Is A Property Still Insured
If The Owner Dies?

If the risk changes, the insurer will outline the process for notifying them in their policy wording.

• 7 Day Notification of Change Requirement: You usually have 7 days to let them know about any changes, and failure to do so could result in the insurance being cancelled or a claim being rejected.
• Material Change in the Risk: Whilst this may sound harsh, from an insurer's perspective, the risk has changed, particularly when the property becomes empty, as the likelihood of claims increases significantly.  The existing insurer may provide you with a notice of cancellation, or, at best, continue to provide cover in the short term, but often on a significantly reduced cover basis.
• 30 Day Unoccupancy Limit: Most insurance providers require you to let them know if you believe the property will become empty for more than 30 days. If the insurer will continue to cover the property, it is likely that major risks such as theft, vandalism, flood, subsidence, and escape-of-water claims will be excluded.  Many insurers only offer basic FLEE cover (Fire, Lightning, Earthquake, and Explosion) for empty properties.
• Non-owner Occupants: You might think that people living in or moving into the property, such as beneficiaries, executors or family members, will be acceptable to the insurer, as you have effectively continued its occupancy. But this may still invalidate your cover if you haven’t discussed this first with the insurer.  This is because people living in the property can pose an increased risk of malicious damage and theft, and also show less care and maintenance of the property, as they don’t own it.  This is a specialist policy that Insuristic could help you with.

If you are acting as an executor (if there is a Will) or Administrator (if there is no Will) you are often called the Personal Representatives.

You need to be very careful not to get caught out by anything I have just mentioned, as legally you are responsible for insuring the property the moment it becomes empty.  Any uninsured or underinsured losses wouldn’t be the liability of the estate; they would fall to you to fund.

So, it may be beneficial to:

• Arrange Probate Property Insurance with a specialist like Insuristic as soon as possible, and then
• Cancel the existing insurance.

Doing this will enable the Personal Representatives to:

• Arrange broad cover and limit their liability for uninsured losses.
• Ensure the property sum insured is set adequately to avoid building underinsurance – which is a major risk for the Personal Representatives.

You can:

• Buy cover online in as little as 2 minutes.
• Choose from 3 cover levels (Bronze, Silver or Gold), giving you the choice of cover to protect your liability; and
• Insure for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, with renewal invitations that enable you to extend cover online in seconds.

Our cancellation promise:

• If you need to cancel the policy earlier than planned, and provided you haven’t claimed:
  • We will not charge you a cancellation fee; and
  • You will receive a pro-rata refund to the value of any unused cover.

In addition:

• If we cannot quote online, or you need advice, you will receive a call from our Underwriters who will provide you with advice and alternative quotations.
• If you need to claim, you will have specialist claims support from our underwriters' UK-based team.

So, to protect your risks, why not get a Probate Property Insurance quote from Insuristic today?

To find out more about our cover or get a quote, visit our Probate House Insurance page.  If you have further questions, visit our Probate Insurance FAQs page.

• Understanding your liability when insuring property
• The Risks of Extending The Existing Insurance
• What Is The Risk Of Building Underinsurance In Probate?
• Protecting Probate Property- what insurers generally expect you to do.