John wrote:
"Andrew McKay" wrote in message
...

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 21:25:34 +0000, chris French
wrote:


Fire while away from house. Oh where were the occupants? oh it's been
empty has it, oh dear, you aren't covered for the 30 grand of
repairs.......

Surely this would be covered if you had demonstrably made arrangements
for someone to visit the house on a regular basis just to check that
everything is in order?

I think I'd be worried about leaving a house completely unopened for
an extended period of time.


We are at present "looking after" an empty house. The insurance cover is
minimal but does specify visiting at least twice a week.

Yes it just depends on the insurer. "Surely this would be covered" just
doesn't work - they will be very specific about their requirements for
empty properties; eg they may say someone needs to stay overnight in the
house at least once a month; or must be inspected once a week and a
written log of inspections maintained. I've experienced both of these
in the past. They may also reduce the level of cover, eg vandalism is a
common exclusion.

If you don't like the T&C imposed by the insurer, then just change
insurer! But you have to be up front with them and jump through any
hoops they stipulate. It's just not worth it not to.

David


They