Insuring an empty house after death

We know that losing a loved one is a heartbreaking and often overwhelming experience. We are very sorry for your loss.

When there is no surviving co-owner and the property becomes empty, it needs to be promptly and correctly insured. 

This is important if you are acting as an executor (if there is a Will) or Administrator (if there is no Will), as you have a duty of care to insure the property and could be liable for uninsured losses.  For simplicity, we will refer to those with a duty of care as the executor moving forward.

It is likely that the existing insurance will no longer be valid, so you must act quickly. On our executor home insurance page, you can read more about your liability as an executor regarding property insurance.

This page will provide you with the information you need.

What if there is a surviving partner who co-owned the property?

If a surviving partner co-owned the property (called tenants in common) and the property is still occupied by that person, then your existing insurance policy will likely still be sufficient.

A quick call or message to your insurance provider should be all that is required. If the schedule was in joint names, it will need updating, and you might need to pay an administrative fee, but in most cases, this should be sufficient.

Our guide to insuring an empty house provides some generic guidance, but here is a list of things you should consider as the executor:

1. Contact the existing insurer: As the risk has changed, you must notify the current insurer. This is a condition of your policy.
2. Ensure continuation of cover: If the property is no longer insured, or the existing insurer wants to terminate cover, the executors must immediately find alternative cover, as they would be liable for uninsured losses. A large claim, like a fire or flood, without insurance, could ruin an executor's finances.
3. Understand any changes in the policy: If the existing insurer is prepared to continue cover, it is likely they will restrict cover; you need to ensure you are comfortable with any new gaps in cover, or you can comply with any new policy conditions. Again, failure to do so could create a liability for you for shortfalls in claims awards or even claims denials.  For example:
   1. removing some insured perils to protect their liability, such as flood, subsidence, theft, malicious damage, escape of water, or even contents cover.
   2. They may also apply new conditions such as additional security, switching off utilities, draining water systems, keeping the heating on during the winter months, and frequent inspections. All must be complied with, and evidence of compliance must be provided in the event of a claim.
4. Maintenance Plan: It is common for probate property to need some form of maintenance to the property, outbuildings, and gardens. Any issues such as loose tiles, general repair issues, unkept gardens, etc., must be swiftly dealt with. It will be a condition of the policy that the property is kept in a decent state of repair.
5. Redirect Mail – Preventing a buildup of mail is essential to ensure the property doesn’t look empty and reduce the risk of fire. This is why it is usually a condition of the policy.  You should immediately redirect the mail, and if you aren’t local, perhaps ask a neighbour to remove any post that still gets through. 

Most executors we speak to are shocked at the difference in cover available in the market and how lacking some providers' cover is.

You might want to save some time and get a quote from Insuristic first; you will soon see what we mean.

What you will tend to see:

• Irrelevant questions: For example, asking the executors questions that would make sense if they insured the property, like have they made any claims, have convictions, CCJ’s etc. This has no bearing on the estate, which is why we don’t ask these questions.  If you are being asked these questions, it’s a clear indicator that the provider is just offering you standard cover that is likely to be restricted and not adequate for executors
• Basic cover: Ensure you get a quote on a like-for-like basis. Many providers will offer basic damage cover following fire, lightning, earthquake, explosion and aircraft.  It won’t include cover for common claims like escape of water, theft, vandalism, malicious damage or major events like flood or subsidence.  Remember, reinstating property damage from uninsured losses would fall on the executor.
• Small print: important policy conditions like inspections, draining water systems, switching off utilities, etc., are often hidden in the policy wording, which you must read and understand. Little effort is usually taken to explain these to you upfront.  Please read our Probate House Insurance page to see how this should be done.
• Non-obvious claims process: When you get a quote, can you find out how you can make a claim if you need to, or is there just a phone number in the policy documents? Insuristic’s underwriters have an in-house claims service with people who can provide advice and support at every stage of a claim.  Check out our claims page for more information.
• Administrative fees: The provider may charge a policy fee on top of the insurance premium. They will also usually earn commission on this premium, often more than 20%. It’s a double charge on their service. We won’t ever do this. The maximum we ever earn when insuring members of the public is 20%. You can find this clearly in our terms of business agreement.
• Hidden cancellation fees: Commonly, probate property insurance policies need to be cancelled early. After all, who knows how lengthy probate will be and how long it takes for a property to sell or be passed to the beneficiaries?  Charging a cancellation fee is, in our opinion, unfair and unnecessary.  You might only discover this charge by reading the provider's terms of business agreement.  On top of the fee, they might also retain their commission. Provided there have been no claims, we don’t do either.  You would receive a straightforward, quick pro-rata refund representing the value of any unused cover.
• Premium finance commissions: Many providers will offer you the option to pay monthly, but this is rarely interest-free. On top of this, most insurance brokers earn a commission on these instalment payments.  Due to these hidden costs, we chose not to offer a pay monthly option.  Instead, you can arrange short-term cover, say 3, 6, or 9 months at no additional cost, and renew this as often as needed.  If there is money in the estate and you want to insure for 12 months, you are no worse off due to our fair cancellation process.

A beneficiary doesn’t have any legal entitlement to the property until they have inherited it under the terms of the Grant of Probate (if there is a Will) or under letters of Administration (if there isn’t a Will).

Until then, the property needs to be insured in the name of the estate.  The correct way to do this is as follows:

• If there is a will: The Insured name should be: The Executors of the estate of ‘Name of the Deceased'.
• If there is no will: The Insured name should be Administrators of the estate of ‘Name of the Deceased'.

We will remind you of this when you get a quote. 

If a provider doesn’t explain this to you, it’s a clear example that they are offering a standard unoccupied home insurance policy that isn’t designed for probate.

Lastly, it is becoming more common for probate property to be occupied. We have written an extensive page on insuring occupied probate property, but to sum up, it is not an easy insurance policy to arrange correctly. You will likely require some advice.

The key is that the people living in the property must have the executor's permission. If not, insurers will be reluctant to insure as they will be worried about a higher risk of malicious damage or reduction in the care of the property.

If people are living there with the executor's permission, a standard home insurance policy won’t be appropriate as they will not have any insurable interest in the property.  Even if these people are beneficiaries, there is no insurable interest until the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration are received.

A landlord's or property owner's policy also won’t be applicable as rent is unlikely to be paid or a tenancy agreement in force. Unless, of course, the property was already being let out prior to the owner's death, in which case it could well be appropriate.

If the property is occupied, request a quote, and one of the specialist insurance teams at our underwriters, SJL Insurance, will call you to provide advice and a quote.

We hope this page has been helpful to you.  If you have any questions or need help, contact us or start an online chat.  We will always come back to you, usually via email or over the phone if you need to chat something through.

If you don’t have any questions, and to ensure you have comprehensive cover tailored for probate, get a quote from Insuristic today.