Why may you need unoccupied property insurance? There may be many reasons why you have a property that is unoccupied:

maybe you are a landlord looking for new tenants or going through a refurbishment;

you might have been designated to look after the property while the landlord is absent;

or maybe you are looking to sell the property after the death of a close family member or due to a change in your personal circumstances.

Whatever the reason, there is little doubt how important it will be for you to have adequate protection for the property in place. And this is where unoccupied property insurance comes in.

As with all insurance policies, features and benefits of the cover could typically vary from provider to provider. However, the sort of coverage that an empty property insurance policy will usually include would be against damage caused by fire, lightning, subsidence, aircraft damage, and loss / damage due to theft (if signs of forcible entry are shown).

Public liability insurance is usually included too, which may be particularly useful if you have workmen in the property, who may claim against you for loss or injury that happened while on your premises.

When you take out property insurance for an empty property, the insurance typically provides the policy owner with peace of mind against financial distress.

Obligations to you

Generally an unoccupied property or one that is undergoing renovations may be potentially more at risk than an occupied property and an insurer will usually ask that you fulfil certain obligations in order to benefit from unoccupied property insurance.

These requirements may vary depending on who is providing the cover, but they may typically ask for things like all heating and water systems to be drained down and turned off (unless the heating / water needs to remain on for a particular purpose); the same for electricity (unless it is being used, say during renovations or to power an alarm system); letterboxes to be sealed up; and that you regularly check on the property (for example, every week or fortnight).

Finally, the term ‘unoccupied property’ tends to be used by insurers to describe a property that has been empty for 30 or more consecutive days. Therefore you should bear this in mind when you are taking a holiday that lasts over this period or you have to be away from home for any extended period of time for any reason. Failure to mention this to your insurer will typically render your existing home building contents insurance invalid.