Vacant Homeowners Insurance for Vacation Homes?

At Vacant Home Insurance Now (.com) perhaps the # 1 question we are asked is the following:

"I am selling my home and moving into another home so I need to buy vacant home insurance on the house I am selling that will be empty for several months while I sell. Why do I have to buy vacant home insurance which is expensive when my neighbor has a second home insured, a vacation home, that's empty most of the year, and he pays 60% less!"

This is an excellent question regarding vacant homeowners insurance. The answer is:

If you can call your empty home a "second home" or "vacation home" by all means do so to save money, but you can't manipulate the facts or risk insurance fraud. Don't let your agent "manipulate" the policy either. Your neighbor may have a legitimate second home or a vacation home, and if he/she can insure this home along side the primary home, it will be much less expensive than buying vacant home insurance. Here the insurer is able to insure the "second home" at a lower rate because they have all of the other client's business in one big package: primary home, car 1, car 2, liability blanket, second home, life insurance, more?

Those that attempt to game the system will mostly likely lose. A major claim on the "second home" that's not really a second home or vacation home will be investigated by an insurance adjuster, and in person. If they find you had set the house up as a second home or a vacation home, and it's really just a home for sale or another situation, the claim will be denied.