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Short term home insurance, also known as short term unoccupied home insurance, is designed to protect your property when it is left empty for more than 30 consecutive days, as most standard home insurance policies will not cover extended periods of vacancy. Empty homes are at greater risk of burglary, vandalism, leaks, or unnoticed damage, so this type of policy provides financial protection during times when a property is unoccupied. Cover can be arranged for a flexible period, from a few weeks to several months, and may include buildings insurance, contents insurance, or both.
This type of insurance is particularly useful in situations such as moving between homes, taking a long holiday, renovating a property, or handling an estate in probate. Insurers may also set conditions, like regular property checks or keeping the heating on in winter, to reduce risks. By bridging the gap left by standard home insurance, short term home insurance ensures your property is safeguarded until it is lived in again.
This type of temporary cover is to be sought only in the event that your current home insurance contents cover policy won’t look after you, for example during an extended period of absence.
Some common reasons include:
You are going on a long holiday.
You are completing major renovations on your house and have to temporarily vacate the premises.
There is a gap between tenants in your rental property.
You have moved to a new house, but you’re still waiting to sell your old one and it’s unoccupied.
You have bought a new home, but you’re not yet able to move in.
You are waiting for your Grant of Probate to complete and your house is empty until then.
If any of these are true for you, and you will subsequently be away from your home for longer than 30 days, it’s likely your current home insurance contents cover won’t be valid. In this case you should seek a short term home insurance policy, so you’re protected against theft and damage.
Short term home insurance will offer the same level of protection as your standard home contents cover policy. However, because the risk of break-in and damage is greatly increased when your property is unoccupied for a long period of time, it’s necessary to take out a second, more expensive policy to offset that risk.
Some policies will ask you or someone you trust to regularly visit the property, to check that nothing major has happened to it. It’s important you stick to these rules as otherwise your insurance may become invalid.
Short term home insurance cover can start from one week, and will usually last for a three, six, nine or 12-month period.
A good short term home insurance policy will provide the same level of cover as your standard home insurance policy. This can include:
Temporary buildings insurance: Covering the cost of structural or aesthetic fixtures and outbuildings in the event of fire and smoke damage, theft and attempted theft, lightning and storm, flooding, malicious damage and subsidence.
Temporary contents insurance: This can cover the cost of repairing or replacing the items kept in your unoccupied home, in the event of damage or theft. There will be a standard amount of cover that comes with the policy, so you may want to increase the value of your contents cover to make sure everything is protected.
Property owner’s liability: This type of cover protects against any third-party claims of injury, loss or damage of their property because of your own. If you’re having major renovation work done, then this is worth considering.
Legal expenses: This will ensure that you’re covered in the event of unexpected legal fees incurred to protect your home while you’re not living there. For example, if you needed to evict someone who is staying in the property without expressed permission from you, the owner.
