Cheap Insurance for Unoccupied properties

Home Protect Unoccupied Property InsuranceIf your home is going to be left unoccupied for any length of time, it’s important you have the right level of home insurance in place.

Most standard home insurers will not cover your property if it is left unoccupied for more than 60 consecutive days at a time and some will only cover an unoccupied property for up to 30 consecutive days.

We found that our existing home insurance provider would not insure our property for longer than 30 days and as we usually go away for 90 days at a time (again the longest we can get health insurance for at a decent price) we were concerned about finding an insurer with the right amount of cover that was not going to put our insurance up sky high.

We searched around on the internet and found a specialist buildings and contents insurer called HomeProtect Home Insurance and was extremely pleased to find they were in fact, £30 cheaper than our previous standard insurer had we automatically renewed (which I am afraid we have been guilty of doing these past few years that we have been travelling. They are underwritten by AXA Insurance and other reputable insurers.

Risks of not having the right cover

Most unoccupied property insurance policies insure a range of risks which include storm, flood, fire and theft.  Your liability as the property owner would also be covered in case, for example, a slate blew off the roof and damaged your neighbour’s car.  It is always worth checking your insurers exclusions.  Included in those exclusions could be that they will not insure the property against malicious damage.  There might also be restriction on theft of contents and any damage caused by escape of water.

If you are leaving the property unoccupied you are normally advised to keep the heating on at 15 degrees to prevent frozen pipes and even turning the water off.

We were expecting our unoccupied property insurance to be more expensive than normal cover because unoccupied homes pose more of a risk.  They are, for example, more likely to be targeted by thieves, vandals and squatters.  Problems arising from fire or water can also prove costly if the home is empty as there is no one around to limit the damage. A small leak if left for a long time can develop into a something a bit more major if not dealt with straight away.

Your insurer will probably also ask that a responsible trustworthy person checks on the property every week to clear post from the front door and check everything is in order.

You will probably be advised to remove all valuables from the property.  It is also a good idea to install timer switches for the lights to make the place look lived in.

Have a look at HomeProtect Home Insurance website here and get a quote.