Insuring a vacant house

My cottage is empty 9 months a year, and much of the other 3 months as well. Insurance company never said anything about it; the rates are pretty normal.

Try another company. It is certainly best that you mentioned it; if there is a clause in your policy about it, they would just deny the claim.

Not recent, but a few years ago my agent told me they would only insure it against fire/theft if it was temporarily unoccupied. No contents, hail, roof claims, etc etc; so it was minimal, but it was insurance. Maybe he thought you were abandoning it? Are taxes in arrears? Don't answer that; just being rhetorical.

I'd ask around; that doesn't sound right.

Pop

I recently moved and it took about 3 months to sell the property. My local agent was much more understanding and suggested, hypothetically, that IF a person were to move and leave the property unattended, the insurance company would drop the coverage, and the mortgage company could then possibly call the mortgage due at that point. Her advice was something along the lines of "no need to tell them about it until you have closed on the property sale, just forward your mail"

Check around at other companies and or agents. I suspect anything is insurable (for a price). It is difficult for anyone to tell you without knowing what state you are in as the rules are different in different states.

Much depends on the state the house is in, since insurance is regulated at the state level.

I'm only really familiar with Washington State, since that's where I live and have my insurance license. In Washington, Farmers agents can insure a vacant house through Foremost Insurance, which is owned by Farmers. It has a variety of "specialty" policies for houses that don't meet the standards for normal homeowners policies. But I know there are states where Foremost does not offer those plans, so you might be in one of them.

You might also call your agent back and ask what, exactly, the company would do if your house is vacant. They already have it insured, is vacancy grounds for a mid-term cancellation of your policy, or would they temporarily reduce coverage while vacant, then decline to renew the policy when the current term expires? How long do you expect to own a vacant house?

You might try going to

Disclaimer: Unless you see my name on your Policy Declaration Pages, I am not your insurnce agent and this is not specific advice about any particular policy, house, or situation. Contact your own insurance agent for specifics of your policy.

DO you have a trusted friend in need of a roof?

The term 'housesitting' exists for a reason. Just a thought

I believe that "vacant" and "unnoccupied" are terms-of-art, the former meaning you've left and don't plan on coming back, and the latter meaning that you do plan on coming back.

If you don't have any luck with an independant insurance agent, try looking at commercial policies. Are you looking for asset-protection or liability coverage? A regular umbrella policy should cover the latter.

Thanks for the helpful replies. House is in Ohio, will be totally empty, save some appliances. Unfortunately I can't even check on it, since we're moving to WA state. I have one rather knuckle-headed neighbor who's marginally reliable, I'm going to ask him to keep an eye open, but who knows? I'll check out the netquote.com site, also I think I'll try calling Farmer's directly; although I've used this agent for about 20 years for house & car insurance, he could be mistaken, or as someone suggested on another forum, doesn't want to bother re-writing the policy if he doesn't get anything out of it. That would be too bad, but not a huge shock. BTW the house is paid for, so a mortgage is not an issue. This situation must come up literally millions of times a year in the US, I can't imagine there's no way of accommodating it. Needless to say, I'd like to see the place sell about an hour after I vacate, but that's not terribly likely...

Rick

My neighbor re-insured her currently vacant and in-remodel rental as a "vacation home" after being told the insurer would not pay if it was damaged while vacant when considered a rental.

Bob

Go through the local yellow pages and find an independent commercial insurance broker. You'll get covrage. It will be costly.

Farmers' agents are company employees and are in the business of representing Farmers' and never the policyholder.

Same goes for All Snake and Snak Farm and Nationwide.

I just bought a house that I plan to rehab then resell and it will be vacant for a while. When I called my insurance (State Farm) they said they don't insure vacant houses. Other places do, such as Nationwide or Norris & Assoc. Prepare for sticker shock, as it runs about $1200/yr for vacant vs $250/yr for occupied. I found a friend who is willing to house-sit for me so I get the cheaper rate, but it sounds like that won't work in your situation. This is in Ohio, btw.

Bottom line: the house can be insured, just keep calling places until you find someone who will do it.

Yoe dood..... Give yo keys to da ganger bangers in da hood. Dis be a fukkin good drug n partee pad fo us to have sum fun. I be da man to bee sure yo house is safe an no doods fuk wid it. Yo gots yoself a deal bro.

Marco

America used to be a free country until all the insurance companies took over our lives. Any freedoms that remained were given to the republican party to destroy.

Hpw many years habve you had this sleazy company? I bet you paid them lots of money too, and got little back. I'm not sure what you can do now, but once you are moved, be sure to pay back the favor and tell Farmers Insurance that you bought your insurance elsewhere for your new home. Also ne sure to notify everyone on the internet how this company f***ed you in the ass. Aftrer reading this, I will be sure to never get insurance from Farmers Ins.

========== Ran into the same problem when my Father passed away... they would no longer insure the vacant house .... Solved the problem by giving the key to a niece (adult, married, trustworthy, etc)... and charging her rent ( like a buck) ...

Honest that is all the insurance company required...for the house to be ...considered "occupied"... ???? BTW she never stayed in the house... But did live within 10 minutes of it...

Bob G.

FWIW, don't empty it. Go to Goodwill and buy some old useless furniture and put it in there. Leave the power on and put some lights on timers. Have the neighbors park their cars in the driveway occasionly.

No one will insure an empty house.

Not quite. It's not the political parties fault. It may the the fault of capitalism...

You gotta look at the track record of vacant houses. It sits vacant for a week with no lights, no movement, etc, someone's going to take notice. Vandalism, who knows? Someone moved into a vacant house in my former neighborhood and set up house. "We bought it" was their answer when asked. When the sheriff showed up to evict them, they claimed squatter rights after

The insurance company is out there to make a profit for themselves and their shareholders.

Yeah, just try to collect on a claim when it burns! HA HA HA!!!

Liers get what they deserve.

This is a pretty much standard policy with most insurance companies. I got around it by buying insurance for "vacant house under construction". Problem with those policies is that you must prepay for the year and there is no refund if you cancel three months down the road.

Bob

I had an uncle that died, and a few months later my aunt went into a nursing home. The house was vacant. My mother being the only remaining relative was given power of attorney. She ran into a similar problem, except the insurance company was not notified at that point yet. When the insurance was due, my mothers lawyer told her that there could be a problem if the ins company found out. She suggested renting it to someone. Mom got all nervous and said the renters will wreck the place and etc etc etc...

I lived too far away to directly help, but I went to visit mom and I had to go to that house to do a few repairs, plus I was given the refrigerator, washer and dryer. While I was there, I solved the problem. The next door neighbor came over while I was there and asked if he could park one of his cars on the driveway, because he had too many cars for his driveway (was trying to sell one of them), and was always getting parking tickets on the street. I told him that I'd discuss it with the family. I talked to the lawyer and we agreed to charge the guy $10 a month for the driveway parking. (less than half the cost of one parking ticket).

At the same time a few of the younger relatives in their 20's were hired by mom and aunt to clean the house and get rid of most of the furniture and stuff. They were being paid to do the cleaning, plus made a small fortune selling all the antiques to antique shops. But the lawyer wrote up a lease, in which they were renting the property in trade for cleaning. They did sleep there one or two nights, but most of the time they were just there cleaning and hauling stuff out. Timers were also put on lights.

In the end, everyone was happy. The youngsters were making money, the neighbor was not getting tickets, the legalities were worked out for the insurance, and my mother could sleep again. (and I almost forgot, the lawyer made a couple hundred too).

In other words, RENT the place to someone you know for a small amount, (you can reimburse them too if you want). Make it a legal rental lease, use a lawyer if needed, and you should be all set. I think I'd still find another ins. company though.