Study shows thousands have still not reported to their insurance company that their home is vacant

There is only one way to cover an empty or vacant home, with a vacant home insurance policy. No matter what an agent tells you, there is NO OTHER way to cover a home that is vacant or unoccupied. So, why are there still thousands of homeowners with vacant homes but no vacant homeowners insurance? Here are the top reasons

1. They simply don't know they need vacant home insurance. Insurance companies don't do a good job letting clients know they won't insure homes that are unoccupied for just 60 to 90 days or more.
2. Vacant home insurance is expensive, and to avoid the cost, many homeowners won't inform their homeowners insurance company that the home is vacant, hoping they won't have a claim or hoping for the best if there is a claim. Thousands play insurance Russian Roulette.
3. They have gotten bad information from a friend, Realtor, or even an insurance agent. Does the agent even know their own insurer's limit on the time a home can be empty. It sounds impossible but many won't know. Also, many don't want to lose their commission and we have seen many "bury the paperwork" or provide bad advice to the home owner.

The rule is not flexible. If a home is empty, vacant, or unoccupied for over 90 days, and not under major repair or renovations they only way to cover the home is through vacant home insurance.

Snow Load Leaves Vacant Home Insurance Insureds Thinking About Policies

The East has seen over 50 inches of snow this year. Normal, yes, for Lake Tahoe CA, Crater Lake Oregon and Buffalo NY but not for New York or Washington D.C. Across the U.S. people with vacant home insurance policies are learning, quite frankly, that their policy is not very good.

When 36 inches of snow and ice sit on your roof, now is not the time to learn you have poor vacant home insurance coverage. Most vacant home insurance is very limited in scope, and is not comprehensive all-risk homeowners insurance. Many insureds buy policies and don't even know the list of named perils they are covered for in the vacant homeowners insurance policy. Some policies may be fire only! Some are fire, wind, smoke, and hail. These are not good homeowners policies.

After 3 blizzards people tend to pull out their policy and hope they have good coverage. Vacant Home Insurance Now (.com) always provides the very best programs, and stopped offering limited coverage options a long time ago. Vacant home insurance now has done the comparisons so clients do not have to.

Underwriting Factors offering Vacant Home Insurance Discounts

When it comes to vacant home insurance, a good low cost solution does not exist in the United States. Vacant home insurance is 3 times to 5 times as expensive as regular homeowners insurance in most instances, and there is no way around this if you want a good policy.

Even "fire only" policies may be more expensive for vacant homeowners insurance than regular homeowners insurance and what are you getting, fire only!

There are certain factors that can get you the best rates possible for your vacant or empty home during the vacant home underwriting process. These are listed below

1. Will the vacant home be visited at least 4 times per month? Homes that don't get 4 visits are loaded or not rated at all. Visits mean inside inspections not grass cutting.
2. How long as the home been uninsured or is the home currently insured.
3. Is the vacant house within 1000 feet of a fire hydrant and within 5 miles of a fire station
4. What is the type of construction on the empty home? Brick and mortar is better than wood frame and cedar shake.
5. Is the home in a coastal community or a beach community.

Insurance Companies Not Doing the Right Thing Regarding Vacant Home Insurance Risk

As we move into 2010 continuing to insure vacant apartments, vacant houses, and vacant townhouses as our specialty, we unfortunately can still say that 9 out of 10 customers had NO IDEA their existing homeowners insurance company does not provide vacant homeowners insurance. In other words they came to us out of last minute desperation. The fact that clients are continually blindsided and blown away proves the homeowners insurance companies are not doing enough to communicate to their clients that they do not insure vacant homes and vacant town houses.

We propose the industry inform clients of their exact policy regarding vacant home insurance at the time of the initial sale. In many instances, the policy document may not even address the terms and conditions regarding vacant home insurance but long term customers will be promptly cancelled if a house becomes empty or a town home becomes unoccupied for just 60 days.

Because of this "don't ask don't tell" policy as we see it in the industry, we estimate there may be over 10,000 homes across the United States that are either not covered at all, or not covered in full because of a vacancy situation and the customer does not know they are at risk.

Vacant Home Insurance on the Rise in 2010

Vacant Home Insurance now (.com) saw a massive influx of empty and unoccupied houses in 2009 due to the current economic conditions. The trend is not expected to decrease in 2010 as the amount of homes that sit on the market that cannot be sold is not decreasing in most real estate markets in the United States.

Vacant home insurance is needed when a seller of a home has moved out, and the home has been unoccupied for over 60 days in most instances. What's more, most sellers do not think there is any problem with this situation and do not even inform their existing homeowners insurance company that the house in vacant! The big homeowners insurance companies don't do a good job informing clients that they are not going to insure empty homes either. People are caught off guard.

What we see is homeowners finding out they need vacant home insurance by accident, contacting the existing insurance company due to a change in conditon or to respond to an inquiry at renewal time, and even to report an address change.

"When they make this call the last thing they expect is to be cancelled."

It's at that time they are given the word they are being cancelled and told the existing homeowners insurance company cannot provide vacant homeowners insurance coverage.

Vacant Apartment Insurance New York

What you don't hear about very often is how hard the real estate market is hitting New York City and vacant apartments are on the rise. With the housing crisis, you generally here about San Jose, Miami, or Detroit where some homes are down 40%. However, New York City has a major problem as well.

What most people call a condo, many in New York own "apartments." However, these homeowners have the same issues as the rest of the country when it comes to vacant home insurance. Vacant apartment insurance, a product carried by vacant home insurance now (.com), is absolutely necessary for any New York apartment that is empty or unoccupied for over 60 to 90 days. With some insurers, vacant apartment insurance may be necessary after just 30 days.

When we speak to clients in New York that, after understanding what they needed to do, put vacant apartment insurance on the owned property, here were the biggest misconceptions:

1. Vacant apartment insurance was unnecessary if anyone went by the property to check on it every few days (false).
2. Vacant apartment insurance is not needed if you go and stay in the property a few times a month (false).
3. You may not need vacant property insurance if the New York apartment is fully furnished and is being shown by a realtor. (false).

When we say (false above) we are saying this is generally true in most situations with most insurance companies. No "regular home insurer" in New York offers a vacant apartment insurance product so going to a specialty market like Lloyd's of London is necessary.

Vacant Commercial Building Insurance from Vacant Home Insurance Now (.com)

Vacant Home Insurance Now has teamed up with Pennock Insurance, Inc. of Chadds Ford PA to bring a high quality vacant commercial building insurance product to the markets we serve as licensed producers.

A vacant home insurance product cannot be used to provide coverage to a vacant commercial building or empty warehouse. A special product needs to be employed for commercial purposes. Vacant factories and warehouses not only need dwelling protection, they need a lot of quality liability insurance in case of lawsuit where the owners are found negligent.

Vacant Home Insurance Now would like to inform customers that they can come to VHIN with all of the following vacant insurance needs:

1. vacant warehouse insurance
2. vacant commercial building insurance
3. vacant factory insurance
4. vacant commercial land (liability only)

Of course, our focus will still be strong insurance for vacant residential dwellings employing all risk and replacement cost coverage.