Unoccupied houses will also need to be protected and there are cases when we need to stay at other places for one year or more. We need to check with our insurance providers on details related to unoccupied house. As an example, some insurance policies may become invalid if the house isn’t occupied for two months. If we need to leave the house to stay at other place for a longer period of time, it is important to notify our insurer. Neglecting to do this may cause our claim to become rejected and our policy could also be cancelled. Unoccupied house may represent higher risks due to specific factors.
There are reasons why a house is unoccupied:
- Inheritance: We may have recently a house through inheritance and if it is located far from our workplace, we may not be able stay in the house in the near future.
- Vacation house: Some people build or purchase a second house as vacation place. It could be located in resort or rural areas where people can stay away from busy urban lifestyle during holiday seasons.
- Renovation: Major renovation may require us to leave the house vacant for more than two months. During this period, the house will be considered as vacant.
- Investment: Some people use excess money to purchase a house so they can rent or flip it. When there’s no tenant or new buyer, the house could become unoccupied.
- Death of the occupant: The sole occupant of the house could have died, while his or her immediate family members have stayed at other places. In this situation, the insurer company will wait for who will be designated as the next owner of the house.
We should know that unoccupied houses may pose bigger risks than other homes, because there a number of possible risks. Broken pipes may progressively cause water damages. Thieves and vandals may cause damages to house that’s not occupied. During the time the house is not occupied, the overall insurance rates could become higher. Rates could be available at inflated prices. In this case, houseowners should show that the house is less risky. It is possible to install various safety features, such as stronger locks and more advanced burglar alarms. This will reduce the overall insurance rates of the house.
In some cases, we may need to purchase a separate insurance policy for unoccupied house. This is important, because vacant properties have different factors that need to be considered. We should be able to reduce the premium rates, if we can regularly monitor the condition of the house, as example, every month.
It is essential to make sure that we have all based covered, so we won’t be affected by wind damage, water damage, theft, vandalism and others. In this case, we may need to obtain a flexible policy. Also, we should only pay the coverage that we actually need. We shouldn’t spend excessive amount of money for unoccupied house insurance.
