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.