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#1
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Insuring a vacant house
I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present
home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? TIA Rick |
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#2
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Insuring a vacant house
wrote in message oups.com... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? My cottage is empty 9 months a year, and much of the other 3 months as well. Insurance company never said anything about it; the rates are pretty normal. Try another company. It is certainly best that you mentioned it; if there is a clause in your policy about it, they would just deny the claim. |
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#3
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Insuring a vacant house
wrote in message
oups.com... : I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present : home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the : move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be : required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more : vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be : harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he : knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can : be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't : have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have : any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? : : TIA : : Rick : Not recent, but a few years ago my agent told me they would only insure it against fire/theft if it was temporarily unoccupied. No contents, hail, roof claims, etc etc; so it was minimal, but it was insurance. Maybe he thought you were abandoning it? Are taxes in arrears? Don't answer that; just being rhetorical. I'd ask around; that doesn't sound right. Pop |
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#4
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Insuring a vacant house
I recently moved and it took about 3 months to sell the property. My
local agent was much more understanding and suggested, hypothetically, that IF a person were to move and leave the property unattended, the insurance company would drop the coverage, and the mortgage company could then possibly call the mortgage due at that point. Her advice was something along the lines of "no need to tell them about it until you have closed on the property sale, just forward your mail" |
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#7
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Insuring a vacant house
Joshua Putnam wrote:
In article .com, says... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. Much depends on the state the house is in, since insurance is regulated at the state level. I'm only really familiar with Washington State, since that's where I live and have my insurance license. In Washington, Farmers agents can insure a vacant house through Foremost Insurance, which is owned by Farmers. It has a variety of "specialty" policies for houses that don't meet the standards for normal homeowners policies. But I know there are states where Foremost does not offer those plans, so you might be in one of them. You might also call your agent back and ask what, exactly, the company would do if your house is vacant. They already have it insured, is vacancy grounds for a mid-term cancellation of your policy, or would they temporarily reduce coverage while vacant, then decline to renew the policy when the current term expires? How long do you expect to own a vacant house? You might try going to www.netquote.com and putting in the info on your house -- it will be forwarded to multiple insurance agents serving your zip code, so it's a lot faster than calling around local agents to explain everything again. Disclaimer: Unless you see my name on your Policy Declaration Pages, I am not your insurnce agent and this is not specific advice about any particular policy, house, or situation. Contact your own insurance agent for specifics of your policy. DO you have a trusted friend in need of a roof? The term 'housesitting' exists for a reason. Just a thought |
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#8
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Insuring a vacant house
Not recent, but a few years ago my agent told me they would only insure it against fire/theft if it was temporarily unoccupied. No contents, hail, roof claims, etc etc; so it was minimal, but it was insurance. Maybe he thought you were abandoning it? Are taxes in arrears? Don't answer that; just being rhetorical. I'd ask around; that doesn't sound right. I believe that "vacant" and "unnoccupied" are terms-of-art, the former meaning you've left and don't plan on coming back, and the latter meaning that you do plan on coming back. If you don't have any luck with an independant insurance agent, try looking at commercial policies. Are you looking for asset-protection or liability coverage? A regular umbrella policy should cover the latter. |
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#9
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Insuring a vacant house
Thanks for the helpful replies. House is in Ohio, will be totally
empty, save some appliances. Unfortunately I can't even check on it, since we're moving to WA state. I have one rather knuckle-headed neighbor who's marginally reliable, I'm going to ask him to keep an eye open, but who knows? I'll check out the netquote.com site, also I think I'll try calling Farmer's directly; although I've used this agent for about 20 years for house & car insurance, he could be mistaken, or as someone suggested on another forum, doesn't want to bother re-writing the policy if he doesn't get anything out of it. That would be too bad, but not a huge shock. BTW the house is paid for, so a mortgage is not an issue. This situation must come up literally millions of times a year in the US, I can't imagine there's no way of accommodating it. Needless to say, I'd like to see the place sell about an hour after I vacate, but that's not terribly likely... Rick |
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#10
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Insuring a vacant house
wrote in message oups.com... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? My neighbor re-insured her currently vacant and in-remodel rental as a "vacation home" after being told the insurer would not pay if it was damaged while vacant when considered a rental. Bob |
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#11
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Insuring a vacant house
Go through the local yellow pages and find an independent commercial
insurance broker. You'll get covrage. It will be costly. Farmers' agents are company employees and are in the business of representing Farmers' and never the policyholder. Same goes for All Snake and Snak Farm and Nationwide. -- Jim McLaughlin Reply address is deliberately munged. If you really need to reply directly, try: jimdotmclaughlinatcomcastdotcom And you know it is a dotnet not a dotcom address. wrote in message oups.com... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? TIA Rick |
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#12
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Insuring a vacant house
I just bought a house that I plan to rehab then resell and it will be vacant
for a while. When I called my insurance (State Farm) they said they don't insure vacant houses. Other places do, such as Nationwide or Norris & Assoc. Prepare for sticker shock, as it runs about $1200/yr for vacant vs $250/yr for occupied. I found a friend who is willing to house-sit for me so I get the cheaper rate, but it sounds like that won't work in your situation. This is in Ohio, btw. Bottom line: the house can be insured, just keep calling places until you find someone who will do it. wrote in message oups.com... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? |
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#13
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Insuring a vacant house
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#14
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Insuring a vacant house
On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 16:06:41 GMT, "Toller" wrote:
wrote in message roups.com... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? My cottage is empty 9 months a year, and much of the other 3 months as well. Insurance company never said anything about it; the rates are pretty normal. Try another company. It is certainly best that you mentioned it; if there is a clause in your policy about it, they would just deny the claim. America used to be a free country until all the insurance companies took over our lives. Any freedoms that remained were given to the republican party to destroy. Hpw many years habve you had this sleazy company? I bet you paid them lots of money too, and got little back. I'm not sure what you can do now, but once you are moved, be sure to pay back the favor and tell Farmers Insurance that you bought your insurance elsewhere for your new home. Also ne sure to notify everyone on the internet how this company ****ed you in the ass. Aftrer reading this, I will be sure to never get insurance from Farmers Ins. |
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#16
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Insuring a vacant house
wrote in message oups.com... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? FWIW, don't empty it. Go to Goodwill and buy some old useless furniture and put it in there. Leave the power on and put some lights on timers. Have the neighbors park their cars in the driveway occasionly. No one will insure an empty house. |
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#17
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Insuring a vacant house
wrote in message ... On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 16:06:41 GMT, "Toller" wrote: wrote in message roups.com... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? My cottage is empty 9 months a year, and much of the other 3 months as well. Insurance company never said anything about it; the rates are pretty normal. Try another company. It is certainly best that you mentioned it; if there is a clause in your policy about it, they would just deny the claim. America used to be a free country until all the insurance companies took over our lives. Any freedoms that remained were given to the republican party to destroy. Not quite. It's not the political parties fault. It may the the fault of capitalism... Hpw many years habve you had this sleazy company? I bet you paid them lots of money too, and got little back. I'm not sure what you can do now, but once you are moved, be sure to pay back the favor and tell Farmers Insurance that you bought your insurance elsewhere for your new home. Also ne sure to notify everyone on the internet how this company ****ed you in the ass. Aftrer reading this, I will be sure to never get insurance from Farmers Ins. You gotta look at the track record of vacant houses. It sits vacant for a week with no lights, no movement, etc, someone's going to take notice. Vandalism, who knows? Someone moved into a vacant house in my former neighborhood and set up house. "We bought it" was their answer when asked. When the sheriff showed up to evict them, they claimed squatter rights after 8 months. Nope. The insurance company is out there to make a profit for themselves and their shareholders. |
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#18
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Insuring a vacant house
"louie" wrote in message oups.com... I recently moved and it took about 3 months to sell the property. My local agent was much more understanding and suggested, hypothetically, that IF a person were to move and leave the property unattended, the insurance company would drop the coverage, and the mortgage company could then possibly call the mortgage due at that point. Her advice was something along the lines of "no need to tell them about it until you have closed on the property sale, just forward your mail" Yeah, just try to collect on a claim when it burns! HA HA HA!!! Liers get what they deserve. |
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#19
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Insuring a vacant house
wrote in message ... On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 16:06:41 GMT, "Toller" wrote: wrote in message groups.com... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? My cottage is empty 9 months a year, and much of the other 3 months as well. Insurance company never said anything about it; the rates are pretty normal. Try another company. It is certainly best that you mentioned it; if there is a clause in your policy about it, they would just deny the claim. America used to be a free country until all the insurance companies took over our lives. Any freedoms that remained were given to the republican party to destroy. Hpw many years habve you had this sleazy company? I bet you paid them lots of money too, and got little back. I'm not sure what you can do now, but once you are moved, be sure to pay back the favor and tell Farmers Insurance that you bought your insurance elsewhere for your new home. Also ne sure to notify everyone on the internet how this company ****ed you in the ass. Aftrer reading this, I will be sure to never get insurance from Farmers Ins. This is a pretty much standard policy with most insurance companies. I got around it by buying insurance for "vacant house under construction". Problem with those policies is that you must prepay for the year and there is no refund if you cancel three months down the road. Bob |
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#20
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Insuring a vacant house
On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 18:02:47 -0500, "HeatMan"
wrote: wrote in message roups.com... I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market? FWIW, don't empty it. Go to Goodwill and buy some old useless furniture and put it in there. Leave the power on and put some lights on timers. Have the neighbors park their cars in the driveway occasionly. No one will insure an empty house. I had an uncle that died, and a few months later my aunt went into a nursing home. The house was vacant. My mother being the only remaining relative was given power of attorney. She ran into a similar problem, except the insurance company was not notified at that point yet. When the insurance was due, my mothers lawyer told her that there could be a problem if the ins company found out. She suggested renting it to someone. Mom got all nervous and said the renters will wreck the place and etc etc etc... I lived too far away to directly help, but I went to visit mom and I had to go to that house to do a few repairs, plus I was given the refrigerator, washer and dryer. While I was there, I solved the problem. The next door neighbor came over while I was there and asked if he could park one of his cars on the driveway, because he had too many cars for his driveway (was trying to sell one of them), and was always getting parking tickets on the street. I told him that I'd discuss it with the family. I talked to the lawyer and we agreed to charge the guy $10 a month for the driveway parking. (less than half the cost of one parking ticket). At the same time a few of the younger relatives in their 20's were hired by mom and aunt to clean the house and get rid of most of the furniture and stuff. They were being paid to do the cleaning, plus made a small fortune selling all the antiques to antique shops. But the lawyer wrote up a lease, in which they were renting the property in trade for cleaning. They did sleep there one or two nights, but most of the time they were just there cleaning and hauling stuff out. Timers were also put on lights. In the end, everyone was happy. The youngsters were making money, the neighbor was not getting tickets, the legalities were worked out for the insurance, and my mother could sleep again. (and I almost forgot, the lawyer made a couple hundred too). In other words, RENT the place to someone you know for a small amount, (you can reimburse them too if you want). Make it a legal rental lease, use a lawyer if needed, and you should be all set. I think I'd still find another ins. company though. |
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#21
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Insuring a vacant house
I think your agent has either taken too hard a line or misunderstood the
circumstances of the house status. 1. It's not empty -- you've already said you've left some appliances in it -- 2. It's not unattended -- you have a real estate agent that is looking after it in preparation for sale and you're still maintaining it -- keeping the heat on and the utilities working, clearing the sidewalks, mowing the lawn, caring for the garden, etc. 3. You haven't abandoned it -- you'll have to be in the house for final clean-up, closing, etc. In fact, although you'll be travelling, you won't completely move out of the house until you close the sale. In other words, you haven't left the house unoccupied, it's just that at some time in the future it will no longer be your primary residence -- it will remain your primary residence until you actually close on a new house in WA. Hopefully you will be able to sell this house quickly and move on. In my case, I bought my new house before putting my old one up for sale. I insured the new house with USAA, and stated that the new house was going to be my primary residence. It took three months to sell the old house, and during that time USAA provided insurance for both locations. There are variations -- for example, many people have a vacation home or a secondary home that may be unoccupied for months at a time. If you're eligible you might check with USAA on how to handle this question. Since they primarily cover military officers they are regularly faced with questions of houses that will be vacant for extended periods of time. You might also call your state insurance commissioner's office in Columbus and ask them for advice. Regards -- wrote in message ups.com... Thanks for the helpful replies. House is in Ohio, will be totally empty, save some appliances. Unfortunately I can't even check on it, since we're moving to WA state. I have one rather knuckle-headed neighbor who's marginally reliable, I'm going to ask him to keep an eye open, but who knows? I'll check out the netquote.com site, also I think I'll try calling Farmer's directly; although I've used this agent for about 20 years for house & car insurance, he could be mistaken, or as someone suggested on another forum, doesn't want to bother re-writing the policy if he doesn't get anything out of it. That would be too bad, but not a huge shock. BTW the house is paid for, so a mortgage is not an issue. This situation must come up literally millions of times a year in the US, I can't imagine there's no way of accommodating it. Needless to say, I'd like to see the place sell about an hour after I vacate, but that's not terribly likely... Rick |
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#22
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Insuring a vacant house
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#23
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Insuring a vacant house
this was back around 1991, but may work for your situation.
neighbors moved from Louisiana to Georgia, and house was vacant they paid my brother to "live there", and occupy the house they kept utilities and phone on, we just changed the phone number to his name real estate agent loved the idea, he just rolled up his sleeping bag and stashed it in the utility room for open house. and it was convenient for real estate lady to have access to a phone when she was doing open houses. house was right next door to us, and was nice to have extra room when we had out of town company..... call furniture rental place, and had them a nice bedroom setup for 2 weeks, saving hotel expenses. lady that bought the house is still there... her hubby got sent packing sooon after they moved in |
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#24
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Insuring a vacant house
In article ,
says... This is a pretty much standard policy with most insurance companies. I got around it by buying insurance for "vacant house under construction". Problem with those policies is that you must prepay for the year and there is no refund if you cancel three months down the road. Again, that depends on the carrier. Rules will be different in different states, but if you insure a vacant home with Foremost here in WA, you don't have special restrictions on billing or cancellations, you can put it on two pay or four pay and you do get a refund for unearned premium if you cancel. I'd start by checking the details of the existing policy, there's a good chance the house will remain insured until the current term expires, with a temporary reduction in coverage while vacant. -- is Joshua Putnam http://www.phred.org/~josh/ Updated Bicycle Touring Books List: http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/tourbooks.html |
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#25
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Insuring a vacant house
There are lots of impoverished but responsible graduate students with
and without families that need a cheap place to live while they are writing their dissertation in linguistics or literature or the granulated peruvian treeleaf or whatever research project. Maybe contact a nearby university for a list of candidates and have them apply, these are scholars, not frat party animals in undergraduate schools. You will safekeep your house and help the knowledge base of mankind too. Ask for and check references.-Jitney |
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#26
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Insuring a vacant house
In article pqnof.631467$_o.295488@attbi_s71,
says... "louie" wrote in message oups.com... I recently moved and it took about 3 months to sell the property. My local agent was much more understanding and suggested, hypothetically, that IF a person were to move and leave the property unattended, the insurance company would drop the coverage, and the mortgage company could then possibly call the mortgage due at that point. Her advice was something along the lines of "no need to tell them about it until you have closed on the property sale, just forward your mail" Yeah, just try to collect on a claim when it burns! HA HA HA!!! Unless the policy contains an exclusion for vacancy, the company would have a hard time refusing to pay a claim if the policy was in force on the date of the loss. Again, rules vary by policy, by company, and by state, but as an example, the policy I have handy has, in its Conditions, "The residence premises may be vacant or unoccupied without limit of time, except where this policy states otherwise." Now, the company won't normally accept a currently-vacant house for that policy, and they might decline to renew a policy if they know the house is going to be vacant, but if they've already issued the policy, and the policy is in force at the time of a loss, the policy is still valid and they will still pay. -- is Joshua Putnam http://www.phred.org/~josh/ Updated Bicycle Touring Books List: http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/tourbooks.html |
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#27
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Insuring a vacant house
Oscar_Lives wrote:
Liers get what they deserve I got exactly what I expected, a sold house and no problems from either the insurance or the mortgage company. The agent I mentioned was my INSURANCE agent - the local representative of the insurance company who held my policy. She knew about it and advised me not to make any official notice about it to the main office. I took her advice and things turned out just fine. |
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