An empty home insurance policy is not the same as a standard UK home insurance policy. The terms and conditions on vacant property insurance will differ considerably to that of a conventional house insurance policy. If you are an owner of a building that is currently, you still must consider insuring it against risks such as fire and storm damage to name a few.
In an empty home if an internal water pipe was to burst, this could potentially cause many thousands of pounds of damage to both the building and to any contents that may still be in the property. You may not visit the property for a week or so and as a result this leak would go unnoticed for some time. For this and other reasons insurers offering empty home insurance policies will usually have higher levels of excess for water claims. Not only can the leak from a burst pipe cause considerable damage to your home but if left unattended it could also affect a neighbouring property.
Most empty home insurance policies will have endorsements and warranties applied to them. Some of these can include a contractor’s clause. For a property that is currently undergoing renovation with structural work, a contractor’s clause would normally apply. This means that any damage caused by the contractor will not be covered. In this case ensure that the contractor has the correct public liability and a contractors all risk policy in place to protect your empty property.
For premises and buildings that are vacant different levels of cover can be obtained. Some insurers will only offer the basic cover of fire, lightening, earthquake, explosion and aircraft damage on empty home insurance policies. Others will also offer full cover on vacant home insurance including property owner’s liability.
When asking for an empty home insurance quote please ensure that you declare all material facts to the advisor as any inaccurate information could lead to a claim not being paid out or even the policy being invalidated and cancelled. Material facts include things such as criminal convictions, previous claims history etc.
Most conventional home insurance providers do not offer empty home insurance cover and the best place to look for a quote is online and brokers that specialise in vacant home insurance.
