House insurance for empty house

R

Rosaline

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Good morning
Is it possible to get house insurance for a house that is empty most of the time. Two neighbours have keys and check it out from time to time so it’s not totally abandoned but there’s nobody staying overnight. Is this type of insurance, if available, expensive?

many thanks for any advice
Rosaline
 
Hi Rosaline,
you can buy something called vacant dwellings insurance. I had to but this several years ago when I bought a house which needed planning permission before I could renovate it and was going to be vacant during this period.

I had a lot of difficulty securing a policy of this type but a broker called Aiken Insurance in Ringsend secured me a policy in the end, but I know that other brokers also offer this service. This insurance was expensive but that may depend on the state of the property and whether you can properly secure it and it has an alarm etc,
 
Thanks very much for the reply.
The house is in good repair, and is in a quiet neighborhood in Dublin. When you say expensive how much roughly are we talking about? It has an alarm, and the next door neighbour has a key. It’s a semi- detached bungalow. Is it over 500 euro? over 700? Over 1,000 euro? Any rough idea?

Thanks very much for your help.
Rosaline
 
Hi Rosaline, my insurance was around €900 pa but the house was derelict and difficult to secure. So I am not sure the circumstances are the same as yours.

An insurance broker would provide you with proper advice about this but to my knowledge most domestic insurance policies are void if the property is unoccupied for more than a certain period of time so I think you have no choice but to buy an unoccupied property policy.
 
When my late mother’s house insurance lapsed a few months after her death it was difficult to renew or get a new policy. Eventually the previous insurer agreed to reinsure for a year, but it wasn’t cheap.
 
In recent years, when one of my relations passed away Allianz agreed to renew the insurance cover on a now unoccupied Dublin semi for another year but for fire only, absolutely nothing else, no public liability, no water damage etc, for around €250.

Arachas offered cover for around €750 that included public liability, water damage etc. As an executor and accountable, I went with Arachas. https://www.arachas.ie/home-insurance/unoccupied-house-insurance

There are a few others out there, google unoccupied house insurance, but I found their proposal form questions and their restrictions were impossible to satisfy.
 
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Thanks for the very informative replies. I thought vacant home insurance it might be more difficult to secure...

Would holiday home insurance be easier and cheaper to secure? I could arrange for someone to stay for a few nights once or twice a year....
 
I don’t know, it would be a waste of money though as if there was a substantial loss the insurer would look at the claim in detail. When it is established that the property was an uninhabited house and not a holiday home, they would not pay out.
 
Thanks for the reply. Appreciated! I googled ‘vacant home insurance’ and came up with a few companies. Got quotes which are three higher than ordinary home insurance! (800/900 euro). Pricey!!! But progress at least. Thanks for the help and advice.
 
Rosaline said:
Thanks for the very informative replies. I thought vacant home insurance it might be more difficult to secure...

Would holiday home insurance be easier and cheaper to secure? I could arrange for someone to stay for a few nights once or twice a year....
Click to expand...
This is what I did. I had to change the policy after it became vacant and informed FBD about this. House is in good decorative repair and has water and electricity connected. Approx value is less than 200k and I pay around €350 per year for house and contents cover...inc. discount for a second policy
 
350 euro per year for an unoccupied house!? Could you please tell me which insurance company that policy is with? My house is similarly an inexpensive property but in a pleasant, quiet neighborhood all the same.
 
The unoccupied home insurance policies I’ve gotten quotes for so far all stipulate an inspection once a fortnight! My current ordinary house insurance only needs me to be there only once every sixty days! At a fraction of the cost! Will have to keep seeking more quotes....
 
Rosaline, be careful if you're insuring an unoccupied house as ordinary house insurance. There are many checks an insurer will carry out before dealing with a claim and if you are in the house for 6 days a year, that is once ever 60 days, you may not be covered.
 
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