Is your home going to be vacant for a considerable amount of time? I don't mean that you're going on vacation for a few weeks, or even months. Home insurance providers consider that "unoccupied". An absence from the home is something that is normal from time to time.
If your home is unoccupied for more than four days during the heating season, there would be some restriction on your coverage. You'll need to have your home checked daily by a competent person to make sure heating is being maintained. Appliances, pipes, and water can all be drained and shut off as well. Without either of these precautions, your insurance company will not pay for any losses resulting from frozen pipes.
When the insurance company says "vacant", what does that mean exactly?
"Vacant" to insurance providers, usually means that you've left your home and have no intention of returning, or it may be a new home you haven't yet moved into. If you have a rental home that has no tenants at the time, this would also be considered vacant.
Whatever the case, if your home is "vacant", you'd better make sure you contact your insurance provider right away! Even if you've placed insurance on your home, there are a number of coverages that no longer apply with most providers, such as glass breakage, vandalism, and water damage. And if your home is vacant more than 30 days, you'll generally have no coverage at all, unless you've added a "vacancy permit".
What does a vacancy permit actually mean?
A vacancy permit can be added to an existing policy for a monthly fee, and allows some coverage to be maintained, at a fairly hefty cost. Keep in mind that there are exclusions like water, glass and vandalism.
If you follow some steps to protect yourself, there's a lot that you can do to minimize the occurrence of loss or damage to your home while it is vacant:
Keep up maintenance of the yard, and be sure that it's kept clean, and no trash is left around.
Keep curtains on all the windows.
The flyers and mail that is delivered to the home should not be left idle.
Put a timer in the house, to turn lights on and off.
Have someone go to the house regularly, at least once a week, to check on it inside and out.
If it's winter, the heating needs to be looked after correctly.
Make sure all the doors and windows are locked, and consider installing a monitored intrusion alarm.
Do whatever you can to make a vacant home looked lived in. A vacant home is an easy target for a vandal, so don't make it apparent that the home is empty. Most importantly, keep in close contact with your insurance provider. Let them know how long the home will be vacant, and provide them with details on when you're returning and what you have arranged to ensure that the home is safe. Get the best coverage you can, so you don't have any nasty surprises if the worst happens.
If your home is unoccupied for more than four days during the heating season, there would be some restriction on your coverage. You'll need to have your home checked daily by a competent person to make sure heating is being maintained. Appliances, pipes, and water can all be drained and shut off as well. Without either of these precautions, your insurance company will not pay for any losses resulting from frozen pipes.
When the insurance company says "vacant", what does that mean exactly?
"Vacant" to insurance providers, usually means that you've left your home and have no intention of returning, or it may be a new home you haven't yet moved into. If you have a rental home that has no tenants at the time, this would also be considered vacant.
Whatever the case, if your home is "vacant", you'd better make sure you contact your insurance provider right away! Even if you've placed insurance on your home, there are a number of coverages that no longer apply with most providers, such as glass breakage, vandalism, and water damage. And if your home is vacant more than 30 days, you'll generally have no coverage at all, unless you've added a "vacancy permit".
What does a vacancy permit actually mean?
A vacancy permit can be added to an existing policy for a monthly fee, and allows some coverage to be maintained, at a fairly hefty cost. Keep in mind that there are exclusions like water, glass and vandalism.
If you follow some steps to protect yourself, there's a lot that you can do to minimize the occurrence of loss or damage to your home while it is vacant:
Keep up maintenance of the yard, and be sure that it's kept clean, and no trash is left around.
Keep curtains on all the windows.
The flyers and mail that is delivered to the home should not be left idle.
Put a timer in the house, to turn lights on and off.
Have someone go to the house regularly, at least once a week, to check on it inside and out.
If it's winter, the heating needs to be looked after correctly.
Make sure all the doors and windows are locked, and consider installing a monitored intrusion alarm.
Do whatever you can to make a vacant home looked lived in. A vacant home is an easy target for a vandal, so don't make it apparent that the home is empty. Most importantly, keep in close contact with your insurance provider. Let them know how long the home will be vacant, and provide them with details on when you're returning and what you have arranged to ensure that the home is safe. Get the best coverage you can, so you don't have any nasty surprises if the worst happens.
About the Author:
For further details, please visit this blog, or if you're a first time home buyer visit www.squareoneinsurance.ca.
No comments:
Post a Comment