If you want to scare an insurance representative, all you have to do is bring up vacant homes.
Any insurance professional who has been around the block will have a horror story about a vacant home. Often, it will be a vacant home for months without being advised. Sometimes it will be a client with a terrible claim due to the risks of an empty home. Worst of all, are the claims denied because a client never told their representative that a house was vacant.
What Is A Vacant Home?
In insurance terms, a vacant home is any location where the occupants have left without the intention to return. Vacant homes happen for many reasons. It could be that the house is on the market and the owner has moved somewhere else. Other times the tenants have moved out of a rental home, or maybe the homeowners have passed away. A house doesn’t have to be unfurnished to be vacant.
Why Are Vacant Homes So SPOOKY?
When no one lives in a home, there are many more chances of a claim. The heating may not be maintained, so the water pipes could freeze. There’s a way higher incidence of vandalism. We also find that vacant homes tend to be maintained at a lower level because necessary updates aren’t completed. These reasons mean that most insurance policies have a statement that says a client isn’t insured if the house is vacant. If a client doesn’t tell us about the home being vacant and there’s a claim, it will be denied by the insurance company. We hate denied claims because we want to make sure you’re protected!
So, How Do We Insure Vacant Homes?
First of all, we need to know if a home is vacant. Each policy is different, so there are different rules for each company. Sometimes we have 30 days where there is no extra cost to the insurance. It would be best if you still let us know for those 30 days so that we can discuss any coverage changes. After that, we’ll need to know how long the vacancy will last. We’ll discuss the coverage differences and costs depending on which insurance company you are with. We may require someone to visit the home regularly to ensure everything is in order.
Keep in mind that a vacation is different from a vacancy. We’d love to chat about your vacation plans, but it probably won’t make a difference on your policy. Please don’t tell us if you’re vacationing somewhere warm; that makes us jealous.
Why Are Vacant Homes So Scary For Clients?
Unfortunately, vacant homes usually cost more to insure. Remember that you won’t be insured if you don’t advise of the vacancy, so you’d be paying for nothing. We will always notify you of the best way to keep your costs down while maintaining insurance, so please don’t hesitate to call us.
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If you live in Alberta or British Columbia and are looking for Home Insurance, we are here to answer any questions you may have about our range of home insurance products and services. Contact our team at 1.844.544.4663 and see what makes us Harbord – The Home Insurance People™!
