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.