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Vacant Home Insurance: How Long Can a House Sit Empty?

Most property insurance is written for a building someone is using. Once a house has been empty for a set number of days in a row, many policies stop covering some kinds of loss, and some insurers can cancel or decline to renew. The Insurance Information Institute says vacancy clauses typically take effect after 30 to 60 consecutive days. This guide explains the terms, what the standard policy forms say, and what to ask your insurer before a house sits empty.

Vacant or unoccupied?

Insurers use the two words differently, and the difference can matter after a loss.

  • Unoccupied usually means no one is living there, but the furniture and belongings are still in the house, as when an owner is away for a season.
  • Vacant usually means empty: no one living there and not enough belongings left to live there, as with a rental between tenants or a house cleared out for sale.

The standard homeowners form does not define either word, so courts have applied their ordinary meaning, and individual insurers often write their own definitions. One insurer, Openly, defines a vacant home as one with no people and no belongings for 60 or more consecutive days. Read the definitions in your own policy.

What the standard forms say

Many insurers build their policies on standard forms published by ISO, an insurance industry organization, and then change them. The forms below are a starting point, not a substitute for your own policy.

  • Homeowners (HO-3): vandalism and malicious mischief are not covered, and glass breakage is not covered, if the house has been vacant for more than 60 consecutive days before the loss. A house under construction is not considered vacant, though one being renovated after the owners have moved out can be. Earlier editions used 30 days.
  • Frozen pipes: damage from freezing plumbing, heating or sprinkler systems is covered only if the owner used reasonable care to keep the heat on, or shut off the water and drained the systems. Some insurers’ forms apply this rule only while the house is vacant or unoccupied. How to Winterize a Vacant House covers both options.
  • Rental dwellings: dwelling policies, often used for rentals, commonly carry similar vacancy limits.
  • Commercial buildings (CP 00 10): after more than 60 consecutive days of vacancy, the form does not pay for vandalism, sprinkler leakage (unless the system was protected against freezing), building glass breakage, water damage, theft or attempted theft, and other covered losses are paid 15% less. A building under construction or renovation is not considered vacant under that form.

Actual policies vary. One insurer’s condominium form uses 30 days for vandalism, and National General says the period can be 30, 60, 90 or more days.

State examples

Insurance is regulated state by state. Three examples of what regulators tell consumers:

  • Texas: the Texas Department of Insurance says a company may decline to renew if a house is vacant for 60 days or more, and that most companies stop coverage after that long, though they usually don’t stop liability coverage.
  • Wisconsin: the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance says an insurer can cancel a homeowners policy if the home has been vacant for more than 60 days, and gives the example of a vandalism claim that could be denied after 61 days.
  • New York: the Department of Financial Services has said that being unoccupied is generally not, by itself, a permitted reason to cancel a policy mid-term, and that a pending foreclosure alone is not either.

Rules in your state may differ. Your state insurance department can tell you what applies.

Coverage options for an empty house

  • Vacancy endorsement or permit: added to an existing policy for a set period, such as a renovation or the time between tenants.
  • Vacant home policy: a separate policy for a house that will be empty longer. The Insurance Information Institute says these tend to cost more.
  • Builder’s risk: written for a renovation, covering the work and, on some policies, the existing structure, for a set term.
  • State FAIR plans: in some states, the state’s insurance plan of last resort can cover a vacant property. Wisconsin’s plan, for example, can insure vacant property under active renovation.

Some insurers do not write vacant homes at all. An agent who works with several companies can tell you which ones do.

What to ask your insurer

The Texas Department of Insurance, the Insurance Information Institute and GEICO all say to call your insurer before a house sits empty for long. Questions to cover:

  • How does my policy define vacant and unoccupied?
  • After how many days does vacancy change my coverage, and which losses does it affect?
  • Does a renovation count as construction, so the house is not treated as vacant?
  • Do you offer a vacancy endorsement or permit, and for how long?
  • Do you require heat at a minimum temperature, or the water shut off and drained?
  • How often should the house be inspected, and what records should I keep?
  • Does my mortgage lender require continuous coverage? (GEICO suggests checking.)

What insurers expect

The Insurance Information Institute says insurers typically want proof that reasonable steps were taken to look after the property. The steps it lists are heat at 55°F or higher in winter, or the water shut off and the house winterized; locked doors and windows; leak and temperature monitoring; walkways and lighting kept up; and checks as often as weekly. GEICO adds keeping records of maintenance and condition, and says monitored alarms and regular inspections may factor into pricing. The Vacant Property Checklist and the printable Vacant Property Inspection Log help keep that record.

The InvinciBolt Lock and your policy

A lock does not change what a policy says about vacancy, and adding one does not restore coverage a policy limits. Locked doors are one of the steps the Insurance Information Institute lists; whether any particular lock affects a policy or its price is up to the insurer. The InvinciBolt Lock can’t be unlocked by anyone inside, so it goes only on a building with no one in it. See Safe Use and Property Access.

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