Bait & Switch Vacant Home Insurance

When we leave our home in Radnor Pennsylvania for the winter to spend 4 or 5 months in Scottsdale Arizona, we typically can find someone to "sit" in the house while we are away. Last winter we found no one, and spoke to our agent about how to insure the home.

We were advised that we were in luck, and our regular homeowners insurance company would be able to insure our vacant home at an additional premium. In February of that year, we had a major claim when vandals broke into the house, stole some items, but even worth left about $20,000 of damage in the house.

When we filed the claim with our insurance we were in for a big shock. We had assumed the coverage was pretty much the same because it was the same insurance company. We quickly learned we had no coverage for this incident because the new policy was a reduced level of coverage. Our agent told us "you just can't get the same level of coverage when a home is not being occupied" and this is what people live with. Basically.. we had no other choice?

However, no one explained the coverage was to such a lesser degree. Our advise, when you put on a vacant dwelling insurance policy make sure you know exactly what you are buying.