If you have a second home that only gets used during certain parts of the year, complete with furniture that gets placed in storage, or you spend months out of the country for work purposes, leaving your main home vacant of both people and belongings, you’ll need to get vacant home insurance in order to protect the property. This is just one of the things that people don’t really think about when they buy a second home or only use their main house sporadically.
Regardless of the reason why your house sits empty, you’ll need to make sure that you have the right insurance on it, just in case. So, let’s explore your options when it comes to vacant home insurance, shall we?
What is Vacant Home Insurance?
Designed to cover vacant homes, whether they have no one living in them due to renovations, are waiting for tenants, or for any of the other reasons out there, this insurance protects just the house itself, not any of the furniture and additional belongings that are typically found inside, because vacant homes tend to not have any of those things.
Why Can’t You Use Homeowner’s Insurance?
Since vacant homes often sit empty and unused for months at a time, they aren’t eligible for standard homeowner’s insurance policies. In fact, many homeowner’s insurance policies contain clauses that state the policy is void should the house be unoccupied and vacant when the damage occurs. As a result, if anything happens while the home is in this state, you could end up having to pay for repairs and other things out of pocket.
What Does Vacant Home Insurance Cover?
A typical vacant home insurance policy is designed to cover many things, including:
- Weather-Related Incidents – Damage caused by high winds, lightning strikes, hail, and more is usually included in one of these policies. However, if you live in an area prone to hurricanes or flooding, make sure that you have a special policy in place to cover those situations. Your insurance agent can help with this.
- Fires and Smoke Damage – Like a typical homeowner’s policy, vacant home insurance will cover damage from fires and the related smoke and water that are left behind. The amount of coverage that you have will depend on the replacement or rebuilding costs of the home.
- Vacant Home Issues – Vacant homes are prone to many different issues, from potential explosions due to broken gas pipes to floods that appear thanks to leaking water pipes. Since these issues can be quite damaging, your vacant home insurance usually covers them.
- Vandalism – Depending on where your vacant home is located, you could end up with a number of different problems. Squatters may try to move in, vandals may spray paint on the outside of the home, and burglars may break in and steal any copper that they can find within the pipes and electrical lines inside the home. Your policy may cover these situations and more.
Have Questions? Contact Charlotte Insurance
If you think your home qualifies for vacant home insurance, contact Charlotte Insurance. Our agents can explore and explain all available options to you and put together the home coverage plan you need.