Do you have a home or rental property that you own but currently is vacant? You might think this means that you don’t need to worry about getting home insurance online for your old home since it’s currently sitting empty, but you would be very wrong. According to the Insurance Information Institute, there are a variety of reasons why it’s still very important to have insurance for a home even if it’s currently unoccupied.If you buy a new home and move before your old home is sold, this could mean that your previous house might sit vacant for months. Getting home insurance quotes and coverage on your new home won’t carry over to your old residence. Unoccupied homes are ripe for a vast array of damages, including theft. There has been an epidemic of vacant homes being burglarized and “stripped” of all metal objects from fixtures to copper wiring, leading to many state and local governments enacting laws on the resale of metal. A vacant home also runs the risk of incurring other damages such as burst pipes, broken windows from vandalism or wind damage or fire.

For this reason, it’s important to continue your coverage on your home, even if you aren’t living there anymore. Some insurance companies will provide “vacant home insurance” on residences that are going to be left unoccupied for more than 30 days. Factors that determine the cost of premiums on these types of insurance policies include if there is a person stopping by to monitor the house, the neighborhood the house is in, if there are burglar alarms installed and if the house has been winterized if it is in a colder market. You can check your current policy for vacant home insurance provisions or search for free home insurance quotes through a site like HomeInsuranceQuotes.us.