house insurance - house un-occupied

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SeanElec1

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Hello, Tried a few different providers today for house insurance. My elderly dad lives alone and will probably have to go into nursing home. Seems to be no interest in taking my money to insure un-occupied homes. Any positive experiences out there ?
 
As an existing customer Allianz agreed to offer fire & lightning only cover last year and again this year on one of my relations unoccupied house. Cost was just over €300. Note there is no water, storm, robbery, public liability etc with this policy.

On another relations unoccupied house Allianz refused any cover after year 2.

There are several that offer unoccupied house insurance, OBF and Kidd Insurances are two. Cover from any of them though is limited, usually only fire & lightning, but unlike Allianz most of the others that I looked at also cover public liability.

Although water damage is not covered, any that I looked at had as a condition of cover that the water be turned off at the mains, and the entire plumbing and heating systems be drained.

There were lots of other conditions, some wanted the electricity off as well, gardens must be maintained, property inspected regularly, photos of outside front and back and all rooms internally etc.

It’s not cheap either, this limited cover from the specialist insurers on a standard 3 bed semi in Dublin that I am familiar with cost €800.

It also threw up another problem, Visiting family from abroad used to use the house occasionally for short stays, but with no heating or water the house can no longer be used.
 
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Twofor1. I am really surprised to hear that. I have a vacant house covered with Alliance and cost is just €350 for the year, public liability included. I guess they take many factors into account depending where house is located, crime statistics, prone to flooding etc etc.

I have water etc turned off over winter months and when family, friends etc come to visit, they know how to turn on the water and heating.
 
cost is just €350 for the year, public liability included.

Seems very cheap. I pay more than this for an occupied house with Allianz!
 
even so................... Have you advised them that house is unoccupied and what is the sum insured on the building?
 
Is there a possibility that you could insure the house as a holiday home? This is what we did when my Mam moved into a nursing home. I had to say that someone would check on the house regularly and that I would stay there at weekends on an occasional basis. We also had to turn off the water when the house wasn't in use. It wasn't a cheap option as I think the premium was over €600 but it was better than leaving the house uninsured.
 
Most brokers have a number of options for unoccupied insurance policies, so if your existing insurer won't help, make sure to ring around.
 
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