House insurance - definition of unoccupied

lir7

Hello,

I'm reviewing house insurance for my renewal and have found one slightly cheaper than my renewal price that I'm thinking of going with, however, I'm being good and reading the small print! I note on the cheaper policy the definition of unoccupied is "When Your House is not being lived in by You or any member of Your Household for more than 30 consecutive days.
By lived in, We mean staying in and sleeping overnight for at least 3 nights in a row every week. Visits to check on Your Home do not constitute occupancy." The same wording is used by their slightly more expensive offering and my current insurance.

How can a house be not lived in for more than 30 consecutive days when they expect you to be there 3 days a week? Does this mean you're okay to not be there at all for 29 days or less? So are you covered for a typical two week summer holiday.

Can anyone help me make sense of this? TIA

user1977

Does this mean you're okay to not be there at all for 29 days or less?

Yes.

subjecttocontract

The majority of people who holiday or work away on business do so for less than 30 days at a time, so are therefore covered.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6674560/house-insurance-definition-of-unoccupied

It's the definition, so it's lived in until it's been 30 days since you last stayed in the property for 3 consecutive nights. So if you go on holiday for 2 months the property will be considered unoccupied because it's been 60 days since you slept in it for 3 nights in a row.

Some other insurers have less onerous requirements so you could still go on your 2 month holiday but if a neighbour popped in every other day to check around then that may not be considered unoccupied by them but would be under the policy you are looking at.

If you never take a 30 day holiday or go away from the home for that long it's a moot point.

It's worth also reading what the consequences of being unoccupied are… most commonly it changes how theft and escape of water claims are considered but again impacts can be wider and again it varies between insurers.