Do I need to insure an empty property?
When most people think about home insurance, they naturally think about getting a policy for the home that they live in. They have most of the things that they own within that building, after all. An insurance policy is necessary so that the family is not out on the streets after a fire or an environmental disaster. However, say that you're a landlord and own a property that is currently unoccupied … does this need to be insured too?
It certainly does! If you want your vacant property protected, you need unoccupied home insurance. If there are no contents in the property then you can skimp on the contents cover (there's no point insuring what's not there), but the property is still at risk to environmental factors and vandalism - unoccupied properties are often targeted by youths and graffiti artists - as much as any lived-in property, if not more so.
In fact, when a property is lived-in you're less likely to experience broken water pipes in cold winters and damp issues during wet periods. Of course, this is helped by the fact that someone is there to keep an eye on things. Remember, it's always worth being insured as the amount that could be lost should a fire break out or something else untoward take place is a lot more than the amount that would be spent covering the empty property for a short period of time.