Vacant home insurance
Coverage for a house nobody is living in — on the market, held in an estate, mid-renovation, between tenants or empty while you are away. Most homeowners policies change once a dwelling has stood empty for a stated number of days; this is the cover built for that stretch.
The vacancy line
833-844-4357Call center hours
- Monday – Friday5:30 AM – 5:00 PM Pacific Time8:30 AM – 8:00 PM Eastern Time
Handles a vacant home in every state.
Why the reason matters more than the vacancy
“Vacant” is one word covering several quite different risks. These are the ones we see most, and what each tends to turn on:
- The home is for sale
- Expect questions about how long it has been listed and how often someone is in it.
- Held in an estate, pending resolution
- Have the name on title ready — an estate or trust usually has to be the named insured.
- Vacant and under construction
- Expect questions about the scope of work, who is doing it, and whether the contractor carries their own cover.
- Between tenants
- Expect questions about how long it has been empty and when the next tenant moves in.
- Seasonal or second home, empty part of the year
- Expect questions about how long it stands empty and who checks on it.
- Renovation finished or paused, not yet occupied
- Expect questions about what remains to be done and whether the utilities are on.
- Owner is away — travel, work, care or deployment
- Expect questions about how long, and who is looking after the home meanwhile.
Yours not among them? Type it on the form — it reaches us as you wrote it.
What vacant home coverage is generally intended to address
- •The structure itself. Generally intended to respond to covered damage to the house — fire, wind, and the other named perils the form carries, which on a vacancy form is often a shorter list than on an ordinary homeowners policy.
- •Your liability as its owner. Generally intended to respond to third-party bodily injury or property damage arising from the property. An empty house still has a walk to clear, a step to trip on and a yard people cut across.
- •Water damage found late. The classic empty-house loss: a supply line lets go in February and nobody notices until spring. How a policy treats it often turns on whether the water was shut off and the system drained.
- •Vandalism, theft and arson. Commonly restricted or excluded once a dwelling is vacant, and the single most frequent reason a vacancy-specific form is needed rather than the policy already in place.
- •Other structures on the lot. A detached garage, shed or fence can usually be included, subject to the policy. Mention what is on the lot when you call.
When the line is open
- Monday – Friday
- 5:30 AM – 5:00 PM Pacific Time
- 8:30 AM – 8:00 PM Eastern Time
The line is not answered around the clock. Send the form at any hour and the number reaches your inbox with these hours beside it.
Send your details
Fill this in and we will show you the number and email it to you with the hours, so nothing is lost if you close the tab.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my house need different coverage just because it is empty?
Because most homeowners policies say so. Standard forms commonly restrict or suspend parts of the coverage once a dwelling has been vacant beyond a stated number of consecutive days — often 30 or 60 — with vandalism, glass and water damage the usual casualties. Some carriers can add a vacancy permit endorsement instead; others will not write the risk at all and it moves to a vacant dwelling policy. The number of days and what it affects vary by form and by state, which is why the policy itself has to be read rather than guessed at.
What is the difference between vacant and unoccupied?
Insurers generally treat them as two different things. Unoccupied means nobody is living there but the furniture and belongings are — a house waiting on a sale, or an owner away for a season. Vacant usually means empty of both people and property. Vacant is the harder of the two to place, which is why the form asks whether it is still furnished.
Why do you ask why the home is vacant?
Because the reason, not the vacancy, is what decides the market. A house on the market is a short vacancy with people walking through it most weeks. An estate in probate can sit untouched for a year. A house mid-renovation has contractors, materials and open walls. Those are three different risks that happen to share the word "vacant", so we ask up front and pass your answer through rather than leaving it to be discovered on the call.
My reason is not in your list. Does that matter?
No. The list holds the common answers, not all of them — just type yours. It reaches us exactly as you wrote it, which is far more useful to the person quoting it than "Other" would be.
Which number do I call?
Call 833-844-4357. That line handles a vacant home in every state. Send your details on the form first so the person you reach already has the property in front of them.
Is this the same as landlord insurance?
No, though they overlap. A landlord policy assumes a paying tenant is living there and generally includes loss of rent. A vacancy form assumes nobody is. If the house is between tenants and you expect the next one shortly, say so on the form — that is a different conversation from a house that has stood empty for a year.
Should I shut the water off?
It is worth asking about. Undetected water damage is the loss that most often finds an empty house, and some policies treat it differently depending on whether the supply was shut off and the system drained. Whether it is practical depends on your climate and whether the heat has to stay on, so raise it on the call rather than acting on a web page.
Does it help that someone checks on the house?
Generally yes, and it is asked for that reason. A property somebody walks through weekly looks different to an underwriter from one nobody has entered in months, because most of what goes wrong in an empty house gets worse the longer it goes unnoticed. The same goes for the yard and the walks being kept up — a visibly tended house attracts less trouble.
How long will I need this coverage?
Usually until somebody moves in, the sale completes or the work finishes. That is why the form asks how much longer you expect the house to stand empty — a defined end date and an open-ended one are quoted differently.
What should I have ready when I call?
Roughly when the house became empty, why, whether the utilities are still on, who looks in on it, who keeps the yard and walks up, the approximate value, and whether anything is still stored inside.
Get the small-business insurance newsletter
Plain-English coverage tips, comparisons, and offers — no spam, unsubscribe anytime.