Vacant Landlord Property Insurance Details

So we all know that at some point a landlord will be looking for a tenant and if they want to insure the property on the correct basis then they will have to insure it as a property that is vacant to be let which will generally mean that you have restricted cover whilst the property is vacant and some insurers will put a time limit on how long it can be unoccupied for which is generally 90 days and if you don’t get a tenant within that time period then they may either cancel your policy or will insist that you pay an additional premium to carry on the policy.

The general cover that you can get on a vacant property is basic and covers only the main perils such as Fire and Lightning cover, Earthquake, Explosion and aircraft cover and of course Subsidence cover. Things such as Theft or Attempted Theft and Malicious Damage generally will not be available due to the high risk of these things happening especially if its escape from water as if there is no tenant in the property then water could be escaping for a long time without anyone noticing.

There are certain companies that will be able to get you an insurance quote if the property is going to be vacant longer than 90 days and some companies offer quotes where the property can be vacant all year which may be handy if the property is in an area where there aren’t a lot of people looking for housing. There are three types of quotes for long term vacant properties the first ones have only basic cover, the second have basic cover but include things like escape of water whereas the last, and most expensive, covers everything that the policy would if there was a tenant in the property.

There are usually a few conditions on the policy that must be adhered to when the property is vacant such as it must be checked every 14 days and there may also be conditions with certain insurers that mean that the gas, electric and water must be switched off, and the only other things are that all outside doors are securely locked and the windows all securely shut and locked if possible. There is one other condition on these policies that means that if the property is vacant to be sold then they won’t cover subsidence.

When the tenant moves in to the property then you should automatically get full cover on your policy after you have told the insurance company about the change and if it becomes vacant in the middle of the policy then you will generally get 30 days worth of full cover before the insurers change it to restricted cover. You may have to pay an additional premium if it becomes unoccupied during the policy as it will be changing to a higher risk but it is not usually a lot of difference between vacant and tenanted properties price wise.

For more information please visit this website that deals with Landlord Insurance

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