A vacant property often acts as a magnet to vandals, squatters or burglars. Left undetected, a dripping tap might cause a flood or a loose electrical connection, a major fire. Because of this increased vulnerability, therefore, standard home insurance or buy to let landlord insurance cover is significantly reduced – or even withdrawn altogether – after a typical period of 30 to 90 days after the property has been lying empty. Unoccupied property insurance is then needed to provide continued protection.

Although this specifically written form of insurance then continues to provide protection for the empty property, there are a number of areas in which insurers typically expect the owner to play their part in minimising the risks.

• Letting them know – it might seem like a statement of the obvious, but insurers have the right to know of any material changes affecting the property and it is the owner’s responsibility to inform them. If your property is unoccupied, therefore, you must inform your insurer or risk the cover becoming invalidated;
• Secure it – even with unoccupied property insurance in place, you are still responsible for ensuring that the building is properly secured, with doors and windows firmly closed and locked and any intruder alarms switched on;
• Inspect it – “a stitch in time”, as the saying goes, saves potentially far more work further down the line. Attention to that dripping tap or loose electrical connection might help to avert future calamity, but only if it is spotted in time. If you are able to satisfy your insurer that you or your agent is inspecting the unoccupied property on a regular basis, this might help you secure unoccupied property insurance more easily – and probably more cheaply;
• Don’t advertise it – the property might not be lived in, but that doesn’t mean you have to advertise the fact. Far from it. You might enlist a neighbour’s help, for example, by parking their car in the driveway from time to time, opening or closing the curtains, collecting unopened mail – anything to give the impression that there’s actually someone at home.

In other words, there are these and a number of other ways in which you might play your part by minimising the risk to your vacant property. Like any other form of insurance, there are two parties to the contract of unoccupied property insurance – you and the insurer.