Most standard home insurance policies maintain their normal cover for up to 30 consecutive days of the property being unoccupied. After this, cover may be reduced, restricted, or withdrawn — often leaving you with only basic FLEEA cover (fire, lightning, explosion, earthquake, aircraft).
To stay protected against risks such as theft, vandalism, storm, flood, or escape of water, you’ll usually need specialist unoccupied home insurance. This applies whether the property is in probate, has recently become empty due to the owner’s death, is undergoing renovation, awaiting sale, between tenants, or empty because the owner has moved into care.
If your home will be unoccupied for longer than 30 days, it’s essential to notify your insurer. Standard policies often become invalid unless strict conditions are met, such as regular inspections (often weekly or fortnightly), turning off and draining the water system, and securing all entry points.
Some insurers may continue cover with restrictions, but these can be hard to comply with. If you’re unsure or anticipate complications, switching to a specialist policy is often the safest option.
Specialist providers like Insuristic offer flexible cover for 3, 6, 9, or 12 months, with the option to renew as needed. If you’re only leaving the property empty for a few months, you can arrange short-term empty house insurance. This ensures you only pay for the cover you need, while keeping the flexibility to extend if circumstances change.
Most standard insurers reduce cover or impose difficult conditions once a property becomes unoccupied for more than 30 days. A specialist provider like Insuristic offers:
Insuristic policies are designed for the specific reason your property is empty — whether it’s during probate, after a bereavement, awaiting sale, between tenants, under renovation, or due to a move into care.
You can leave a house unoccupied for up to 30 days under most standard home insurance policies before restrictions may apply. After that, specialist unoccupied home insurance provides broader protection against common risks. With Insuristic, you can choose from annual or short-term cover, tailored to your exact circumstances.
Related guides:
Click to go back to our empty house insurance FAQ page.
Rob Faulkner is a leading expert in executor insurance risk and probate insurance, with nearly 30 years’ experience in the UK insurance market. He is the founder of Insuristic, a specialist provider of probate-related insurance solutions and educational content for executors.
Rob is an ACII Chartered Insurance Broker, a Chartered Manager, and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. His background spans insurers, brokers, and Insurtechs, always focused on innovation, transparency, simplicity, and fair value.
He’s passionate about helping everyday people, executors, beneficiaries, and law firms choose the right probate property insurance or unoccupied home insurance, without jargon, inflated fees, or hidden commissions.
Rob is especially passionate about product development and improving insurance education through marketing, helping people understand what they are buying. These values sit at the heart of everything we do at Insuristic.
Want to learn more? Visit my author page or follow me on LinkedIn.
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