As I am currently between tenants, I am fully aware insurance companies don't really care for this scenario. It means the home is vulnerable to vandalism and whatever else one might come up with to keep me awake at night. My goal is not to borrow trouble, and I certainly don't need it looking for me.
So, just to make sure I have my bases covered during my Summer 2010 of Non-Drama, I e-mailed my insurance agent, admitting my dark little secret: Artie and Candy moved out. It turns out vacant homes are indeed an issue. According to the insurance agent,
If the dwelling is vacant for more than 30 days vandalism/theft is excluded under the policy. I also have to notify the company dwelling is vacant and write a vacant policy.I have to tell you, that sounds like a lot of work on her part. Nor do I want a vacant dwelling policy--though I don't know exactly what that means. It just sounds ominous. Actually, what I really prefer is a tenant. A sane, stable, employed tenant. And I am hoping that isn't as tough to find as I am starting to think.
The other "vacant" home is on Hysteria Lane. The non-tenant still has about three articles of clothing and beer in the refrigerator. And for that, she dutifully pays the rent each month. After reading over my agent's e-mail, I forwarded it to Kirby explaining I didn't want trouble there either.
Kirby responded with promising to contact the tenant after her check rent clears. His take on this "vacancy" was simply,
I am not sure how the insurance company looks at this but technically it is not vacant because the tenant still has their remains in the house and paying the rent. They are just not physically living there all of the time. I would look at it as her having a job where she travels a lot, and is living somewhere else 6 months out of the year.Kirby was pretty sure the house should be covered under those circumstances. I am just hoping I don't have to find out.
1 comment:
Glad to see you are on the ball with this one! However, Kirby is not entirely correct in his advise (call your agent and ask).
True there are tenants out there who travel 6 months per year leaving the property technically vacant for much of the time.
However, this is not the case and don't think the tenant if approached (and he/she will be approached) won't admit to this.
Should something happen to that house and a claim is filed, an adjuster will physically visit the property.
When he/she sees no furniture, no edible groceries and no personal hygiene products in the home (these are the items that an adjuster considers necessary "habitable" items to determine vacancy), he/she will then visit the neighbors to determine if the tenants are seen at the property over night on a regular basis and when he/she is told that they are not staying at the house - your policy will be retroactively rescinded and any/all damage done to your property will then become your personal responsibility.
In the good old days, an adjusters job was simply to access the damages and cut a check. In our current economy an adjusters job is now to dig as deeply as possible in order to save his/her company money. In other words to decline coverage whenever humanly possible.
To make matters worse you will be entered into a national data base and the next time you go to purchase insurance (of any kind) your premiums will at the least double and any/all future claims that you file will be heavily scrutinized.
Vacant polices are expensive due to the high risk nature of them and it is a pain to take them out and then 3 weeks later turn them back into the regular policy but they are still worth the trouble considering the alternative trouble that most certainly will come your way.
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