Vacant Home Insurance Now (.com) Featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspaper

Here is a clip from the article on vacant home insurance, March 11, 2011: In the 4th quarter of 2010, 12 percent of all US residences, or 18,394,000, were vacant. Record foreclosures are a big reason for this: After repossessing houses at sheriff's sales, many lenders leave them empty for months.

But even properties that aren't distressed may take a long time to sell after the owners move on. In the Philadelphia region in January, time on the market averaged 103 days, according to a Prudential Market Report.

All of which makes a difference in the kind of insurance coverage such unattended or vacant houses require - coverage that isn't offered in the standard homeowners' policy.

Vacant Home Insurance Now, which offers policies in several states, says up to 80 percent of homeowners do not know that "the provisions of their existing homeowners' insurance policy . . . would essentially end coverage, exposing them to catastrophic loss."

Vacant homeowners insurance is even more important in 2011 and 2012 as foreclosures are expected to increase.