unoccupied buildings insurance - can anyone help?

minimoocow

As the title says really. I have a property currently covered by landlords insurance which is in the process of being sold. Buyers mortgage approved, just waiting for the legals to be sorted - EA says hopefully another 2 weeks or so (fingers crossed).

BUT policy says no more than 120 days vacant and it's looking like we will be outside of this by about 2 weeks - spoken to insurance company and they say they can't extend at all as they don't offer the cover

SO . . . does anyone know anywhere that would be willing to cover an unoccupied property. It is nearby so we are going around every week failing that could we move in for a few days to get around the 120day thing?

Thanks!

MMC

poppysarah

I think moving in for a few days breaks the 120 spell.

You need an insurance broker perhaps though for a policy to suit.

tbs624

Bear in mind that if you do move in you will trigger a council tax liability for occupied premises.

There are companies who offer unoccupied premises short term-cover but I think the minimum period is 3 months, so not a cheap option- Google and plenty of companies come up.

Can't you get your solicitors to get agreement to bring forward the date of exchange - the purchaser has to then have their buildings cover in place as they will be legally committed to continue through to completion?

silvercar

Easiest way would be to start a new policy with a different company, the unoccupied period would then start again.

prudryden

Get a sleeping bag and stay overnight for awhile. The house is no longer vacate. Council tax, if they find out about it, won't be much for a couple of weeks.

minimoocow

Thanks for your replies

I had thought about the council tax but at about £40 for 2 weeks it will probably be cheaper than getting new insurance - just not sure if it will count if I stay there as it is a landlords policy based on someone else being there?!

Is it correct that I only need insurance until exchange and not completion? If that's the case I may be ok but wasn't sure . . .

Doozergirl

You need buildings insurance until completion. The property still belongs to you. Whilst your buyer also has an insurable interest, it's only in 10% of the property so you really should keep it insured.

I'm with silvercar. Unoccupied insurance is available but it is indeed in three month bursts. Start a brand new policy and it won't be unoccupied for long enough to matter.

wriggly

I got unoccupied house insurance with Halifax through [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]HD Financial Solutions, [/FONT]a specialist broker. Although it was more expensive than some others, it can be cancelled at any time with no penalty.

I liked HDFS because unlike other brokers, they offered me a choice of the Halifax policy or a cheaper one with a 6 month minimum.