Snowbird homeowner insurance theft and vandalism coverage limitations
 

I am a snowbird. I was looking through my homeowner policy and it states that losses from theft and vandalism are not covered if the dwelling was unoccupied for more than 30
days immediately before the loss. This seems to be a standard exclusion in Florida policies.

So if I go back north for 6 months, I am not covered for theft and vandalism down here for 5 of those months.

Not that this is a high crime area, but are any other snowbirds concerned or have found a workaround?

The people to call would be your insurance company to actually have that answered.

We have a few friends who are snowbirds and have never mentioned that as an issue. I will ask them to check their policies "just in case." Strange though because people often go on vacation for more than a month and to lose coverage for that doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think it is common that you need to have a different policy for a vacant home than an occupied home. Not just a Fl problem.
The 30 days could give some a problem if they took an extended vacation so good reminder to check our policies.

That is a pretty standard clause in all the insurance policies that I worked with during 20+ years in the insurance industry. A possible workaround would be if you had a friend down here spend one night a month in your home.

Bjeanj is correct.

Just discuss with your agent. There are thousands of vacation home with full coverage. Might cost a couple bucks more, but you can have full coverage. From the carrier prospective, unoccupied homes are higher risk. Discuss your home watch services if you have.

We have a vacation home in upstate NY. Allstate did question our occupancy at one time. We told them we have a caretaker who checks the house weekly, which we do. We are covered for All insurance claims. Minus the deductible of course. I know because the house was broken into a few years ago and the claim was honored.

Smells life ____, Tastes like ____, must be____. :ohdear:

Our policy reads "Seasonal Dwelling Endorsement" . We are part time at our home in TV and we have a monitored security and fire protection system. For my own peace of mind we have security cameras as well.

I was up front with our agent when we took out the policy.

If you are a regular snowbird, you probably need vacant home insurance or a special endorsement for both of your houses. Depending on your insurance company, this can increase your overall insurance costs by as much as 50 percent. If you don't have the coverage, you are at risk that a claim may not be paid. However, I suspect that a lot of snowbirds don't have the proper coverage that they need.

that is true, My mom’s place was vandalized and property stolen, no insurance coverage, after the claim the insurance cancelled her policy. This was back in 2009

talk to your insurance agent....(suggestion give AAA insurance a call, we switched to them and saved a bundle)

We had a second home in Ft Lauderdale from 1995 to 2015 that we only used during the winter months....when a f ew homes started getting broken into we had ADT installed....short money for peace of mind

the bad guys go to next house if they suspect that there's a security system

WOW you really add so much to any subject




keep up the good work

Could an argument be raised that someone checking on your house every other week satisfies this clause.

Justly
 

Had the same rude awakening when leaving house in MD while checking out The Villages. Surprising what important features seem to be overlooked in lengthy agreements and policies.

Had vacation properties for years and was told by my agent to not disclose vacancies off season or my policy would be cancelled. You may run a risk but if you have someone check your house weekly, it may be mitigated by that fact. Vacant house policies are very expensive and do not know how you would go about changing your periodic occupancy.

Many more dollars
 

We moved here in The Villages without selling our old house thinking we might just rent the old place. Since I was an insurance consultant many moons ago and knew I would not have coverage on the old house so I took out, for lack of a better term, “an empty house policy”. All I could get was “Lloyd’s of London”. A three month policy cost me as much as a full year. I’m afraid there are hundreds of Villagers who, if something happen while they were gone, could be without insurance and not realize it. Ignorance, won’t be enough to convince an insurance company to pay a claim. For that reason, this is a good thread. Honesty is the best policy so talk to your agent even though it could cost you a little bit of money.

We just bought a different house about a month ago. That exact coverage issue was discussed, in getting coverage for our new house.
We added it to the policy at a very low additional cost. Not sure how all Insurances cover that, need to contact your agent. We are seasonal, here a bit less than 6 moths.

I own a Home Watch Company and Manage about 100 Rental and Snowbird properties and it sounds like there is a Vacancy Clause in your policy and I have run into it on a few Policies. Basically unless you have a Company making weekly visits they have a right to deny a claim. The Insurance company does not count a Neighbor, Friend or even a Relative you might having watching over things as acceptable for this clause.

Check with your Insurance Agent to determine your particular situation.

I checked with my insurance company (Cabrillo Coastal) and this was their reply:

That’s news to me. You have a homeowners policy and you have full coverage. It may be that what these folks have is a dwelling policy and they didn’t add theft and vandalism to their policy. That type of policy requires that you choose the coverage you want and or need.

Ask your insurance agent to define unoccupied. Ask if engaging a home-watch service restarts the 30 day clock after each in-home inspection. A professional service may be more acceptable to insurance companies than diligent neighbors.

When we permanently moved to The Villages from our home (for sale) in CT we had to pay a "vacant home insurance" that was TRIPLE the previously occupied rate even though 3 of our children were nearby residents in CT - and the house was vacant, water was turned off etc. I have never understood how any of the "snowbirds" didn't complain about this on both sides of their homeownership! Someone is getting away with it somehow!

I am checking with my insurance agent if I can add an unoccupied property endorsement.

In insurance there is a big difference between the terms "vacant" and "unoccupied". My policy is with ASI and the policy defines them and I quote:

“Vacant” means the dwelling lacks the necessary amenities, adequate furnishings, or
utilities and services to permit occupancy of the dwelling as a residence.

“Unoccupied” means the dwelling is not being inhabited as a residence.

In fact, the ASI policy at first limits theft and vandalism coverage for vacant properties only. But then the policy adds a special Florida endorsement which limits coverage further to vacant or unoccupied properties.

I have a professional home watch company. But in my opinion, according to the definition of "unoccupied" above, having a professional home watch company come for 15 minutes once a week doesn't cut it to make the house occupied.

I bought my house in TV last May. The broker asks if this would be our primary residence. I said no. They gave us a policy which is valid so long as we spend at least three moths of the year here. I’ll check the details again. I think they called it HO3.
Interestingly, I’m british, and it is absolutely the fact that all English policies, only allow 45 or 60 days unoccupied. The only solution, is that 30 years ago, I should have had children. When I asked a broker about a policy that allowed for greater unoccupancy, he said. Lots of people ask for that, you can’t do it.

that's what i said.


i'm not suggesting to rely on the ignorance plea.

Called our State Farm agent. She said read second part of sentence for exclusion. First part of definition for unoccupied dwelling is one day occupied in 30 days prior to event AND something to the effect that home is mostly furnished by homeowner. She said it is to be sure home is not sitting vacant and empty