Insurance Exclusions for Vacant Properties

Bigfork Real Estate Video Blog with Scott Hollinger

Does your insurance policy detail unoccupied/vacant exclusions? Today’s topic is for people who have seasonal homes in the area and are leaving or have already left. While I was going over the insurance renewal for my home, I stumbled across an exclusion in the policy for vacant and unoccupied residences. Today I’ll share what that exclusion is and what you need to know about it. There are two key words to define. ‘Vacant’ means that all furniture and other evidence of someone occupying the home has been removed. ‘Unoccupied’ means that the home is furnished but no one is living there currently. The exclusion regarding these homes says if the home is vacant or unoccupied for more than 90 days, the coverage on the insurance policy is reduced down to 60%. When might this come up? For example, if you’re selling your home and have already moved all the furniture out, it might be that you need to have a friend stay in the house and document that they stayed there. Why? Well, if the home caught on fire, and the question came up of how long it has been since somebody was last there, you might get reduced coverage. Be sure to check your insurance policy to see if it details any unoccupied/vacant exclusions. Years ago, when I was selling a house, I suddenly got a notice from the insurance company saying that it needed to be occupied in order to maintain our current coverage. We had to rent out the home to avoid losing coverage. Ultimately, check your insurance policy to see if it details any unoccupied/vacant exclusions. If you have any questions about today’s topic or anything else to do with real estate, give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to help you.