There are very few underwriters who will offer quotations for unoccupied property insurance. Main-stream insurers are often loathe to accept cover for empty buildings due to the far higher hazards they present.

If you have inherited a property, or are purchasing a second home which will be empty for a short time before you are ready to move in, we would advise that you first contact your existing home insurers. Quality underwriters will usually be prepared to offer at least temporary cover for empty buildings, for their existing clients.

We can provide cover with a select number of insurers in the UK, specifically the ever flexible Lloyds market. Because of the increased risk, only limited cover is available and this sometimes means perils are restricted to Fire, Lightning and Explosion only.

Ferguson Green have access to these underwriters and have turned the difficult task of obtaining quotations that most customers face, into a straightforward process. Indeed, quotations for most unoccupied residential properties are available immediately.

For the larger residential and commercial properties, quotations can be obtained from the Lloyds underwriting room or other specialist underwriters and usually obtained within 5 working days.

Apart from the core covers available under a standard property insurance, there are several sections not always included as standard and it is important to consider the following:

Day 1 inflation protection
Protects you against large inflationary increases over a period of time. If your building is a considerable construction, it may take a great deal of time before it can be re-built. Over a period of two or three years, the original estimate for re-building cost may have increased dramatically. This cover is not usually automatic to most policies and should always be considered.
 
Terrorism
Terrorist events are fortunately relatively infrequent, although insurers now exclude it completely from cover.
Terrorism cover is available via your property insurer, underwritten through the Government initiative, 'Pool Re'. Cover is not selective however and if you require terrorism cover for a single property, Pool Re stipulate that it must also be purchased for all your properties.

Terrorism cover is also available independently through certain Lloyd's underwriters
 
 
Employers liability
This section is occasionally overlooked by property owners and it is the main section available under a property policy that is specifically required by law. If you don't employ anyone, then naturally you don't need to worry about it. Employment law however, can be quite complicated and there are many circumstances where you are considered to be the employer, even when using contractors. See www.hse.gov.uk