Working Overseas, Don't Forget the Vacant Home

When my employer sent me overseas for 5 months to finish the programming on a big computer project I had a lot on my mind. I had to be on the project site in 7 days. I had just renewed my homeowners insurance policy with the leading insurer and didn't think there was any problem whatsoever. I was just going for 5 months and my mother will come by once a week or so to look in on the place.

Well my mother did just that but after a few weeks here visits went to once every two weeks. A hailstorm that was very local to our town blew out the picture window in the living room. The house was soaking wet for almost 10 days and mold was growing by then. When I filed the homeowners claim I was given a check for $4,000 but the total damage was over $30,000 because of the mold and how long everything was wet.

I was told I needed to secure vacant homeowners insurance even if I was only going to be away for just 2 months. No one told me I needed vacant home insurance. I was stuck paying the difference out of pocket. The impression I got from the homeowners insurance company was that I was lucky to get even the $4,000 because I had not imformed them the house was going to be empty or vacant.

Vacant Home; Don't Trust Your Agent to Get It Right

Too many people have been burned by trusting their insurance agent when they have a vacant home or vacant property. Sometimes the insurance agent does not even know the terms of the vacant homeowners insurance policy he or she recommends and just get's it wrong, telling the client that they do not need to secure special vacant home insurance coverage.

However there are times, and we hope this is the rare exception, where an insurance agent will tell a client that it's OK to leave the home empty or vacant with the existing policy because the agent knows the insurance company he or she represents does not offer a vacant homeowers insurance policy and they would lose the business and thus their renewal commission.

Whether mistakes are legitimate or on purpose does not matter. We always recommend that the insured get something in writing from the agent stateing that they understand the house will be vacant for a period of time and the insurance will continue without lapse. When asked to put it in writing, the chance for error goes down by a factor of 10.