Vistancia Home Watching › Insurance and empty homes

Your insurance and an empty home: what to ask before you leave

Many homeowner policies treat an empty home differently from one you live in. A ten-minute call to your agent before you leave is worth making.

Vacant and unoccupied aren't the same thing

Insurance policies often draw a line between a home that's unoccupied, where your furniture and belongings are still there but you're away, and a home that's vacant, where it's been emptied out. A seasonal home is usually unoccupied; a home that's been cleared out for sale may count as vacant. The difference can matter to your coverage.

What a vacancy clause can do

Many policies limit coverage for certain kinds of damage once a home has been vacant for a set period, often 30 or 60 days. Some ask for the home to be checked regularly while you're away, or for the water to be shut off. Every policy is different, so the only way to know is to read yours or ask.

Questions to ask your agent

Before you leave, ask:

• Does my policy treat my home as unoccupied or vacant while I'm gone?
• How long can it sit empty before anything in my coverage changes?
• Do you require the home to be checked, and how often?
• Do you need the water shut off, or anything else done before I leave?
• What records would you want to see if I had to make a claim?

Why documented checks help

Regular visits catch problems early, which is the best way to avoid a claim at all. And if you do need to make one, a dated record of the home's condition helps. Every one of our visits starts with a QR scan at your home that records the date, time and GPS position, and comes with photos and notes in QRIDit.

A note

We're home watchers, not insurance agents. This is general information to help you ask the right questions; your policy and your agent have the answers that count.

Vistancia Home Watching · Vistancia · North Peoria · Privacy & Terms