Insuring empty house for short period before sale

user1977

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82159138#Comment_82159138

I'm not sure how else you'd comply with that condition?

RaymondDouglas

Thanks everyone.

Insisting on a 'professional managing agent' does sound extreme. Maybe they might accept my estate agent?

Yes I might phone the insurance company to inquire further. My fear is that the person at the call centre might not be a reliable source of such detailed information.

Yes I could take out a whole new policy with a new company. Is that really what other people do in such circumstances? I feel like I am having to take exceptional action in what I would have thought is not too unusual a circumstance. Maybe others who have been in these shoes have just taken the risk, or not informed their insurance companies of the empty status?

user1977

Maybe they might accept my estate agent?

Yes, that's exactly the sort of thing they mean, and I expect many agents do this sort of thing regularly.

ouraggie

I thought that once you exchange contracts the buyer is the one who should insure the property, not the seller.

user1977

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82159594#Comment_82159594

Depends which jurisdiction and what the contract says, but even if the buyer takes on the risk, that doesn't help the vendor if the buyer fails to complete the purchase.

HouseHuntingAmy

A couple of practical thoughts from the cheap seats. On the letterbox, you don't have to seal it visibly - blocking it from the inside (or fitting an internal letterbox cage) does the same job without advertising anything, and if you're worried about important post, a Royal Mail redirection to your own address for the last couple of months covers that completely.

On the inspections, it's worth asking the insurer in writing exactly what evidence they will accept before assuming you need a managing agent. Some will take dated photos and a short log from any named person rather than a professional firm, but you want that confirmed by them, not assumed. If they do insist on the agent, a local letting agent will often do a fortnightly check for a small fee - it doesn't have to be a full management contract.

The other option is to treat the existing policy as done and buy a short-term unoccupied property policy for the gap until completion. Brokers do these for exactly this situation (probate, sales gaps, renovations) and for a few months it's often less painful than fighting the current insurer's stipulations.

Whatever you do, don't let cover lapse before completion - if the sale wobbles or falls through you need to be able to claim on your own policy without a gap, and arguing with an insurer mid-collapse is the last thing anyone needs.

RaymondDouglas

Thanks very much indeed, Amy. That is particularly helpful.

RaymondDouglas

I have contacted the insurance company. They have said that an inspection from the estate agent every 14 days would meet their requirements. My estate agent is willing to do this, for no fee.

The insurance company have said that fitting an internal letterbox cage is not sufficient; they write that they need something that 'prevents the letterbox from being opened and/or prevents anything from being put into the letter box'. So I am intending to do a thorough job with gaffer tape.

Many thanks everyone for all of your helpful advice.