Rental Property Insurance

[Sean Tift]

We purchased our first rental property in September 2019 in Indianapolis. It took about a month to get the property  "rent ready". Once the home went officially on the rental market, we had a slow start and did not get it rented right away. At this point it was fall and then the holiday came along, which further delayed putting tenants in place. A lease was finally signed in on January 10th. The next day, our property manager went into the home for touch up cleaning and discovered a break in and theft of some appliances and damage to the HVAC.

With damages slightly over our deductible amount, we decided to file an insurance claim. We were very surprised to learn that our insurance company would not cover damages related to theft if the property was vacant for 60 consecutive days prior to the break in. Is this a common stipulation for most insurance companies out there? Has anybody had a similar experience? 

[Kenneth Garrett]

@Sean Tift

I use State Farm they have the same rule.  It makes it difficult when you have to rehab a  property, in that case, they will not insure a vacant property.  I have to go to my insurance broker for the vacant policy.  If the property is vacant for more than 60 days you need to  contact your agent to see what options you have in case something happens like a fire.