Unoccupied Property Insurance for Homes
or Commercial Buildings

Standard home insurance usually doesn't adequately cover empty properties, leaving owners to navigate a confusing specialist market. It's not a standardised product like home insurance, so research takes time, which makes starting with a specialist like Insuristic helpful. We tell you what you need to know and help you source the right insurance.

Most people have never arranged Unoccupied Property Insurance before, and when you search online, you'll find lots of variations on the name, such as unoccupied home insurance, empty property insurance, empty house insurance, and more.

In essence, for most people, they mean the same thing: a product called Unoccupied Home Insurance.  Or if the property is in probate, Probate Property Insurance, which helps executors or those administering an estate protect their liability.

Insuristic has developed products and guides for specific scenarios, such as during probate, sale, renovation, care, or when the property is between tenants, helping you find the right cover quickly.

If you are looking for information on our cover, visit either of these pages depending on your circumstances:

• Probate Property Insurance
• Unoccupied Home Insurance (non-probate)

Insuristic exists because too many people arranging cover for an empty home were being let down. The market has long been dominated by insurers and brokers who only offer basic FLEEA cover or restrictive policies that don’t reflect the real risks people face when a property is unoccupied.

Our founder, Rob Faulkner, has spent years specialising in both property and probate insurance. Through this experience, he saw how homeowners, property investors, attorneys, deputies and executors were often left exposed to financial loss, either with cover that didn’t protect against the most common claims, the risks of underinsurance, or with onerous policy conditions that were difficult to comply with.

That’s why he created Insuristic: to give people better options, built around real-world needs.

Insuristic provides unoccupied property insurance policies that are:

• Tailored – designed for specific scenarios such as property owners with short-term unoccupancy needs, or those with a legal responsibility to ensure empty property, like those administering an estate in probate or who need to arrange empty property insurance on behalf of someone who has moved into care.
• Flexible – with the option to buy short-term insurance for 3, 6 or 9 months, or an annual policy.  Buyers are no worse off as the pricing is the same on a pro-rata basis, plus if you don’t claim, there are no early cancellation fees, with pro-rata refunds reflecting the amount of cover that is unused.
• Broad cover options – giving you choice on the level of insurance you need for your situation, with the option to insure just the buildings with a rebuild up to £750,000, or include contents insurance up to £30,000.  Higher limits are available on referral to the underwriter.
• Focused on your protection – whether you are worried about protecting your own financial position, your investment, or your liability to others, our cover gives you the options you need.

We’re also the only UK insurance broker offering dedicated unoccupied property and probate insurance online for both the public and solicitors. That means whether you’re an individual protecting an estate or a solicitor insuring yourself and your clients, you’ll find a product designed specifically for your needs.

At Insuristic, our purpose is simple: to help you buy the right cover with confidence, backed by deep expertise in property and probate insurance.

When a commercial building becomes empty — whether a high street shop, an office unit, a warehouse, a pub or restaurant between operators, or an industrial unit — the risk profile changes dramatically. Insurers know this and most standard commercial policies scale back cover within 30 days of vacancy.

Insuristic arranges specialist empty commercial property insurance through our broking team at SJL Insurance, working the wider market to find appropriate cover for buildings that mainstream insurers either won't quote or will quote on heavily restricted terms.

Empty commercial buildings carry a different risk profile from occupied ones, and from empty residential property. The most common claim drivers are:

• Theft and metal stripping — vacant commercial properties are common targets for copper, lead and metal theft, particularly older buildings with lead flashing or extensive copper plumbing. Damage caused during the theft often costs more than the metal itself.
• Arson and malicious damage — empty buildings are statistically more vulnerable to deliberate fires and vandalism, particularly in town-centre or industrial locations with low natural surveillance.
• Escape of water — burst pipes in empty buildings can run undetected for weeks, causing major damage to floors, walls and any tenant-vacated fit-out left behind. This is one of the most expensive claim types on empty commercial property.
• Squatting and unauthorised occupation — commercial squatting is still legal in England and Wales (unlike residential), so empty commercial buildings carry a real risk of unauthorised occupation that can be costly and time-consuming to resolve.
• Public liability claims — even when empty, you remain legally responsible for injuries caused by the property to third parties (a falling roof tile, a trip hazard at the entrance, an injury to someone breaking in).
• Storm and weather damage — a small roof leak that would be spotted and fixed in days at an occupied building can cause significant damage if undiscovered for months in an empty one.

We arrange unoccupied cover across all main commercial sectors. The specific risks and conditions vary by sector, which is one reason commercial cover needs human assessment rather than an online quote form.

• Retail units — high street shops, retail park units, shopping centre lock-ups. Common scenarios: lease end with no immediate tenant, refurbishment between tenants, repossession from a failed tenant business. Theft and arson risk is typically the underwriter's main concern.
• Offices — single-tenant office buildings and serviced office space between operators. Escape of water from unmaintained heating systems is the most common claim type, especially in winter. Underwriters typically require water systems drained or heating maintained above a minimum temperature.
• Industrial and warehouses — light industrial units, distribution warehouses, manufacturing premises. Risks vary significantly depending on what was previously stored on site, the building's condition, and security. We'll need to know the previous use to find the right insurer.
• Pubs and restaurants — hospitality premises between operators or while undergoing refurbishment. Pubs in particular have a difficult market — many insurers won't quote at all on empty pubs, and those that will impose strict conditions on alarms, boarding and inspections.
• Mixed-use buildings — commercial premises with residential above (shop with flat, restaurant with rooms, office with caretaker accommodation). These need careful handling because the cover required for the commercial part differs from the residential part. Tell us about the whole building when you call.

Empty commercial property insurance is one of the cases where you genuinely need a broker rather than an online quote form. There are three reasons:

1. The market is small and selective. Only a handful of UK insurers have a meaningful appetite for empty commercial property, and each has different preferences — some won't touch retail, others won't touch hospitality, others have minimum building values. An experienced broker knows which insurer is the right fit before approaching them.
2. Pricing is not standardised. Unlike residential where pricing is largely formulaic, commercial empty property premiums depend heavily on the building, the location, the previous use, the planned future use, and the security in place. The same building can attract very different quotes from different insurers.
3. Conditions vary by underwriter. Inspection frequency, security requirements, alarm specifications, water management requirements — these vary significantly between insurers. The broker's job is to find a policy with conditions you can realistically meet, because failing a condition can void your cover.

What to expect when you call

When you request an empty commercial property quote, our SJL Insurance broking team will arrange a short call to understand your situation. The information they will typically want to know:

• Building type, address, and approximate age
• Most recent use (and what is planned next, if known)
• How long the property has been empty, and how long it is likely to remain so
• Building rebuild value (or an indication if you don't have a recent figure)
• Current security in place (alarm, locks, boarding, lighting)
• Any history of break-ins, vandalism or damage at the property
• Whether there are contents to be insured, and the approximate value

After that call, the broking team will approach the appropriate insurers in the market and come back with a tailored quotation, usually within 48 hours. If the building is straightforward, you may receive multiple options to choose from. If it is more complex (heavy refurbishment, fire-damaged, long vacancy, difficult sector) we'll be honest about what is and isn't available.

There is no obligation at any stage. The advice and the quote are free.

Underwriters typically impose conditions on empty commercial property cover. The specific requirements vary by insurer, but the most common are:

• Inspections — typically weekly or fortnightly, with a documented record kept. Some insurers accept mobile photo evidence, others require a physical inspection sheet.
• Security — minimum lock standards on doors and windows, often with specific alarm requirements (and a maintained alarm contract) for higher-value or higher-risk properties.
• Boarding — ground floor windows and doors may need to be boarded, particularly in town-centre or higher-risk locations.
• Utilities — water systems are usually required to be drained, or heating maintained above a set minimum temperature in winter. Gas and electricity supplies often need to be turned off at the meter.
• Combustible materials — removal of accumulated waste, post, advertising material, and any combustible stock from previous occupants.
• Lettering and signage — some insurers require external signage indicating the property is empty to be removed, to reduce its profile as a target.

These can sound onerous but most are straightforward to meet. Our broking team will explain the conditions before you commit to a policy, so there are no surprises later.

Ready to discuss your empty commercial property? Use the commercial quote form at the bottom of this page or call our broking team. Most quotes come back within 48 hours.