In Port Charlotte, many of our residents are “Snow-Birds,” and spend only part of the year in South Florida. There are also many property owners who own non-occupied homes here in Florida.

What most of us do not understand is that the insurance requirements for a vacant home are different than an occupied home. When a home becomes vacant, a standard homeowners policy may give the insurer the right to cancel mid-term, lower coverage levels, or even deny a claim.

As a result, any damages or losses that occur would have to be paid out of pocket. For these times, unoccupied and vacant home insurance products offer coverage for claims that would otherwise go unpaid by your home insurance company.

Unoccupied and vacant homes present a greater insurance risk than occupied homes for many reasons, including slower emergency response times and the increased probability of a break-in occurring.

For example, assuming there were fires on the premises of two homes—an occupied home and a vacant home—the fire taking place at the former would, in theory, result in lesser damage since it would likely be reported first by its inhabitants and would be put out more quickly.

The increased insurance risk associated with unoccupied and vacant homes has resulted in insurance companies’ excluding these properties in standard property insurance policies. As a result, homeowners who want coverage for an empty or uninhabited home need to consider unoccupied or vacant home insurance.