Inspections and the risks for unoccupied home insurance

In this video, Rob discusses the need for unoccupied home insurance inspections, the risks of non-compliance, and an effective solution for you.

Video Transcript

Most unoccupied home insurance providers include an inspection condition in their policy wording. Failure to comply with this condition could result in declined insurance claims, leaving you to finance putting things right.

So why are inspections required?

The simple answer is that unoccupied homes present a higher risk of insurance claims, such as water damage, theft, fire, malicious damage, and vandalism.

For this reason, insurers generally require the regular inspection of unoccupied property to allow quicker intervention on issues and minimise damage.

To illustrate why inspections are so necessary, imagine the property has developed a burst pipe.  If the property is occupied, the issue is usually identified and dealt with quickly, minimising or eliminating any claim.  It might be the case of a plumber call-out followed by a clean-up with a mop and bucket.

For unoccupied property, this issue could be left undetected for days. A minor incident can gradually build up, causing both significant damage to the property and a big claim for the insurer.

Or imagine a storm damages roof tiles at the property, and a few days later, heavy rainfall results in water ingress and damage to the property’s interior.

In both examples, inspections would help minimise the damage, instigate the repair process and minimise the size of claims for the insurer.

So, it is understandable that insurers generally require property to be inspected.

In addition, the policy usually requires the property to be kept in a reasonable state of repair, the gardens kept tidy, and mail regularly removed from the property. This ensures the property continues to look lived in and minimises the risks of break-ins and vandalism.

Inspections also make sense for you. They can minimise the risk of a claim and, therefore, disruptions to your plans for the property.

What do insurers generally require you to do?

When you search for unoccupied home insurance online, you will find that inspection requirements will differ by insurer.

Many will require inspections every seven days.  Some might be more generous and push this to once every fourteen days.

In addition, most insurance providers that require inspections will also insist on a property report, every visit.

So what are the risks of failing to comply with the inspection condition?

Complying with this inspection condition can be problematic. If there is a claim, you will need evidence that the property has been inspected as per the insurer’s condition.

If you provide a property report that a professional hasn’t produced, the insurer might need additional proof that the property was regularly inspected.  After all, a non-professional written report could have been produced at any time.  If so, could you prove the inspections happened and when?

Failure to prove the property has been regularly inspected can cause the insurer to decline your claim.  There is plenty of evidence of this on the Financial Ombudsman’s website, with many of these cases being reviewed and the outcome going in favour of the insurance provider if their terms and conditions were clear.  Which they usually are.

So, inspections can be an area that can catch you out if you need to claim.

So what is the solution?

Thankfully, Insuristic’s inspection condition is easy for you to comply with.

Customers insuring unoccupied probate properties must inspect the property once every 30 days.

If the property is unoccupied for any other reason, our unoccupied home insurance policy requires the property to be inspected every fourteen days.

Neither policies require written reports. Instead, anyone with a mobile phone and a house key can inspect the property. 

The person inspecting the house must take two images with their mobile phone.  One of the front of the property and one inside.

If there is a claim, share these pictures with our claims team to prove the inspection condition has been complied with so that your claim can be handled efficiently.

Our inspection process is much easier to manage and comply with, giving you peace of mind in the event of a claim.

So why not take a couple of minutes to buy a specialist policy online from Insuristic.co.uk?

I hope this video helps you understand the need for inspections on unoccupied property and the risks of non-compliance with the policy condition.

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Have a great day.

PS If you need a quotation, check out our specialist insurance pages for:

• Insuring an empty house during probate
• Unoccupied Home Insurance
• Unoccupied Landlord Insurance
• Insuring an empty house after the death of the owner