On this page, you'll find everything you need to arrange unoccupied home insurance for a UK property — also known as empty house insurance or vacant home insurance.
If the property is at any stage of the probate process, visit our Specialist Probate House Insurance Page.
If you're arranging cover after a recent death and probate hasn't yet been granted, see our guide to insuring an empty house after death.
If you have questions we haven't answered, start a chat or contact us.
When a residential property will be left empty for more than 30 consecutive days, you usually need a specialist policy known as unoccupied home insurance (sometimes called empty house insurance or vacant home insurance).
Standard home insurance policies generally don't cover properties that are unoccupied for long periods. It is common for standard home insurers to:
Apply new policy conditions to reduce the risk of a claim whilst a property is empty.
Increase the premium; or
Decline to continue to cover the property.
Don't get caught out. Insuristic offers three levels of unoccupied home insurance — Bronze, Silver, and Gold — so you can match the cover to your situation.
Most buyers of empty-house insurance are dealing with one of the situations below. Click through to the guide that fits; each covers what to watch for, how the cover works, and how to arrange it.
If any of these describe your situation:
Cover variations:
If you don't tell your insurer that the house is empty, they may reject your claim if something goes wrong — and the Financial Ombudsman Service is likely to side with them.
Most standard home insurance policies allow up to 30 consecutive days of unoccupancy. If the house will be empty for longer than that, you should check your policy schedule for the exact limit, and then you need to inform your insurer as soon as possible (the policy often dictates within 7 days of the property becoming empty).
Because empty houses pose a significantly higher risk, many insurers either restrict cover, increase premiums, or refuse to continue covering the house at all.
The Financial Ombudsman Service has published case studies of claims being rejected because the house was unoccupied when the claim was made. In both of the examples below, the FOS ruled in favour of the insurer — not the homeowner:
Don't leave it to chance. If your house will be unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days, notify your insurer first to see if they can offer the cover. If they can't or won't, buy a specialist unoccupied home insurance policy.
Unoccupied home insurance comes with conditions you don't usually find on standard home cover.
These vary between insurers (some are stricter than others) — but the common ones include:
The most popular Insuristic policy is a 3-month Gold policy, averaging £163.
Over the last 12 months (March 2025 – April 2026), premiums across our unoccupied home insurance book (before Insurance Premium Tax) typically range from around £35 for three months' Bronze cover to £570 for annual Gold cover.
Premiums depend on these factors:
The number of bedrooms in the property.
The Property Rebuild Value: i.e. the cost of rebuilding the house, including professional and debris removal fees.
The area the property is located in, for example, some properties might be in a high theft, flood or subsidence risk area, which influences the prices the underwriter charges.
The level of cover you buy.
The only way to find out how much unoccupied home insurance costs is to get a quote online, which takes only a couple of minutes.
Insuristic can quote online for houses in good repair, with offline support for trickier-to-insure homes.
You can compare our 3 levels of unoccupied home insurance cover below:
Bronze is our basic level of cover. It only covers loss or damage to the buildings (or contents if you have chosen to insure that) caused by:
Fire
Lightning
Explosion
Earthquake; or
Aircraft
This cover is often referred to as FLEEA Insurance cover.
In addition, this cover level also includes:
Architects & surveyors fees and debris removal
Property owners liability insurance, covering your legal liabilities up to £2,000,000 should a member of the public be injured or have their property damaged at your premises.
There will be exclusions which can be found in your Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) or policy wording.
Silver is our mid-range level of cover. It extends to the FLEEA cover provided by Bronze to also include loss or damage to buildings (or contents if you have chosen to insure that) caused by:
In addition, it also provides cover for:
There will be exclusions which can be found in your Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) or policy wording.
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:
Plus:
Exclusions will be found in your Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) or policy wording.
Unlike many insurers, Insuristic makes property inspections simple.
This approach keeps you compliant with your policy while avoiding the hassle of formal inspection reports.
We've already covered the inspection requirements. Here are the other key conditions of an unoccupied house insurance policy:
Each cover level has its own Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) that summarises what's covered, key limits, and what's excluded. Read the IPID for the level you're considering, or the policy wording for the full terms and conditions. Any additional exclusions that apply to your specific policy will be listed on your schedule.
One more thing worth checking: we don't charge policy fees or cancellation fees, and we'll refund unused premium pro rata where no claim has been made.
Many competitors do the opposite — adding a policy fee when you buy and a cancellation fee if your plans change, often with no refund at all on short policies.
Insuristic is the broker. We handle any administration queries such as requests to cancel, change your policy, renewals etc.
Our Unoccupied Home Insurance scheme is underwritten by SJL (Worcester) Ltd, trading as SJL Insurance Services, on behalf of Lloyd’s Syndicate 4444, which is managed by Canopius Managing Agents Limited.
Canopius Managing Agents Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Financial Services Register number 20484).
Lloyd's of London is the world's largest specialist insurance market, with a Standard & Poor's financial strength rating of A+. Cover backed by Lloyd's syndicates is among the most financially secure in the UK insurance market — meaning when a claim is needed, the funds to pay it are there.
If you need to claim on your unoccupied home insurance policy, our dedicated UK claims team at SJL Insurance Services is a phone call away.
What you can expect from our claims service:
Check out our short guide on what is involved in making a claim.
Below are detailed answers to the most common questions about unoccupied home insurance, empty house insurance, and vacant property insurance, covering cover levels, costs, policy duration, eligibility, inspections, and the most common scenarios people face.
If we missed anything, please start an online chat or contact us.
Most UK comparison sites don't compare unoccupied home insurance. Some refer you to a panel of brokers (Go Compare), some run a standard home insurance quote journey instead (Money Supermarket, Confused), and some don't offer it at all (Uswitch). The product is treated as non-standard home insurance, and cover, conditions and inspection requirements vary so much between insurers that like-for-like comparison is genuinely difficult. That's why you won't find Insuristic on comparison sites — we are a specialist with a unique offering that won’t fit a standard panel.
Read the full breakdown: Why comparison sites don't compare unoccupied home insurance
We just need locks fitted and working on all external doors and all accessible windows. We don't require specific lock types like five-lever mortice deadlocks or BS3621-rated locks, unlike many insurers. All security measures must be in good working order and fully engaged whenever the property is left unattended.
Read the full guide: What is Insuristic's unoccupied home minimum security requirement?
No. For example, a 3-month policy is priced at a quarter of the equivalent 12-month premium (using the same pricing, just for fewer months). We don't apply a short-term loading for choosing 3 months over 12, it’s the same daily rate pro-rata.
We also don’t charge policy or renewal fees, which unnecessarily bump up the price every time you need to extend cover. Plus if you cancel earlier than planned and haven’t claimed you won’t be charged a cancellation fee and would receive a refund for any unused cover – which is rare.
For more details:
Yes. We offer a buildings-only option for empty properties, which is often the right choice if the property has been cleared of contents, for example, when it's pending sale, during renovation, between tenants, or after the owner has moved out, downsized, or moved into care.
Read the full guide: Can I insure just the buildings of an empty property?
Bronze cover is the cheapest unoccupied home insurance that we offer, covering only Fire, Lightning, Explosion, Earthquake and Aircraft impact (often called FLEEA Insurance), plus property owner's liability. It's the market-standard cheap option, but it excludes most of the perils that are common causes of claims on empty properties, such as escape of water, theft, malicious damage, and storm damage. There wouldn't be any cover for flood or subsidence either.
Learn more about the risks of this level of cover: What is FLEEA insurance?
Yes — we can insure an unoccupied UK property when you live overseas, provided the property is in England, Scotland or Wales, you hold a valid UK passport and UK bank account, and you have someone in the UK who can carry out the 14-day inspections on your behalf.
Read the full guide: Can I insure an unoccupied house if I don't live in the UK?
Yes. Our minimum policy term is 3 months, but because we don't charge cancellation fees and offer pro-rata refunds (subject to no claims), you can buy 3 months and cancel after one, only paying for the time you used.
This is worth checking before you buy unoccupied home insurance from anyone. Most providers in this market charge policy fees on top of the premium, charge you if you need to make a change and apply cancellation fees if you cancel early. Plus, you might not get any money back, even if you haven’t claimed. We don't charge any fees, and our pro-rata refund is rare.
For more details:
You need our specialist Probate Property Insurance, not standard Unoccupied Home Insurance. Probate cover is built for the specific situation — broader cover is designed around executor liability, and inspections are only required every 30 days instead of every 14.
If you're early in the process and not sure what to do first, start here: Insuring an empty house after death — it covers the 7-day insurance notification window, the risks executors face, and the practical steps to take.
Yes. Property owner's liability of £2,000,000 is included as standard on all three of our cover levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Property owner's liability protects you against claims if a third party is injured or their property is damaged by an incident at your property. For example, a neighbour was injured by a falling roof tile.
Our underwriter classifies carpets as contents, so if you wish to cover them, please ensure they are included within the contents sum insured.
Insuring at £750,000 can protect you against underinsurance, provided this is sufficient to rebuild the property.
Most people don't know the rebuild cost of their property and often use market value, which is not the same, leaving you underinsured in the event of a claim and a potentially significant personal loss.
The impact on small claims
For example, if you insure the buildings for £200,000 but the property's true rebuild cost is £400,000, the insurer can reduce any claim by the level of underinsurance.
So a £50,000 burst pipe claim would be settled at £25,000 — you'd cover the remaining £25,000 yourself.
The impact on large claims
On a total loss like a fire, the maximum payout would be the £200,000 you insured for, leaving a £200,000 shortfall for a property worth £400,000 to rebuild.
How you are protected
Our blanket £750,000 sum insured is designed to eliminate the risk for most UK properties. If £750,000 is genuinely enough to rebuild your property, you've avoided the underinsurance trap.
According to property rebuild specialists RebuildCostAssessment, 80% of UK properties are underinsured — so it's worth pausing to check.
If you're unsure whether £750,000 is enough, the ABI's free rebuild calculator gives a quick guidance figure.
For larger or higher-value properties, a professional rebuild assessment is the safest route.
We can insure for higher limits offline. Submit your quote, which will refer to our underwriters who will be in touch to find you a solution – or arrange a call back from our Customer Support Page.
We can insure higher-value properties offline. The online quote system handles properties up to a £750,000 rebuild value; anything above that needs an advised quote from our underwriters.
When you submit your quote, it will refer to our underwriting team. They'll discuss the property with you and, depending on its size, location, and construction, either provide a quote for our specialist scheme or recommend a different insurer. Either way, you will receive advice and the cover will be fully explained before you buy.
Two ways to start: submit your quote online, and the system will route it for an advised quote offline, or request a call back from our Customer Support page.
You can still get a quote for properties with up to 4 bedrooms. Our online quote system uses the number of bedrooms instead and applies a blanket £750,000 buildings sum insured. If £750,000 is enough to rebuild your property, you'll have avoided the risk of underinsurance.
If you do know the rebuild value, you may get a more accurate price. Although it is sometimes worth getting a quote based on the rebuild and the blanket sum insured basis to see which is cheaper.
If the property has more than 4 bedrooms or you think the rebuild cost might exceed £750,000, the quote will be referred to our underwriters, who will call you to discuss and provide an advised quote.
No, and they're often very different.
The market value is what the property would sell for.
The rebuild cost is what it would cost to rebuild it from scratch after a total loss, including demolition and clearance of what's left, professional fees for architects and surveyors, and the materials and labour to put it back to its original standard.
Rebuild cost is frequently higher than market value, particularly for older properties, properties in areas where land values are low but build costs are high, or properties with non-standard features like listed status or unusual construction.
Using market value as your sum insured is one of the most common causes of underinsurance, and it can leave you with a significant personal loss at the claim stage.
If you don't know your property's rebuild cost, the ABI's free rebuild calculator gives a quick guidance figure, or you can request a professional rebuild assessment from a specialist like RebuildCostAssessment.
Complete the cancellation request form on our customer support page, or reply to your original policy email confirming the reason for cancellation, the date you'd like cover to end, and that you have not made a claim. Any pro-rata refund of unused premium is paid back to the card you used to buy the policy, and there are no cancellation fees.
Cancel at completion, not exchange.
Until completion, the sale can still fall through, and the property remains your responsibility.
Cancelling at the exchange of contracts stage leaves you exposed if the sale doesn't proceed. This can happen if one party dies or the property suffers a major loss, leaving it uninhabitable with lengthy repair or rebuild timeframes.
Also, don't request cancellation in advance of completion even if you know the completion date — delays are common in conveyancing and could leave the property uninsured.
Best practice: Once completion has taken place and the property has legally changed hands, contact us to cancel. We'll issue a pro-rata refund of any unused premium with no cancellation fee, provided no claims have been made.
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.
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