How long can you leave your home empty and stay covered?

A summer away can run past the number of days some policies allow a home to stand empty.

What counts as an unoccupied home?

A home no one is living in. Liva defines unoccupied as “Not lived in by any member of your household or by any other person with your permission”.¹ GIG Gulf’s definition is the same idea with a time limit built in: not lived in “for more than 60 consecutive days”.² QIC’s 2016 wording uses “more than 45 consecutive days”.³

A friend or relative who stays with your permission keeps the home occupied under Liva’s and GIG Gulf’s wording.

Which covers stop when the home is empty too long?

Fire, storm and flood are not in these lists of empty-home exclusions in either wording.¹²

Can you extend the limit?

Ask before you go. GIG Gulf’s handbook says: “Inform us if your home is to be left unoccupied for more than 60 consecutive days for which an additional premium may be required if we agree to extend the unoccupancy period.”² Sukoon’s Home Umbrella page offers “Continued protection, even if your home is left unoccupied for up to 60 days a year.”⁴

Count your days away with the empty-home day counter. It counts from the day you leave to the day someone sleeps there again.

What should you do before a long trip?

• Find the unoccupancy limit in your wording, and count the days you will be away.
• If you will be over it, write to the insurer and keep its reply.
• Turn off the main water supply where you can. Escape of water is excluded once the limit is passed.
• Take valuables to a bank safe deposit box. Liva’s temporary removal cover pays for contents moved “for cleaning, renovation, repair or other similar purposes” to places that include “A bank safe deposit” in the UAE, up to 20% of the contents sum insured. Ask Liva whether items moved there while you travel count.¹
• Ask someone you trust to stay over or visit. A person living there with your permission keeps the home occupied in Liva’s definition.¹