Your property could be standing empty for a number of reasons. You may just be between tenants. You could be carrying out repairs or renovations. Whatever the reason though, insurance for empty properties is extremely important.

You may be tempted to do without insurance while your property is empty but this could be a very false economy indeed. When a property is unoccupied it may be more at risk than when it is tenanted. That’s why insurance for empty properties may seem to be expensive, particularly when this expense cannot be offset against rental income.

So what sort of additional risks apply?

Theft and Vandalism

Signs that a property is empty can act like a magnet for thieves and vandals. These can include obvious things like building tools and materials left lying about, rubbish accumulating in the garden or junk mail sticking out of the letterbox. More subtle indicators could be no lights going on as it gets dark or curtains not being opened or closed.

A stitch in time

If you are in your property and there is a leak of water from a burst pipe for example, you can take immediate action and turn off the water to minimise the damage caused. In an unoccupied property though, the leak could go unnoticed for some time and the resulting damage could be much more extensive and obviously more expensive to put right.

Covering the risks

A basic insurance for empty properties policy can provide essential cover for the basic insurance perils like fire, explosion, floods and earthquakes etc. More extensive cover is also available and costs of claims can be reduced if the property is checked regularly and necessary maintenance carried out. In fact, your vacant property insurance provider may stipulate that under the terms of your cover with them that you meet certain obligations, such as checking on the property on a very regular basis.

Keeping the property looking its best may help attract potential renters too.

Owners’ liability

It may be worth bearing in mind that even if your empty property does not have any tenants, someone could still sue you as a result of an injury that they may have sustained in or around the property. Property owners’ liability protection is an important part of any buy to let insurance policy whether the property is empty or not.

Up to date

Once your property is let again you may want to let your insurance providers know so that any necessary changes can be made to ensure that your cover reflects the fact that your property is no longer unoccupied.

You also may be interested in protecting your property with cover against accidental or even malicious damage by tenants, which is cover that may not be available as part of insurance for empty properties policies. (Do note that not all buy to let insurance providers do provide this element of cover).