Unoccupied Home Insurance FAQs

Yes, you can insure an unoccupied house, but you will likely need a specialist policy because:

• Standard home insurance providers usually cover you for 30 consecutive days of unoccupancy. If the property will be empty for longer, you must notify them.
• The insurer may increase the price, reduce the cover, add new policy conditions, or even cancel the policy.
• The cover the existing insurer is willing to provide may not be adequate, and you may be able to find better cover elsewhere.

Insuristic specialises in unoccupied home insurance.  So, you could try us for a quote.

If you are insuring empty property following the owner's death and at any stage of the probate process, please check our probate house insurance page.  The cover is designed explicitly for empty property during probate.

If you are a landlord with empty property between tenants, check out our unoccupied landlord insurance page.

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This is easy to do online with Insuristic.  You can get a quote and buy a policy in a couple of minutes.  The key things to consider are:

• Whether you need a general unoccupied insurance policy or one for probate property (see the previous FAQ question for details).
• How long do you need the cover for? With Insuristic you can arrange cover for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months.  You can renew the cover when it expires, and there are no early cancellation fees, so if you cancel early, you will get a pro-rata refund.
• The level of cover you need. Insuristic offers three levels of cover: Bronze, Silver, or Gold.  Many insurance providers only offer coverage similar to our Bronze policy, so ensure you get a quote on a like-for-like basis.
• If you haven’t drained the water systems, the heating will need to be kept at a minimum temperature of 15°C between November 1st and March 31st.
• The property must be inspected every 14 days or every 30 days if you are buying probate property insurance.
• Do not guess the cost of rebuilding the property. Underinsurance can be very costly in the event of a claim. If you don’t know the rebuild cost, Insuristic can provide a policy based on the number of bedrooms, with a blanket sum insured of £750,000 (provided this is enough to rebuild the property).
• If the property has a flat roof, your insurance policy will require it to have been inspected by a professional in the last 5 years.
• Check your policy wording to ensure you can comply with other policy conditions, such as removing mail on every inspection and keeping the garden tidy and the property well maintained.

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Unoccupied means that your house is either empty with furniture or belongings in it but no one is living in the property, or it is vacant, which is completely empty without any contents.

Insurers usually need to know about this when you know the property will be empty for over thirty continuous days.

Your insurer may increase your premium, apply new policy conditions and/or reduce your insurance coverage.  They may even cancel your insurance policy if they are not keen on insuring empty homes.

At this point, you should consider arranging an annual or short term unoccupied home insurance policy.

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No, you do not need to insure the contents; it is your choice and not compulsory.

If you are insured by Insuristic, the building insurance sum insured includes flooring and blinds.

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Yes, this is easy to do with Insuristic.  You can get a pro-rata refund if you decide to insure for longer or if the property becomes occupied before the three months is up. We won’t charge you a fee to cancel the policy either.

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Yes, this is an area that Insuristic specialises in. We have developed a probate house insurance policy specifically for this purpose.

The policy cover can be purchased as soon as a property becomes empty following the owner's death up until the point when the executors (if there is a Will) or the administrators (if there isn’t a Will) are no longer responsible for the property, i.e., it is either sold or inherited.

The cover is slightly different from unoccupied home insurance, but the similarities are that with Insuristic, you can choose from three levels of cover and insure for three, six, nine, or twelve months.

The property can be insured in the name of the estate.

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Insurance providers count any room designed or currently used as a bedroom, regardless of its current function. Even if you convert a bedroom into a home office, it'll still be considered a bedroom for insurance purposes. So, a 3-bedroom house with a converted bedroom would remain a 3-bedroom house in their eyes.

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The only person who can tell you this is a RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) Surveyor. You may find this information in the report if you have had a recent home buyer report completed for mortgage purposes. Alternatively, you can arrange a rebuild valuation online for £100 + VAT.

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This will usually be found on the deeds of the document.

You can usually find an estimated build year on the property checker website if you do not have these.

Alternatively, check out our guide, 'How to find out when a house was built,' for more ways to determine the date of construction.

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Your insurer will likely require you to keep the property at a set temperature (unless you have drained the water systems), usually to a minimum of 15°C.  Be sure to check your policy wording for details.

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Most insurers will not provide cover for a house that is left empty for over 30 consecutive days.  If you have a landlord or holiday home insurance policy, this duration can sometimes be up to 60 days.

You could invalidate your policy cover if you exceed the number of days of unoccupancy specified in your insurance policy without the insurer's permission. 

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