Insuring an unoccupied home requires careful planning to make sure the property is protected while it’s empty. These top tips will help you choose the right cover and avoid common pitfalls. Here are our top tips:
Standard home insurance often won’t cover empty properties, or includes restrictive conditions like requiring inspections every week or excluding escape of water. Choose a specialist policy designed for insurance for unoccupied homes, with clear terms around empty property risks.
Whether you need 3, 6, 9, or 12 months of unoccupied home insurance, choose a policy length that fits your situation — whether it’s for a renovation, sale, or probate. (If the property is in probate, check out our Probate House Insurance page for tailored cover) Flexible policies mean you only pay for the time you need — and can extend if plans change.
Specialist providers like Insuristic offer Bronze, Silver, and Gold cover levels, each tailored to different needs and budgets. Review these carefully. Silver and Gold include capped escape-of-water cover, provided you keep the heating on at a minimum of 15°C between 31st October and 31st March. Bronze does not include escape-of-water cover, so draining the water system is required.
In fact, draining the system is always the safest option, as undetected leaks in unoccupied homes can lead to costly damage. Understand what each level includes so you can choose the right insurance for your unoccupied home with confidence.
To prevent burst pipes, always leave the heating on at least 15°C throughout winter unless your policy lets you drain the system. This is especially vital for probate properties under Silver or Gold cover, and failure to do this could affect any claim.
Empty properties must be checked regularly. With many policies, including ours, inspections are required one every 14 days for unoccupied home insurance or once every 30 days for probate house insurance. To evidence each visit, simply take two photos using a mobile device, one inside and one outside. These are only required if you make a claim.
If a property is vacant due to a bereavement and probate is underway, the insurance policy must allow it to be arranged in the name of the estate (i.e. “executors of [name of the deceased]”). The cover should be as broad as possible, avoid basic FLEEA-only insurance (covering just Fire, Lightning, Earthquake, Explosion, and Aircraft), as it can leave essential risks like theft or escape of water uninsured.
Choosing a comprehensive policy ensures that executors are adequately protected from personal liability and that the estate is adequately covered during the probate process.For more details, visit our Executor Home Insurance page.
If you’re insuring contents as well as the building, make sure to provide a full replacement-cost estimate. This ensures the contents are adequately covered in the event of a claim.
If there’s a mortgage on the property, always add the lender as an interested party on your policy. Failing to do so could breach the terms of your mortgage and cause issues with the lender if a claim is made.
Underestimating the rebuild cost of a property can lead to underinsurance, where claims are only partially paid — even if they’re within the total sum insured. Always use an accurate rebuild value, not the market value, especially if the property has been extended or altered.
If you’re unsure, you can obtain a quote based on the number of bedrooms (for properties with four or fewer bedrooms) or consider a professional rebuild assessment. We recommend services like Barrett Corp Harrington for accurate rebuild cost reports.
By following these tips, you’ll make insuring an unoccupied home straightforward, cost-effective, and fully compliant with your policy’s terms. Doing so helps prevent poor claims outcomes and ensures your property is adequately protected. Specialist policies exist precisely to fill the gaps left by standard home insurance, giving you the cover you need when it matters most.
Interested? Get an instant quote for insurance for unoccupied homes or read more on Unoccupied Probate House Insurance if the property is in probate.
If you have further questions, visit our Unoccupied Home Insurance FAQs 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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