Empty building insurance for landlords and home owners
Competitive Prices with Comprehensive Cover
Long Term Un-occupancy Considered
Introduction - Insurance for Empty Buildings is a specialised area of the building insurance
market; most standard house insurance underwriters are not prepared to accept
the risks involved. Unoccupied buildings are often unattractive to insurers in
view of the increased chances of Theft & Malicious Damage and without adequate
heating in place the threat of burst pipes increases as well
Empty properties fall in to several classes, some are domestic dwelling
houses, on the market awaiting sale , often unoccupied property insurance is
only required for a short period of time, short term insurance is not
particularly attractive to insurers because of the relatively small premiums
involved in return for the cover offered. Most though, properties are unoccupied
whilst undergoing repair or renovation and cover is available with the perils
offered ranging from insurer to insurer. Many Buy to let buildings are
unoccupied when first acquired. Often Letting agents will not place properties
on their books until such time as they ready for habitation. Many need cosmetic
works, such as new bathrooms and kitchens etc. If you have an unoccupied
building which you intend letting you will also need to make sure that you
comply with all of the Health & Safety requirements such as having the When
selecting am insurer for unoccupied building insurance is is important to
disclose all material facts, always tell them exactly why the property isd
unoccupied and provide them with an exact schedule of any works you intend to
carry out at the property. Depending on the condition of the property, you may well be able to obtain fairly wide cover. With unoccupied property insurance, it
is absolutely essential that you study the Keyfacts and policy wording
documents. This type of cover will almost cerytainly come with a range of
restrictions and conditions. Typical restriction s on an unoccupied building
include the following.
You will be required to inspect the property on a regular basis, usually once
every 14 days. You will have to keep the property tidy and prevent any build up post or
paper, some underwriters will require you to seal up the letter box You will
have to keep the bui9lding free from waste materials in the garden or yard, in
particular, insurers will require you to remove any combustible materials. You
will be required to drain down all the water systems and turn off stop cocks
etc You will be required to switch off al the electrics. Sometime insurers will allow you to leave the electricity supply switched on
if you intend to keep the heating system switched on, between the months of
October to March, this can help prevent burst pipes.
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