Press info: Make sure your empty property doesn’t leave you out of pocket warns specialist insurance provider

An insurance specialist is warning owners of empty properties to make sure they fully understand their obligations under their unoccupied property insurance cover -  otherwise in the event of a claim, it could be rejected.

“With more British people dying during the first full week of the year than at any other time, there is the potential that those left behind may have an empty property to take care of until it is sold” explains Richard Burgess, Director at Cover4LetProperty.co.uk

“And while these people may buy unoccupied property insurance to cover the property while it goes through the probate process, some may be unaware that there are certain conditions they need to meet as part of their empty property insurance contract.

“This does vary depending on the policy provider but generally may include things such as keeping the property in good repair; making regular visits to the property and keeping a log of these visits; removing mail and flyers from the letter box, and so on.”

Mr. Burgess adds with the seasonal bad weather at this time of year too, owners of empty properties should be aware that claims for weather damage must be notified to the insurer within a set period of time. “For example, if someone has an empty property which they rarely check up on and they see that the property has suffered water damage due to a storm or flood several weeks prior, it is unlikely that their claim would be successful.

“This is because the policyholder – or their representative – needs to make regular, logged checks on the property so that any damage is noticed and repaired as soon as possible, before it worsens.

“We recommend that all unoccupied property insurance holders check the ‘exclusions’ section of their policy as well as the ‘conditions’ to ensure that they fully understand what their cover entails and what their obligations are. That way they won’t get a nasty shock should they need to make a claim.”

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