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I am buying a 2d home in Florida and have spoken with a few insurers who each told me I have to occupy the property in order to insure it and that it cannot be insured as an unoccupied dwelling.
It is a single family home and my intent was to occupy the home for 3 months out of the year and basically leave it unoccupied the remaining 9 months.
Is it normal that insurers won't insure an unoccupied single family home?
I've never had a problem. I have a winter home in Arizona that is unoccupied over half the year. I have USAA and I was looking at Safeco. I was sure to mention it to the Safeco agent I was talking to the other day.
most insurers will not insure you if the place is vacant more than x-amount of days .
if you are selling a vacant house you have to inform them and they give you some additional time to sell
..
as far as safeco , you may want to read your policy and not take the word of a salesman . also usaa does not cover vacant homes either . they will gladly take your premium but there are lots of things you think you are covered for which are simply excluded in the policy the same as safeco ..
right from safeco homeowners policy .
Not covered:
vandalism and malicious mischief ,including fire caused by arson,or breakage of glass and safety glazing materials if the dwelling has been vacant for more than 60 consecutive days immediately before the loss. A dwelling under construction,including being newly built,remodeled,reconstructed,renovated or repaired is not considered vacant.
"USAA does NOT offer vacant home insurance. I should know – I just got a letter of cancellation from them today. Which surprised me because their main niche is military families that move around a lot and often have to leave behind a home that hasn’t sold yet."
Last edited by mathjak107; 12-24-2017 at 02:44 AM..
Years ago we were renting a few units using State Farm insurance co.
An agent told us in order to keep insurance on the dwellings between renters we should keep a few pieced of furniture in the unit to make it appear lived in. Something about SF not insuring empty dwellings past a certain time period. I had an old bed, couch and table I moved in after 60 days of vacancy.
A friend in the same situation had an independent agent that found a company that didn't specify on the policy.
most insurers will not insure you if the place is vacant more than x-amount of days .
...you may want to read your policy and not take the word of a salesman ..... they will gladly take your premium but there are lots of things you think you are covered for which are simply excluded in the policy
THIS! Read the policy carefully and make sure! I had a long conversation with a salesman on the phone about insuring our "barn" and it's value. Important because our barn is close to being more expensive than the house to replace. We talked about it being a BARN... for horses, goats, sheep, chickens... a pig.
The policy came in the mail and the fine print clearly said they would cover the barn unless it was used to house animals.
GAH!... Funny thing is, they'd have covered it if we used it to work on cars, or as a welding shop, or other flammable activities... but not animals.
I called around and made sure we had appropriate coverage - and double checked it! - after that.
If you are paying for insurance on a vacant vacation home.... MAKE SURE it's really covered.
Years ago we were renting a few units using State Farm insurance co.
An agent told us in order to keep insurance on the dwellings between renters we should keep a few pieced of furniture in the unit to make it appear lived in. Something about SF not insuring empty dwellings past a certain time period. I had an old bed, couch and table I moved in after 60 days of vacancy.
A friend in the same situation had an independent agent that found a company that didn't specify on the policy.
keeping a house furnished does not make it NOT VACANT if it is vacant . most snow birds have homes thar are furnished but vacant for months .
You can get insurance for unoccupied houses, vacation homes, hunting camps, whatever, but you'll have to look around and likely have a higher premium.
True. I even have insurance on my lakeside custom shed and contents. It's very affordable here.
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