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House Insurance and options
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House is up for sale but market a bollix. Still plenty of time before departure next year but thinking about fall back positions. First is to rent it out, second is to find a house sitter, third is to make some arrangement with friends/daughters but insurance policy says serious reduction in cover if house unoccupied for more than 60 days - any ideas/helpful insurance out there?
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Re: House Insurance and options
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I can remember the 60 day issue being discussed in depth on ybw a few years ago. The consensus was that a relation/friend/helpful person, came and lived in the house for a weekend within each 60 day period, and made sure the stay was documented so you can prove it later if necessary.
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Re: House Insurance and options
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When Mother in Law's house was empty and up for sale for over a year, the insurance company were happy that the place was visited and checked once a week. We just paid a friendly neighbour to keep an eye open, visit weekly and fill in a log book when they visited. Their terms probably depends on the postcode.
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Re: House Insurance and options
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Hi ya, just a quick mention, if you still have a mortgage your current bank may not allow you to continue your current mortgage if your gonna let/rent it out. I just looked into that with my bank (First Direct) and they told me i would have to change my mortgage.
Mick
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PlanB
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(regular)
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06/06/2008 09:30
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Re: House Insurance and options
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I had a mortgage with Portman (now part of Nationwide). I told them I was letting and they just imposed a 1% surcharge, which is normal. There were also a couple of conditions about length/type of tenancy etc.
If renting is an acceptable solution to you, and the rent covers the mortgage, in my view it's a good idea as you keep a foothold in the UK market.
PM me if I can give more info.
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Re: House Insurance and options
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Fortunately no mortgage.
Anyone want to buy my house - it's got great views over the North Channel to Ailsa Craig and the Scottish coast. Lovely garden that's easy to maintain. 
The weekly check and logbook sounds good as this could work - we would need someone to give it the occasional dust, cut the grass etc. I'll discuss with insurance company if all else fails.
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Re: House Insurance and options
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We looked at this a couple of years ago. Insurers took differing views depending on whether you were insuring just the building or building and contents. Many are reasonably relaxed if just the building eg a weekly check from another local etc. However, if you want contents cover then they are much stricter. The best we found was a requirement for a recorded overnight stay by a friend/relative during the 45 or 60 day period that the policy specified. They did not seem to mind who it was. However, there is also the question of would you want to leave you house and contents unsupervised for very long periods? Personally I would not.
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Re: House Insurance and options
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I know someone who seems to have found quite a neat solution. Rather than rent the house to a family at a 'whole house' rent, he has rented to a single person who occupies one bedroom (and has use of the rest of the house) at a single person rent. The single person is delighted to have the whole house to himself and in return mows grass etc. So the house is occupied without the nuisance of having a family move in with all their belongings, and there is the bonus of having some money coming in.
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Re: House Insurance and options
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Now I like that solution. Many thanks
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PlanB
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(regular)
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08/06/2008 08:21
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Re: House Insurance and options
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Don't forget to check your insurance policy to see if it covers you renting out your house or having it lived in by a friend. And your mortgage terms probably require you to tell your lender.
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