Best insurance for unoccupied rental property

A 2024 ombudsman decision concerned landlords whose property had an escape of water shortly after the tenant moved out. It stood empty from 30 December to 23 January. The policy's product information document mentioned a 30-day unoccupancy exclusion. The booklet took away cover for some damage once the property had not been lived in for more than 14 days in a row, unless the landlord inspected inside and out at least once every seven days and kept a written record, among other conditions. The ombudsman found the terms unclear and told the insurer to accept the claim. If the two documents give different numbers, ask the insurer which one applies before the property empties.

Not every definition counts days. One policy on a let property, quoted in a 2025 decision, treated the property as unoccupied if it was insufficiently furnished for normal occupation, or if it was furnished and had not been lived in for more than 30 consecutive days. An unfurnished let can meet the first half of that test the day the outgoing tenant's furniture leaves.

In a decision about a holiday let, a managing agent had inspected the property three times in the weeks before a leak, and the ombudsman still accepted that it was vacant under the policy's 30-day wording. The insurer was told to settle anyway, because the leak came from a pipe that suddenly pulled out of its fitting days after the last check, and the insurer had known a holiday let would have empty spells. The ombudsman added that a frozen pipe might have led to a different answer. Under that wording, the visits protected the property but did not count as anyone living in it.

In a 2025 decision, the check-out report at the end of a tenancy recorded brown water staining on a ceiling, and the landlords did not tell their insurer until more than two months later. The ombudsman held that the insurer was wrong to rely on its unoccupancy clause, as the evidence suggested one of the landlords had slept there inside the policy's 60-day window. The claim could still be declined, because the damage was reported late and earlier notice would probably have limited it. Read the check-out report the day it arrives and tell the insurer about anything that could become a claim.

Conditions written for an empty house can clash with re-letting it. In the 14-day case above, the letting agent told the insurer the water had been left on because viewings were taking place. Agree with your agent who turns the water off again after a viewing or a clean, and who records each visit in the inspection log.

An empty house attracts trespassers. In England and Wales the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984 can make an occupier owe a duty of care to people other than visitors, where the occupier is aware of a danger or has reasonable grounds to believe it exists, and has reason to believe someone may come near it, among other conditions. Squatting in a residential building is a criminal offence there under section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. That does not undo damage done before the squatters leave, so check how the policy treats malicious damage once the property is past its unoccupancy limit.