What happens if a house is left empty?

The unoccupancy clause is in every home policy and is the one most likely to catch out someone dealing with a probate property, a renovation or a long trip.

Safety

Step by step

1. Find your unoccupancy period.In the policy wording, usually 30, 45 or 60 consecutive days. It is consecutive days unoccupied, not total nights away across a year.
2. Understand what unoccupied means.Nobody living there, not simply nobody home. A house you visit weekly but where nobody sleeps is generally unoccupied. Definitions vary, so check the wording.
3. Know which cover falls away first.Escape of water, theft, malicious damage and accidental damage are usually restricted or removed. Fire and lightning often continue. That combination is why an empty house is a risk.
4. Tell the insurer in advance.Before the period elapses, not afterwards. They may extend cover, apply conditions, charge extra, or tell you to move to a specialist policy — but a declared risk is an insured one.
5. Expect conditions.Commonly: water off and system drained in winter, heating maintained at a minimum temperature, regular documented inspections, post cleared, and specified locks engaged.
6. Get unoccupied property insurance for longer gaps.A specific product for properties empty for months — probate, renovation, sale. More expensive than standard cover and far cheaper than an uninsured loss.
7. Deal with the water.Escape of water is the biggest single risk in an empty house and usually the first cover withdrawn. Either drain the system down, or keep the heating on a low frost setting as the policy requires.
8. Make it look lived in.Timer switches, cleared post, a neighbour parking on the drive, gardens maintained. It reduces the risk and it is often a policy condition.
9. Arrange documented inspections.Someone walking through weekly or fortnightly, and a note of the date. Policies frequently require this, and the record is what proves compliance at claim time.
10. Handle probate property specifically.The existing policy often lapses or restricts on death. Tell the insurer immediately and expect to need unoccupied cover — this is a very common gap during probate.
11. Check renovation separately.Building work usually needs its own notification and may require the contractor's public liability details. An empty property being renovated is two separate declarations.
12. Keep the paperwork.Written confirmation of what you told the insurer and what they agreed. A verbal assurance is worth little when a claim is assessed.

Tips

• Consecutive days, not nights away in total. That distinction catches people out.
• Escape of water is the first thing withdrawn and the biggest risk. Drain it or heat it, as the policy says.
• During probate, ring the insurer on day one. The gap in cover then is extremely common.

Common mistakes

• Not telling the insurer — Unoccupancy is a material fact. Failing to declare it can void the policy entirely, not merely reduce a specific claim.
• Assuming visiting the property counts as occupying it — Most definitions require someone to be living there. Weekly visits generally do not prevent a property being classed as unoccupied.

If it doesn't work