If you need to insure a home that’s empty, for any reason, this page is for you.
This FAQ hub is designed to be scan-friendly and includes a Table of Contents to help you navigate key topics. Whether the property is empty due to sale, renovation, a care move, or another reason, you’ll find clear answers here on how unoccupied home insurance works, what’s covered, and how to get the right policy in place.
We’ve grouped our answers into two sections:
Understanding Unoccupied Home Insurance: Definitions, scenarios, legal considerations, and general guidance.
Your Insuristic Policy Explained: What our cover includes, how it differs from standard insurance, costs, inspection requirements, and more.
The legal owner is usually responsible for property insurance. If the owner is in care, an attorney or court-appointed deputy may arrange it. During probate, it becomes the responsibility of the executor or administrator. For company-owned properties, the limited company must insure it.
For more information read our post: Who is responsible for property insurance?
Yes. Standard home insurance typically excludes or restricts cover for unoccupied properties. Specialist unoccupied home insurance provides broader protection for properties left empty for extended periods.
You can insure a property you don’t own if you have an insurable interest, such as acting as an executor, administrator, attorney, trustee, or insuring the property on behalf of a business. The policy should be arranged in the name of the owner, the estate (if in probate), the owner’s name (if in care), or the business entity.
No, unoccupied house insurance and empty house insurance refer to the same type of policy. Both terms describe insurance cover for properties that are not currently lived in, whether due to probate, sale, renovations, or a gap between tenants. At Insuristic, our policy is designed for exactly these situations, no matter which term you use.
Most standard home insurance policies only allow a property to be empty for 30 consecutive days. After this period, cover is usually reduced or removed altogether, especially for risks like escape of water, theft, or malicious damage.
If you know your home will be empty for longer, you’ll need specialist unoccupied home insurance. With Insuristic, you can choose 3, 6, 9 or 12 month policies, and extend if needed.
Whether the property is empty due to renovation, being between tenants, or while awaiting sale, Unoccupied Home Insurance ensures the right protection stays in place. if the property is in probate, we have a specialist Probate Property Insurance Policy.
Unoccupied Home Insurance is a specialist policy that protects a property when it’s left unoccupied for more than 30 days. Most standard home insurance policies stop providing full cover after this point.
Why you need it:
Standard home insurance won’t usually cover a property left empty for more than 30 days.
Empty homes face higher risks such as theft, vandalism, fire, escape of water, and storm damage.
Renovation work can invalidate a standard policy, so a specialist unoccupied or renovation policy is required.
Without the right insurance, the property owner, executor, or family could face significant financial loss.
Specialist cover can be arranged for different scenarios such as probate, sale, care moves, landlord gaps, or renovation projects.
Scenarios where this cover is useful:
A property is waiting to be sold: Insurance for an Unoccupied House for Sale
A home is empty during probate: Probate House Insurance
An elderly person has moved into long-term care: Insuring an Empty Home When the Owner Is in Care
A landlord has a gap between tenants: Unoccupied Property Insurance for Landlords
A property undergoing renovation: Empty Home Renovation Insurance
Related Guides:
Get a quote:
Yes, you can insure an empty house, but you’ll usually need a specialist unoccupied home insurance policy. Standard home insurance often restricts or removes cover once a property has been empty for more than 30 days.
Why specialist cover is needed:
Scenarios where you may need it:
Protect your empty property today with Unoccupied Home Insurance.
Specialist providers of unoccupied home insurance, like Insuristic, insure empty houses. Most standard home insurers reduce or withdraw cover once a property has been empty for around 30 days.
If the property is:
…you are likely to need a specialist policy.
What to look for in a specialist policy:
Related Guides:
Protect your empty property today with Unoccupied Home Insurance.
If you own a house you don’t live in — for example, because it's empty pending sale or awaiting new tenants, undergoing renovation or its empty and you have the legal responsibility to insure it (such as you have a power of attorney or you are an executor) you’ll usually need unoccupied home insurance.
With Insuristic, you can:
Choose cover for 3, 6, 9, or 12 months.
Select Bronze, Silver, or Gold protection depending on your needs.
Get a quote online in minutes, with instant documents.
This ensures the property remains insured while it’s empty.
Start a quote: Unoccupied Home Insurance
If the property is in probate, visit our Probate Property Insurance page to get a quote.
The best insurance for a vacant house depends on how much protection you want:
Bronze – Our entry-level cover. Protects against Fire, Lightning, Explosion, Earthquake and Aircraft (FLEEA), plus architects’ fees, debris removal and £2 million Property Owners’ Liability.
Silver – Includes all Bronze cover, and extends protection to risks like Storm, Flood, Weight of Snow, Impact by vehicles or animals, Falling trees or lamp-posts. It also adds Accidental Breakage of sanitary fittings, underground services and aerials, plus Trace & Access cover for leaks and increased water charges after an escape of water.
Gold – Our widest level of protection. Includes Bronze and Silver, and adds Subsidence, Heave and Landslip (unless excluded), Escape of Water or Oil (up to £3,500 per incident, with heating conditions), Malicious Damage, and Theft or Attempted Theft.
Compare options here: Unoccupied Home Insurance Cover Levels
Most standard home insurance policies only allow a house to be left empty for around 30 days. After this, cover is usually reduced or withdrawn.
If your property will be empty for longer, you’ll need unoccupied home insurance to stay protected. With Insuristic, you can insure for 3, 6, 9, or 12 months — and extend if needed.
Get covered: Unoccupied Home Insurance Quote
Yes, insuring an unoccupied house is usually more expensive than standard home insurance. Empty properties face higher risks, including theft, vandalism, burst pipes, and delayed detection of damage. Because of this, insurers often charge more to reflect the increased likelihood of a claim.
The cost of unoccupied home insurance depends on several factors, including the property’s rebuild value, location, how long it will be empty, and the level of cover you choose.
The average Insuristic customer spends £265 (including Insurance Premium Tax) for six months of Silver cover.
With Insuristic, you can tailor the policy to your circumstances:
Flexible terms – Choose 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. If the property is occupied again before the policy ends, you’ll receive a pro-rata refund (subject to no claims).
Cover levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold options let you balance cost against protection. Bronze is the most affordable, while Gold offers the widest cover, including theft and malicious damage.
3-month policies – A popular choice for probate and short void periods, helping to keep costs down.
Because empty homes present higher risks, premiums are usually more expensive than standard home insurance. But short-term options and tiered cover levels mean you only pay for the protection you actually need.
Get an instant Unoccupied Home Insurance quote online to see your exact premium.
If your property is going to be empty for more than 30 days, your standard home insurance will usually stop covering you. Most insurers either limit protection or exclude key risks such as escape of water, theft, or malicious damage.
The solution is to take out specialist unoccupied home insurance. With Insuristic, you can:
The type of policy you’ll need depends on why the home is empty:
This ensures your property remains protected while empty and satisfies most lender requirements.
You can get an unoccupied home insurance quote online in just a few minutes with Insuristic. Choose your policy length (3, 6, 9 or 12 months), your level of cover (Bronze, Silver or Gold), and you’ll receive documents instantly with no admin fees.
The price of cover depends on several factors, including:
Get started today with an instant Unoccupied Home Insurance quote
If the property is empty during probate, visit our Probate Property Insurance page to get a quote.
When choosing unoccupied home insurance, think about:
Taking these into account ensures you choose the right unoccupied home insurance policy for your property and circumstances.
An interested party is someone who has a financial interest in a property but isn’t the policyholder. In unoccupied home insurance, this is most often a mortgage lender or bank that has lent money secured against the property.
Adding them to your policy ensures they’re noted on the insurance documents. It gives them reassurance that the property is properly protected and that they will be kept informed if the policy is cancelled or lapses.
With Insuristic, you can easily add your lender as an interested party when arranging Unoccupied Home Insurance.
Unlike standard home insurance, there aren’t many ways to reduce the cost of unoccupied home insurance, because empty properties carry higher risks.
However, with Insuristic, you have two options that can make cover more affordable:
These choices give you some flexibility, but it’s important not to under-insure. Always make sure the level of cover is right for your property.
The cheapest form of unoccupied home insurance is usually a “FLEA” policy.
Because this type of policy excludes risks like escape of water, theft, storm, and malicious damage, it’s usually the most affordable option.
You can then upgrade to Silver or Gold if you want wider protection.
Start protecting your property today — get an unoccupied home insurance quote online in minutes.
Yes. If you have a mortgage, your lender will usually require the property to remain insured — even when it’s unoccupied. To make sure their interest is protected, you can add your mortgage company as an interested party on the policy.
This way, they are shown on your insurance documents, and they will be notified if the policy is cancelled or lapses.
You can easily add a lender when setting up your Unoccupied Home Insurance policy with Insuristic.
Empty house insurance is available from many providers, but Insuristic offers specialist cover designed for the unique risks of unoccupied properties.
Why choose Insuristic:
Scenarios where this matters:
Related Guides:
Get a Quote
Protect your empty property today with Unoccupied Home Insurance.
Yes, you can insure your home while it’s empty and on the market.
Risks such as fire, escape of water, storm damage, theft, and liability still apply until the property legally changes hands. An unoccupied home insurance policy ensures you’re protected during this period.
Remember: keep your insurance in place until the sale has been legally completed. Only then should you contact us to cancel or switch cover. Cancelling too early could leave you uninsured if the sale falls through.
Learn more about Insurance for an Unoccupied House for Sale
Yes, we can provide unoccupied home insurance while your property is being renovated, provided you tell us when requesting a quotation and depending on the scale of the works.
Always let us know before renovation works begin, so we can confirm whether your existing policy remains valid or if alternative cover is required.
If you are carrying out renovation works, you may find our Empty Home Renovation Insurance a better fit for your needs.
If the inherited property is empty, it should be insured with unoccupied home insurance. If you're living in it, standard home insurance applies. If it's rented out, a landlord insurance policy is needed.
If you own a house you don’t live in, you’ll usually need unoccupied home insurance. Standard home insurance only applies if the property is your main residence — once it’s left empty for 30 days or more, cover is often reduced or withdrawn.
Specialist unoccupied home insurance protects the property in situations such as:
Protect your property today with Unoccupied Home Insurance.
Yes. When a homeowner dies, their standard home insurance is often no longer valid once the property is unoccupied. Most policies only allow up to 30 days of vacancy before reducing cover to basic FLEEA protection (Fire, Lightning, Earthquake, Explosion, Aircraft), leaving no protection for major risks like theft, escape of water, malicious damage, or subsidence.
Executors are legally responsible for protecting estate assets, which includes arranging specialist insurance to keep the property covered until it is sold, transferred to beneficiaries, or reoccupied.
At Insuristic, our Probate House Insurance is specifically designed for this scenario. It provides:
Related guides:
Protect the estate with Probate House Insurance.
Standard home insurance often becomes limited or invalid once the homeowner has passed away and the property is empty. Extending the existing policy may seem like the easiest option, but it can expose executors or administrators to serious risks — including restricted cover, underinsurance, or policy conditions that are hard to comply with.
To protect both the estate and the executor, it’s usually better to arrange a specialist Probate Property Insurance policy designed for unoccupied homes in probate. At Insuristic, our cover runs until the property is sold, inherited, or occupied again, with inspection requirements that are practical to meet.
Read more in our guide: The Risks of Extending Insurance for Unoccupied Probate Property
No, there isn't a law that says you must have unoccupied property insurance.
However, it is highly recommended:
That’s why many people choose to protect themselves with unoccupied home insurance, even though it isn’t compulsory.
Protect your property today — get an unoccupied home insurance quote online in minutes
The market for unoccupied property insurance is smaller and seen as higher risk, so providers differ significantly in what’s included. Some exclude key cover areas like theft or water damage, while others impose strict conditions such as regular inspections or draining down water systems. This makes it hard to compare policies like-for-like.
Read our expert guide to comparing unoccupied home insurance policies for full clarity.
Under-insurance happens when the amount you insure your property for is less than its true rebuild cost.
If this happens, the “average clause” may apply. This means any claim payout could be reduced in proportion to the level of under-insurance.
Example:
This is why it’s important to get sums insured right from the start.
If you don’t know your property’s rebuild cost, Insuristic also offers a bedroom-rated option. The sum insured provided then will be a blanket £750,000, so provided that is sufficient to rebuild the property, you will avoid underinsurance.
To get an accurate price, you could also arrange a rebuild valuation via BCH.
If you are an executor, this guide will be useful: What executors need to know about under-insurance
Make sure your property is protected properly — get an unoccupied home insurance quote online in minutes.
With Insuristic, your Unoccupied Home Insurance requires the property to be inspected at least once every 14 days. These inspections help identify problems early, such as leaks, break-ins, or storm damage, before they become more serious.
If inspections are missed, insurers may:
To keep a simple record, take one photo of the front of the property and one photo of any room inside at each visit. This is usually all that’s needed to evidence inspections and keep your Unoccupied Home Insurance valid.
Yes. If you leave a home empty and don’t tell your insurer, your house insurance claim can be denied. Most standard home insurance policies only allow a property to be vacant for 30 days before they restrict or remove cover for common risks such as theft, escape of water, malicious damage, flood and subsidence.
If you fail to disclose that a home is empty — or continue paying for a standard policy once the property is unoccupied — the insurer could reject any claim you make. In some cases, the policy itself may even be cancelled for non-disclosure.
To avoid this, you’ll need specialist unoccupied property insurance. These policies are designed to cover empty homes and can be tailored to your situation, whether the property is in probate, left empty while the owner is in care, on the market for sale, between tenants for a landlord, or undergoing renovation.
When you’re ready: Get an Empty House Insurance Quote
Not usually. When a homeowner dies and their property becomes unoccupied, this is treated as a material change of risk. Executors must notify the existing insurer -often within 7 days, otherwise cover could be invalidated.
Even if the insurer agrees to continue, most standard home insurance policies reduce cover after 30 consecutive days to only basic FLEEA protection (Fire, Lightning, Earthquake, Explosion, Aircraft). This leaves no cover for major risks such as theft, escape of water, flood, malicious damage, or subsidence.
Because executors have a legal duty to protect estate assets, relying on a standard policy can expose them to liability if a claim is denied. The safest approach is to arrange specialist probate property insurance, which is designed for unoccupied homes during probate.
Insuristic’s Probate House Insurance:
Related FAQs:
Related guides:
Please note that this section relates to our Unoccupied Home Insurance policy.
If you have purchased our specialist policy for property during probate, the cover and inspection frequency are different. Please visit our Probate Property Insurance page, or refer to your policy documents for details.
Unoccupied home insurance is designed to protect an empty property against the major risks most owners worry about.
Typically, it can include cover for:
Insuristic offers cover in Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiers, so you can choose the level of protection that fits your needs.
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) is a government tax applied to most general insurance policies in the UK, including Unoccupied Home Insurance.
The standard rate of IPT is currently 12%, and it’s automatically included in your premium when you buy a policy. You don’t need to calculate or pay it separately — it’s built into the price you see in your quote and schedule.
When comparing Unoccupied Home Insurance quotes, make sure you’re looking at the total premium including IPT, so you know the true cost of cover.
It is a condition of your Unoccupied Home Insurance policy that the property is inspected internally and externally at least once every 14 days while it is unoccupied.
To make this simple, Insuristic allows you (or anyone with access to the property) to carry out the inspection. All you need to do is:
You don’t need to send these to us unless you make a claim, but they must be kept as evidence.
Regular inspections help protect your cover, for example, claims for theft, malicious damage, and liability could be rejected if inspection conditions aren’t met.
Protect your property with flexible cover that works around simple inspection requirements — get an unoccupied home insurance quote online in minutes.
We offer three levels of unoccupied home insurance—Bronze, Silver and Gold—each with increasing levels of protection:
Accidental breakage of sanitary fittings.
Accidental breakage to underground services which extend from your home to the public mains which you are legally liable for.
The cost of finding the source of any leaks up to £1000 following an escape of water.
Breakage or collapse of fixed radio or television aerials, satellite dishes & their masts.
Increased domestic metered water charges up to £750 following an escape of water.
Subsidence, heave or landslip (unless you live in an area prone to this type of damage. If this is the case and the cover is excluded, this will be shown clearly on your policy schedule).
Escape of Water or Oil to a maximum of £3,500 for any individual incident (to main this cover, you will need to keep the heating on at all times set to a constant temperature of 15 degrees)
Malicious Damage
Theft or Attempted Theft.
Gold: is our highest level of cover. It extends the cover provided in levels Bronze and Silver, to also include loss or damage to buildings (or contents if you have chosen to insure that) caused by:
Subsidence, heave or landslip (unless you live in an area prone to this type of damage. If this is the case and the cover is excluded, this will be shown clearly on your policy schedule).
Escape of Water or Oil to a maximum of £3,500 for any individual incident (to main this cover, you will need to keep the heating on at all times set to a constant temperature of 15 degrees)
Malicious Damage
Theft or Attempted Theft.
Exclusions will be found in your Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) or policy wording.
All levels come with flexible policy terms (3, 6, 9, or 12 months), a 14-day inspection requirement, and optional contents cover.
The excess you’ll need to pay if you make a claim will be shown in your policy schedule.
For more detail, visit our Unoccupied Building Insurance page. If you're a landlord, you may prefer our Unoccupied Landlord Insurance page tailored to rental properties.
Yes. To keep your Unoccupied Home Insurance valid, you’ll need to make sure the property is kept secure:
You’ll also need to meet any inspection requirements set out in your Policy Schedule.
If your property is undergoing renovations, you’ll also need to make sure it is kept secure against unauthorised entry. This may include securing any exposed parts of the building and ensuring contractors leave the site safe at the end of each day.
Always check your policy documentation for full details of the requirements.
Following these conditions helps ensure your Unoccupied Home Insurance remains in force while the property is empty.
Yes. All of Insuristic’s Unoccupied Home Insurance policies include Property Owners’ Liability cover.
This protects you if someone is injured or their property is damaged at your premises and you are found legally liable. For example, if a visitor trips on a broken path or a tile falls from the roof and damages a neighbour’s car.
This liability protection is an important part of Unoccupied Home Insurance, giving peace of mind while your property is empty.
Yes — but only with Gold cover, if the water system hasn’t been drained and isolated at the internal stopcock, escape of water cover is capped at £3,500 per claim.
Between 1 October and 31 March, if the system isn’t drained, you must:
Failure to meet these conditions could result in no cover for escape of water or burst pipe claims. Insurers may also request utility bills to verify compliance.
Draining the water systems is the safest way to erradicate the risk of escape of water claims, which is one of the most frequent causes of claims in unoccupied home insurance.
Yes, all services must be turned off at the mains unless they’re needed to maintain heating or security. If services remain on unnecessarily and a related claim arises, the insurer may decline to pay.
No, contents cover is not included by default with Unoccupied Home Insurance.
You can choose to add contents cover up to £30,000 during the quote process, depending on the property's risk profile and what's left inside.
Please note
Tailor your policy to fit your needs — get an unoccupied home insurance quote online in minutes
An excess is the amount you agree to pay towards any claim. With Insuristic’s Unoccupied Home Insurance, the excess depends on the type of claim:
The exact amount will be shown in your policy schedule, but these are the standard levels.
When comparing Unoccupied Home Insurance policies, always check the excess as well as the premium — a higher excess can reduce the cost of cover but means you pay more if you claim.
Our guide Why It’s Difficult To Compare Unoccupied Home Insurance may also be useful.
To stay protected under Gold:
Claims for theft or malicious damage may be rejected if these conditions are not met.
Our insurer deems carpets, other flooring, and blinds as fixtures of the building. Therefore, they should be included in the building sums insured. You do not need to include them as contents.
Yes, Insuristic offers flexible short-term unoccupied building insurance. You can choose cover for 3, 6, 9, or 12 months depending on how long the property will be empty. This is ideal during probate, a house sale, or renovations. Learn more on our Unoccupied Building Insurance page.
No. Unoccupied home insurance does not cover wear and tear or general maintenance issues.
For example, if a roof is already in poor condition and starts leaking, or if gutters are blocked and cause damp, these would not be covered, as they are classed as maintenance problems, not sudden insured events.
However, if damage is caused by a specific insured peril (such as storm, fire, or escape of water), your policy may cover the resulting loss, depending on your level of cover.
Always keep the property in a reasonable state of repair and carry out essential maintenance. This helps prevent avoidable issues and keeps your Unoccupied Home Insurance valid.
You can cancel your Unoccupied Home Insurance policy at any time by contacting us.
To cancel, follow these steps:
Important: If you’re cancelling because the property has been sold, only contact us after the sale has completed. Cancelling too early could leave the property uninsured if the sale falls through.
If something happens to your property, it’s important to act quickly and follow the right steps to make sure your claim goes smoothly.
Here’s what to do:
The insurer’s claims team will guide you through the next steps, which may include sending a loss adjuster to assess the damage.
Need to make a claim now? Visit our Property Insurance claims page for the full contact details and next steps.
Here are some detailed guides that may be helpful, including step-by-step instructions on how to get a quote:
Rob Faulkner is an ACII Chartered Insurance Broker with nearly 30 years' experience in the UK insurance market. He is also a Chartered Manager and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
As the founder of Insuristic, Rob has developed clear, flexible insurance solutions for property owners and people managing empty homes.
He writes regularly on property and business insurance, with a particular focus on probate insurance, unoccupied home insurance and risk management, areas where he brings deep expertise.
Rob is especially passionate about product development and insurance education, helping people understand what they are buying. These values shape everything we do at Insuristic.
Want to learn more? Visit my author page or follow me on LinkedIn.
Insuristic Limited is an Appointed Representative of SJL (Worcester) Ltd, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with the reference number 763599. This can be checked by visiting https://register.fca.org.uk/s/.
Registered Office: Unit 2, 262 Walsall Road, Cannock, England, WS11 0JL. Registered in England and Wales No: 13926650.
Insuristic is a registered trademark. ©Copyright 2023 Insuristic Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Please Note: Our broking team at SJL Insurance will need to talk to you to discuss your requirements. This is an advised service.
Please Note: Our broking team at SJL Insurance will need to talk to you to discuss your requirements. This is an advised service.
Please Note: Our broking team at SJL Insurance will need to talk to you to discuss your requirements. This is an advised service.
Please Note: Our broking team at SJL Insurance will need to talk to you to discuss your requirements. This is an advised service.
Please Note: Our broking team at SJL Insurance will need to talk to you to discuss your requirements. This is an advised service.
Please Note: Our broking team at SJL Insurance will need to talk to you to discuss your requirements. This is an advised service.