Vacant Home Insurance for Expatriates

Expatriates that sell their home in the U.S. in order to relocate abroad for a corporate expatriate assignment may keep their homes if the expatriate assignment is going to be 3 years or less.  If the expatriate assignment is expected to be more than 3 years, 90% of expatriates will sell their home.  For those that keep their home, expatriate vacant home insurance is essential.  Other essential insurance includes international medical insurance and international workers compensation insurance .

What is expatriate vacant home insurance?  It is a special type of homeowners insurance that is designed to cover a house that is considered empty, vacant, or unoccupied.  In the eyes of vacant homeowners insurance carriers, these words do not represent the same definition.

A rule of thumb that we have never seen broken, if you recognize the name of the homeowners insurance company (as a big name insurer) they do NOT have a vacant home insurance product they can offer customers.  Only in the secondary or speciality market can expatriates find vacant home insurance policies that meet their needs.

Get Everything In Writing from your Insurance Company

Hi, this is just a quick note to everyone, going back to what you learned in your first business class in high school. Trust no one and always get it in writing. When it comes to special situations you may be in regarding homeowners insurance, in many cases your agent will not know the answer and even people on the customer service line at the insurance company may not understand the issue fully.

When we left our home in Flowertown PA for 3 months to spend time with my wife's sister in Phoenix Arizona, we actually did inquire with our agent about the insurance coverage while the home was empty and vacant.

We were told everything would be fine, and basically to "have a nice trip." I had to fly back home after we found out some kids had broken into the house and ransacked the liquor cabinet. The damage they caused was only about $10,000 (it could have been much worse).

We were told by the insurance company that there would be no coverage at all because the home was being considered vacant and we did not put special coverage on the home call vacant home owners coverage. They told us they do not provide vandalism coverage on empty or unoccupied homes.

Next time, we will get everything we need in writing.