Home insurance after a death: covering an empty property during probate
Why cover is often restricted once a house is empty after a death, and how executors keep a probate property insured until it is sold or transferred.
Why does the insurer need to know about the death?
The insurer needs to know because a home policy is priced and worded on the basis of who lives in the house and how it is used, and a death usually changes both, sometimes within days. MoneyHelper's guidance on what to do when someone dies suggests telling insurers as soon as you have the death certificate, or within a month of the death, which is a sensible target for home cover in particular because any unoccupancy clause may already be counting.
The person who makes contact is normally the executor named in the will, or whoever expects to apply for letters of administration if there is no will, whilst a surviving joint policyholder who still lives in the house can usually make the call themselves. You do not need to wait for the grant of probate, although the insurer may ask to see it before it will cancel the policy.
Delay can be expensive. In one published ombudsman decision a family visited their late mother's house regularly but nobody slept there, and when a pipe burst in the loft a little over two months after the death the insurer declined the claim under a 60-day unoccupancy exclusion. The ombudsman found that fair, partly because the insurer had never been told that the policyholder had died.
What happens to home insurance after a death?
The existing policy does not necessarily stop on the day of the death, but what happens next depends on whose name it is in and whether anyone is still living in the house. Where the policy is in joint names and the surviving policyholder carries on living there, the usual step is to ask the insurer to update the policy. Where the person who died was the only policyholder, the estate deals with it, and insurers vary in their approach. In one ombudsman decision the insurer kept cover running in the executor's name until renewal because the home was still occupied, whereas in another the insurer would not cancel the cover until it had seen the grant of probate, which the ombudsman considered reasonable because acting without confirmed authority could have harmed the estate.
If you do not know who the insurer is, there is no central register to search. The Association of British Insurers' guide to home insurance suggests looking through bank and card statements for payments to an insurer, or giving a likely insurer the relevant personal details and postcode so that it can trace the policy, and our guide to direct debits and standing orders after a death explains what happens to regular payments like these once the bank knows.
How do unoccupancy clauses restrict cover?
Most home policies cut back cover once the house has been left empty for a set period, which the ABI says is often 30 or 60 days and the Financial Ombudsman Service's page on unoccupied properties describes as usually one of those two figures, although the period that counts is whatever the policy wording says. The Ombudsman explains that the cover typically withdrawn includes theft or attempted theft, malicious damage and escape of water, so a policy that still looks live may not pay out for the events an executor is most likely to worry about.
Many policies do not define "unoccupied" at all, and where they do the wording varies, because some measure it from the last night someone regularly slept in the house and others from the last time it was lived in. Where the term is left undefined, the Ombudsman says it may treat a house as occupied if it was visited reasonably often, and separately it usually expects an insurer to pay for damage within the first 30 days of a house being empty. It is much less sympathetic where a property has been abandoned or neglected to the point of attracting unwanted attention, which is why regular visits matter even when the policy says little about them.
What do insurers ask executors to do with an empty house?
Insurers that agree to cover an empty house usually attach conditions, and published ombudsman decisions involving executors give a sense of the kind of terms to expect, although every policy differs:
Regular inspections: one executors' policy required an inside and outside inspection at least every 30 days, recorded in a central log, whilst another required a thorough visit at least once a week.
Heating, draining and supplies: several policies required the heating to be kept at a minimum temperature, at least over the winter months (15°C in some, 10°C in others), some allowed the water to be turned off at the mains and the system drained instead, and one also required the supplies to be turned off at the mains.
Claims turn on evidence. In one decision the executors' water damage claim failed because their visit log did not record what had been checked and weather records meant the ombudsman could not accept that the house had stayed at 15°C with the heating off, and in another a two-week gap in visits and low gas usage on the bills meant the insurer's refusal stood. By contrast, an ombudsman upheld a complaint where the executors' representative had run the heating and visited every few days, finding that a layperson would not necessarily realise that the mains supply to the loft tank was a separate system from the heating.
Some of these conditions sit awkwardly with general advice. Our guide to energy and water bills in a property the person owned suggests keeping the heating on low and the water connected over winter, which is sound where the policy allows it, but if the policy requires the system to be drained instead, follow the policy and ask the insurer to confirm in writing what it accepts, because any claim will be judged against the policy wording.
Do you need unoccupied home insurance during probate?
If the house is going to stand empty for longer than the existing policy allows, you will usually need either the current insurer's written agreement to continue cover on stated terms or a separate unoccupied property policy, which is sometimes sold as probate, executor or empty property insurance. Executors and administrators in England and Wales have a power under section 19 of the Trustee Act 1925 to insure estate property against loss or damage and to pay the premiums from the estate, and GOV.UK describes them as legally responsible for the estate's property from the date of death until it is passed on.
Unoccupied property policies vary in their conditions as well as their price, so compare the inspection and heating requirements alongside the premium and be realistic about how often someone can visit, because a condition you cannot keep gives the estate very little protection. The ABI's guidance lists brokers alongside insurers and comparison sites as ways to compare cover.
Where there is still a mortgage, the lender has an interest too. MoneyHelper's guide to shopping for home insurance notes that lenders insist on buildings insurance for a mortgaged freehold home, so tell the lender what cover is in place when you tell it about the death, and our guide to what happens to a joint mortgage when one partner dies covers that conversation. If the home is leasehold, MoneyHelper says the freeholder is most likely to be responsible for arranging the buildings insurance, in which case the estate may mainly need to think about contents.
What about contents and valuables left in the house?
Contents are often the more exposed part of an empty house, because theft and malicious damage are among the risks most policies restrict after the unoccupancy period. The practical answer is to reduce what is at risk, so once the executor is satisfied it is appropriate, move jewellery, cash, important documents and anything of sentimental value somewhere safe, and keep a dated list and photographs of what stays behind, which will also help when the estate is valued.
The ABI's general advice applies here too, because underestimating the value of what is left can leave the estate underinsured if there is a claim, whilst overestimating it simply raises the premium. If the house is being cleared in stages, tell the insurer as the contents change, because the ABI warns that failing to tell an insurer about changes could invalidate the policy.
How do you make a claim or complain about an empty property?
If something goes wrong, contact the insurer straight away, because most run 24-hour emergency lines that can advise on what to do first. The ABI suggests arranging temporary repairs to stop further damage and keeping the receipts, and not throwing damaged items away unless they are a health hazard, whilst photographing anything that has to go and keeping a sample of any damaged carpet or fabric. For an empty property, have your visit log and energy bills ready as well, because the decisions described above show how closely the policy conditions are examined.
If the insurer declines the claim and you disagree, complain to the insurer first. It has up to eight weeks to send its final response, and if you are unhappy with that response, or nothing has arrived after eight weeks, you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of the date on the final response. The Ombudsman's guide to complaining explains the process, which is free. Published decisions show that when an executor complains about the person's policy the estate is treated as the complainant, so any award goes to the estate and cannot cover the executor's own distress.
How long will the house need cover, and what else does it cost?
The house needs cover until it is sold or transferred to a beneficiary, which is often one of the last steps in the estate, and our guide to how long probate takes in the UK sets out realistic timescales so you can plan for cover lasting months rather than weeks. When you arrange cover, ask how it can be extended if the sale takes longer than expected, so that the estate is not left uninsured near the end.
Insurance is one of several running costs on an empty home. GOV.UK says no council tax is payable on an empty home whilst probate is awaited, and that an exemption may continue for up to six months after the grant if the house stays empty and is still owned by the person who died, although the rules are different in Scotland. Our guide to council tax when someone dies explains how to claim it, and the energy guide above covers the standing charges that carry on in an empty house.
If the person rented their home, the building is the landlord's to insure, and the Housing Ombudsman's guidance notes that residents are usually only responsible for insuring their own contents. In that case the estate's concern is the person's belongings and bringing the tenancy to an end, which our guide to what happens to a tenancy when someone dies explains.
What to do next
Find the policy documents, or check bank statements for payments to an insurer if there is no paperwork.
Tell the insurer about the death, say whether anyone is living in the house, and ask exactly when its unoccupancy terms start to apply.
Get any agreement to continue cover, and its conditions, in writing, or arrange an unoccupied property policy before the existing period runs out.
Set up a routine of visits that meets the conditions, and keep a dated log of each visit and what was checked.
Follow the policy's heating or draining requirement over winter, and keep the energy bills as evidence.
Move valuables somewhere safe, and photograph what remains in the house.
Tell the mortgage lender, if there is one, what cover is in place, and ask the council about the empty home exemption.
The insurer is rarely the only company tied to the house, because the energy supplier, the water company, the broadband provider and the phone company usually hold accounts in the person's name as well, and each of them has to be told separately before the accounts can be closed or moved into the estate's name. If you would rather not contact them one by one, Legacy Trail's free notification service can let them know on your behalf when you're ready, which leaves you free to concentrate on the house itself.
Frequently asked questions
The premiums are an estate expense, so they come out of the person's money rather than the executor's own. In England and Wales, section 19 of the Trustee Act 1925 gives personal representatives the power to insure estate property and pay the premiums from the estate. If an executor pays before estate money is available, keeping the receipts makes it straightforward to show the cost in the estate accounts.
It depends on the policy wording, but the Association of British Insurers says cover is often restricted after 30 or 60 days, and the Financial Ombudsman Service describes the same two periods as usual. Some policies count from the last night anyone slept there rather than the last visit, so a house that is checked every day can still count as unoccupied. Ask the insurer which definition applies and when its count started.
Not necessarily on the day itself, and insurers handle it differently, with some continuing cover in the executor's name and others asking for the grant of probate before they make changes. What usually changes is the risk, because once nobody is living there the unoccupancy terms begin to count. Telling the insurer promptly is the surest way to know where the estate stands.
Start with the existing insurer, which may agree to continue cover on conditions such as regular inspections and a minimum heating temperature. If it will not, or the house will be empty for longer than it allows, a specialist unoccupied property policy taken out by the executors is the main alternative, and a broker can help where cover is hard to find. Whichever route you choose, keep the conditions in writing along with records that show you met them.
Yes, and the usual time to do it is once the house has been sold or transferred, although the insurer may want to see the grant of probate or letters of administration before it accepts instructions from the estate. In one published decision the Financial Ombudsman Service found that reasonable, because cancelling without confirmed authority could have left the estate exposed. It makes sense to keep the old policy running until any replacement cover has started, so that the house is never uninsured.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.