does vary considerable, some are vague and just talk about "lived in" whereas others are more specific around it must be at least 2 nights and inc things people typically do at home (cook, sleep, shower etc) 

I agree with you, that different insurers will have different wordings.   That's why I said 'not necessarily an insurance silver bullet' 

Direct Line seem to allow for 'other persons authorised by you', whereas Policy Expert seem to require a member of the family to be 'living there for at least 3 days a week'.

Your research confirms that another insurers requires for persons to be living there for at least 2 nights.

The OP should carefully check the policy wording and/or speak with their insurer, as not all policies are born equal, and some are more equal than others!!

The OP should also be mindful of defined terms in the policy which are usually bolded/highlighted/italics.

SC

DullGreyGuy

Smithcom said:
Direct Line seem to allow for 'other persons authorised by you', whereas Policy Expert seem to require a member of the family to be 'living there for at least 3 days a week'.

Policy Expert are often an outlier and their wordings can be fairly poor...

Family

As long as they permanently live with you in your home during the period of insurance, and they are not paying for their accommodation:

- your husband, wife, partner or civil partner;

- your children; and

- other members of your family.

The definition of "Family" is circular as it defines it as itself which is really bad form from a drafting perspective

You, your

The person (or people) named in the schedule as the policyholder (or policyholders) who normally live in the home or, in the event of their death, their legally appointed representative.

The definition of You also doesnt help, its on the named policyholder(s) so if I don't add my partner as a joint policyholder but have listed that in the house is two adults and one 9 year old kid ("step" son) are they covered or not? They dont fall in the definition of "you" but can I count them as family? 

Don't get me started on if you were using this policy for two people sharing a house, in principle if they arent named on the policy and I go on holiday for more than 30 days there is no cover even though one of the ordinary residents will be there as normal. 

If you speak to their live chat people they normally say they actually apply it in the normal sense and not how the policy is worded but then dont do anything to change the wording over time. 

Smithcom

DullGreyGuy said:

Smithcom said:
Direct Line seem to allow for 'other persons authorised by you', whereas Policy Expert seem to require a member of the family to be 'living there for at least 3 days a week'.

Policy Expert are often an outlier and their wordings can be fairly poor...

Family

As long as they permanently live with you in your home during the period of insurance, and they are not paying for their accommodation:

- your husband, wife, partner or civil partner;

- your children; and

- other members of your family.

The definition of "Family" is circular as it defines it as itself which is really bad form from a drafting perspective

You, your

The person (or people) named in the schedule as the policyholder (or policyholders) who normally live in the home or, in the event of their death, their legally appointed representative.

The definition of You also doesnt help, its on the named policyholder(s) so if I don't add my partner as a joint policyholder but have listed that in the house is two adults and one 9 year old kid ("step" son) are they covered or not? They dont fall in the definition of "you" but can I count them as family? 

Don't get me started on if you were using this policy for two people sharing a house, in principle if they arent named on the policy and I go on holiday for more than 30 days there is no cover even though one of the ordinary residents will be there as normal. 

If you speak to their live chat people they normally say they actually apply it in the normal sense and not how the policy is worded but then dont do anything to change the wording over time. 

Ah yes, the devil is often in the detail. Nothing like a bit of contra proferentem and all that !!

For two people sharing a house, particularly if not in a relationship, it would be wholly unwise for both persons not be be named on the policy.

And whilst Policy Expert may be an 'outlier' they now have 1.6m UK policyholders, so their policy wording is pretty embedded in the UK, for good or for ill.

Over the past few years particularly, with insurance litigation being so prevalent, it's easy to see how many insurance disputes there are these days.    Have you come across the 'House on the Hill' claim?

The moral of the story is be careful with insurance wordings/cover

SC

DullGreyGuy

Smithcom said:
The moral of the story is be careful with insurance wordings/cover

Or take advantage of poor wordings, saw (and claimed on) an Excess policy that required the policy to be in force before the claim was registered on the underlying policy. Came in helpful after an RTA a few months later. Wording was subsequently changed to be that the policy must be in force prior to any event that leads to a claim. 

VXman

I have spent 4 days getting quotes from everywhere. I have examined policy documents in detail. It's a nightmare. So many variables in terms of who is allowed to live there, what you must do if it is un occupied (regular inspections by someone, electric water on or off, heating on)  One company say the heating must be set to 15 degrees between November and April - in our house that means it will be on permanently!! I want to save money on Gas while away not pay more! Another wanted weekly inspections.

Prices have varied from £450 to £1500

Anyway - I think I found something. Orwells insurance services ltd (Broker)  - policy with Beazley £506.00 No requirements to visit/inspect. No requirement re heating but water/electric to be switched off if heating is not on.
Only change from normal cover is a limit of £5000 on water escape and increase of excess from £100 to £300
I just needed to specify how many days I will be away and they add an endorsement to the Schedule.

Seems reasonable.

Smithcom

DullGreyGuy said:

Smithcom said:
The moral of the story is be careful with insurance wordings/cover

Or take advantage of poor wordings, saw (and claimed on) an Excess policy that required the policy to be in force before the claim was registered on the underlying policy. Came in helpful after an RTA a few months later. Wording was subsequently changed to be that the policy must be in force prior to any event that leads to a claim. 

Absolutely !!!   That's a fun, if dangerous, game. Probably best used as a last line of defence.

Smithcom

VXman said:

I have spent 4 days getting quotes from everywhere. I have examined policy documents in detail. It's a nightmare. So many variables in terms of who is allowed to live there, what you must do if it is un occupied (regular inspections by someone, electric water on or off, heating on)  One company say the heating must be set to 15 degrees between November and April - in our house that means it will be on permanently!! I want to save money on Gas while away not pay more! Another wanted weekly inspections.

Prices have varied from £450 to £1500

Anyway - I think I found something. Orwells insurance services ltd (Broker)  - policy with Beazley £506.00 No requirements to visit/inspect. No requirement re heating but water/electric to be switched off if heating is not on.
Only change from normal cover is a limit of £5000 on water escape and increase of excess from £100 to £300
I just needed to specify how many days I will be away and they add an endorsement to the Schedule.

Seems reasonable.

Sounds very reasonable.  Please be careful.   Beazley's standard household policy has a 7 day inspection clause 
Beazley home insurance policy wording     Would be unusual for policy to have no inspection requirement