I own 2 houses. One I live in and one a vacation house. Vacation house is called “The Red House”, it is red!
No insurance on the Red House. I don’t live there and it seems you can’t have affordable insurance on an unocupied house.
So the problem is this: if I let someone stay at the Red House and they are injured by a fall on the steps or if the old fuse box shocks them, I have no insurance to cover this. Can they sue and take my main house? Am I asking for trouble to let my friends or friends of friends use the Red House? Is there a difference if I rent or not?
Everything can be a risk but am I taking more of a risk than I know?
YMMV but my homeowners insurance has a blanket liability rider of some sort attached to it. IF I get sued for pretty much anything that happens there is a small amount (like $10,000 limit) that my homeowners will cover for pretty much anything that is my financial responsibility. If you insurance has such a rider, it could cover something like this, your insurance agent is probably the best person to discuss this with. You may also wat to look more into a full service insurance provider if you have an el cheapo policy that might not be giving you what you need.
You could also get reductions in price for not covering contents and such. So if someone cleaned out all the furniture you’re SOL, but if it burned down, they would replace it.
I am an insurance agent in NY State. The way it works here is that if you own a home in which you do not reside, but someone else does, the policy you need is a Landlord’s policy. It makes no difference to the insurance company whether you’re renting to them or they’re living there for free. It’s still non-owner occupied. You could also choose to carry what’s called a Seasonal Dwelling policy on your vacation house, this is generally less expensive that an unoccupied policy.
In the case of no insurance, they may file a claim against your main homeowner’s policy, assuming that you do have one. In the event of no insurance on that property as well, they could sue you to recoup the costs of being injured.
