VHIN Finds House-sitting is Cause Of Confusion About Homeowners Insurance Coverage
Online, September 11, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Vacant Home Insurance Now, a leading specialty company providing insurance to empty and unoccupied homes and buildings worldwide, has found that a major cause of confusion surrounding homeowners' insurance policies concerns "house-sitting" while the family is away. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people leave their home for over 3 months, and ask a friend, relative, or a neighbor to live in the house while the owners are gone.
"I can assure you that the homeowner that lets the neighbors college kid live in the house is usually taking a much bigger risk than a rug destroyed by a party," says Matthew McKinley the president of Vacant Home Insurance Now. Matthew goes on to explain that most homeowners do not realize that in most of these situations a special type of homeowners insurance policy needs to be taken out on the property called a landlord policy. These policies are also called landlord - tenant policies, and tenant - boarder policies.
Most people think these policies are reserved for actual landlords operating for-profit businesses with tenants. Mr. McKinley says that this is not the case. "If the owner and the immediate family are away for a certain period of time, 3 months or more in some cases. And, someone not part of the immediate family is living in the house, a tenant or boarder insurance policy needs to be put on the home or the home may be exposed to catastrophic risk and not be covered under a standard homeowners insurance policy."
Mr. McKinley goes on to explain the fact that "with many insurers in many states, you may still need a specialty tenant or boarder insurance policy even if you have an immediate extended family member living in the house, like a cousin, as insurance laws vary from state to state. A good rule of thumb to stand by is if your home is not being occupied my members if your immediate family, you should at the very least contact your homeowners insurance company to see if coverage will still exist."
If the home is not being occupied by any members of the immediate family, homeowners are strongly advised to contact their agent and / or insurance company to see if the current homeowners' insurance policy is adequate, and to uncover potential problems. In most cases where the family will be away for over 90 days, a tenant / boarder policy will most likely be required or coverage on the home can be lost.