When the owner of a property sadly passes away leaving their property unoccupied, the existing insurance may not be appropriate.
Even if you contact the previous insurer to continue the insurance, there may be policy conditions that are difficult to comply with. This is because most home insurance policies are not designed to cover long-term unoccupied properties.
Probate Quotes: How much can we save you? It costs nothing to find out.
From the insurer’s perspective, unoccupied properties are a higher risk and as such require a higher premium and additional policy conditions to reduce the possibility of claims.Â
- The most common claim is a result of the escape of water, which undetected can be a significant loss. Others:
- theft,
- vandalism
- fire
All these and more are far greater risks for unoccupied property.
For this reason, insurers will usually add new policy conditions to the policy, such as:
- Frequent property inspections which require the property to be checked at a specific frequency, which can vary by insurer. It is common for inspections to be required every 7 days. Some insurers may allow inspections every 14 days. Most insurers will require written evidence of these inspections which need to be provided in the event of a claim. If the property inspections cannot be evidenced an insurer could reject a claim.
- Draining down water systems is another common policy condition. If this condition is added and the system is not drained, claims from escape of water may not be covered.
- Applying a reduced single article limit on contents cover. Unoccupied properties pose a greater risk of theft, so all valuables such as jewellery, art work or collections should be removed from the property and put in safe storage. If the insurer is still prepared to cover the contents, they may apply a reduced single article limit.
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The Risks to Executors of empty property buildings insurance – and more – and how to reduce them
From the executor’s perspective, the empty property buildings insurance (and if needed, contents insurance) needs to be insured in the name of the estate. This ensures the proceeds of a claim have somewhere to go i.e. the estate. Some insurers may have trouble with that, causing all sorts of issues if a big claim happens and the benefit goes outside the estate!
Also, executors need to understand that arranging suitable property insurance is their responsibility. So is ensuring the policy conditions are understood by all the executors and personal representatives. If one executor fails to comply with a policy condition, it can create a liability for all.
Imagine that the property has had its water systems drained down. But one executor refills the system to put the heating on whilst visiting the property. If there is now an escape of water claim that isn’t insured, all executors would have to foot the bill. ·
I refer people to a provider who specialises in the area, and they provide a very useful empty property Guide (and more to executors, so why not check it out and ensure you really do have the right protection in place…..
Go here for Insuristics Guide to Safeguarding Prudent Executors (my words!)
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