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.