Empty property: what your insurer expects you to do

A property standing empty is a different insurance risk, and it is insured on different terms. The part owners miss is not the premium: it is the conditions attached to the policy, which usually include inspecting the property at a set interval and keeping a record.

Why empty is treated differently

An occupied house has someone in it who notices a dripping pipe within hours. An empty one does not, so a small escape of water becomes a ruined ground floor. Empty property also attracts squatting, theft of metal and fittings, vandalism and fly-tipping, and a fire has longer to develop before anyone sees it.

Standard buildings insurance commonly restricts cover once a property has been unoccupied for 30 to 60 consecutive days, often falling back to a much narrower set of perils. That is the point at which you need to tell your insurer and probably move onto a specific unoccupied policy.

Typical policy conditions

• Inspect internally and externally at a stated interval, and keep a dated record.
• Drain down the water system, or maintain heating at a minimum temperature through winter.
• Turn off gas and electricity at the mains, except where needed for heating or alarms.
• Secure all doors and windows, and keep letterboxes clear so post does not signal a vacant building.
• Remove combustible waste from inside and immediately outside.
• Report any damage promptly rather than at the end of the void.

Read the wording rather than assuming, because the intervals genuinely vary. Seven days is common on commercial units and higher-value residential; thirty days is common on ordinary empty homes.

What a visit should record

1. The date and time of the visit — this is the thing the insurer is actually buying.
2. External condition: doors, windows, shutters, boarding, signs of attempted entry.
3. Internal walk: leaks, damp, heating status or drain-down status, pest activity.
4. Evidence of entry, occupation or fly-tipping.
5. Post cleared, alarms set, any meter readings required.
6. Photographs of anything that has changed since the last visit.

How claims actually get declined

Rarely because nobody visited at all. Usually because nobody can prove they did. An owner who says they drove past weekly has nothing; an owner with a dated, photographed log for each visit has a complete answer. The log is the product.

Probate properties are the classic case: a house sits empty for eight months while an estate is settled, on the original policy, with nobody visiting. See vacant property visits for how a contracted round works.