Unoccupied Home and Homeowners Insurance
OK, we've just scrapped plans to enter the workamping life because I've read that most if not all homeowners insurance will not cover claims if the property is unoccupied for more than 30 days unless ...
Forum Discussion
We faced this same situation when we decided to move from one house (when zoning said I could no longer park my camper on MY property). We purchased a house in a totally different county where we could park the camper.
Meanwhile, we had the problem with the first house as it sat empty. The house still had a mortgage on it, so we had to carry insurance.
Solution? We let our adult son live in the house free. His only requirement was to pay his own utilities, which we kept in our name, but he paid. We never told the insurance company anything different, until the house sold under a land contract agreement, and then everything turned into a nightmare. (but that is another story.)
If you have someone that can live in the house, who you trust, that is really the best option.
Edit:
I just remember... we used the same insurance company for both houses. But (AllState) said we could only insure one house as a primary residence and warned us they were going to cancel the old house, since we were living in the new one.
We negotiated with our agent, and the solution was to insure the old house with a home-owners-renters policy, which protected the house no matter who lived in it. The policy did not cover someone elses contents, it did cover the house and any damage for XXX number of reasons, including vandalism from the renter. Yes, the premium was higher, but we had no choice.
Meanwhile, we had the problem with the first house as it sat empty. The house still had a mortgage on it, so we had to carry insurance.
Solution? We let our adult son live in the house free. His only requirement was to pay his own utilities, which we kept in our name, but he paid. We never told the insurance company anything different, until the house sold under a land contract agreement, and then everything turned into a nightmare. (but that is another story.)
If you have someone that can live in the house, who you trust, that is really the best option.
Edit:
I just remember... we used the same insurance company for both houses. But (AllState) said we could only insure one house as a primary residence and warned us they were going to cancel the old house, since we were living in the new one.
We negotiated with our agent, and the solution was to insure the old house with a home-owners-renters policy, which protected the house no matter who lived in it. The policy did not cover someone elses contents, it did cover the house and any damage for XXX number of reasons, including vandalism from the renter. Yes, the premium was higher, but we had no choice.
