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Most Park Homeowners insure their Park Homes with one of the several specialist companies on a NEW FOR OLD basis which means that should the unthinkable happen and their home is damaged beyond repair by fire, flood etc., it will be replaced by new. But what happens if the home is left unoccupied for any length of time, perhaps whilst up for sale? Does the same cover continue?
It is an unfortunate fact, unfortunate and very often devastating for the homeowner, that due mainly to the dubious practices of unscrupulous park owners blocking the homeowners right to sell, park homes can remain unsold and unoccupied for many months even years. It may be that the homeowner has died or has through ill health had to move into sheltered accommodation or simply moved into other accommodation and placed the home on the market, whatever the reason the home is left unoccupied.
From information we have received it appears that at least one of the major Park Home Insurance Companies have included certain endorsements in their Policy which drastically reduce the cover once the home is unoccupied as follows…….
(1)…..New for Old cover amended to Indemnity basis which means that in the event of a total loss of the park home the insurers will only pay out the unsited value of the home including the cost of site clearance. This means if the home before it was totally lost was valued and insured at say £100,000 the actual payout received by the park homeowner would probably be about £2,000 off site value.
(2)….. Valuables including TV sets, computers, jewellery and other personal possessions are excluded from cover.
(3)…… Insurer will not pay for loss or damage……
“(i)….by fire caused by malicious persons.
(ii)…by fire from unexplained or unknown causes.
(iii)…caused by willful fire raising.
(iv)….caused by malicious persons or vandals.
(v)…. Caused by escape of water and oil.
(vi)…Caused by theft from the home unless involving forcible and violent entry to or exit from the home.
(vii)….caused accidentally
(viii)….to plumbing installations”
A cynic would surely question why these conditions need to be imposed. A sign of the times perhaps?
A further condition is that “whenever the home is not lived in for 72 consecutive hours or more it should be inspected at least every 7 days”
It would appear that from the above the homeowner is being severely penalised for circumstances far beyond his control in that it is most likely that the home is standing empty because, despite the homeowners efforts to sell their own or their late relatives home, they will have been repeatedly prevented from selling by the actions of the unscrupulous park owner who stands to benefit from their misfortune. It would be interesting to know if these same restrictions concerning the insurance imposed on the homeowners unoccupied homes also apply to the unoccupied homes, both new and second hand, owned by the site owner, whilst they remain unsold for long periods?????
If you or any of your fellow park homeowners have encountered similar exclusion clauses being added to your insurance cover or have had difficulty obtaining insurance cover for your home due to it being empty or due to its age, please let PHRAA know. All information passed to PHRAA treated as confidential.
Compiled for PHRAA by Ron Joyce. General Secretary. August 2007.
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