Before you go
Leaving your home vacant? Read your insurance policy first.
Vacancy and extended-absence conditions are ordinary, common, and almost never read. They are also the cheapest problem on this entire site to fix — one phone call.
The pattern
What commonly changes when a property sits empty
Most Canadian policies distinguish between a property that is unoccupied — nobody living there, but temporarily, with belongings still in place — and one that is vacant, where the occupants have moved out with no intention of returning.
Many restrict or exclude specific perils once a property is considered vacant beyond a defined period, often around thirty days. The coverages affected first are usually the ones most likely to be needed: water damage, vandalism, theft and glass breakage.
Separately, many policies impose conditions during any extended heating-season absence — maintain heat, or shut off and drain the water, sometimes with a required check interval.
None of this is unusual or unfair. What is unusual is an owner who has read it.
“What requirements apply when my home is vacant or unoccupied?”
Then work through the list below. Get the answers in writing — a broker’s email is a document, a phone conversation is a memory.
- How does my policy define “vacant”? How does it define “unoccupied”?
- Given my dates, which category applies to my situation?
- After how many days do restrictions begin?
- Exactly which coverages are restricted or excluded at that point?
- What conditions must I meet during the absence?
- If heat must be maintained, what minimum temperature is specified?
- If the water must be shut off, does it also have to be drained?
- Does the policy require the property to be checked? How often?
- Does the policy specify who may perform those checks?
- Must I notify you of the absence, in what form, and by when?
- Is a vacancy permit or endorsement available, and appropriate here?
- Does my plumbing type, heating type or a rental suite change any of this?
- Will you confirm all of this by email?
Why it matters
This is the only risk on this site that is purely administrative.
The failure mode
This is the only risk on this list that is purely administrative, and it is the one most likely to turn a covered loss into an uncovered one. It costs nothing to resolve except a phone call before leaving.
- Call your insurer or broker before an extended absence and ask specifically what conditions apply to your policy.
- Ask what your policy defines as vacant and unoccupied, and at what point restrictions begin.
- Ask whether there is a required check interval and who is required to perform it.
- Ask whether you need to notify them of the absence, and get the answer in writing.
- Keep documentation of property checks — an organised record helps, though no service can guarantee any claim outcome.
Guides
Read further
Vacant and Unoccupied Home Insurance in Alberta
How Canadian policies treat vacancy and extended absence, what conditions commonly apply, and the questions to put to your broker.
The Questions to Ask Your Insurer Before You Leave
A short, printable list of the specific questions that determine what your policy requires during an extended absence.
Vacant vs Unoccupied: What the Difference Actually Means
Two words insurers use differently, and why which one applies to your property changes what is covered.
Insurance questions
What does my insurance require when my home is vacant?
We cannot tell you, and neither can any home-watch company — that answer lives in your specific policy, and it varies substantially between insurers and between products.
What we can tell you is what to ask. Call your insurer or broker before you leave and ask these questions specifically: What does my policy define as vacant, and as unoccupied? At what point do restrictions begin? Which coverages are affected? Are there conditions I must meet during an extended absence — maintaining heat at a specified temperature, shutting off and draining the water supply, or having the property checked at a stated interval? If checks are required, how often, and does the policy specify who may perform them? Do I need to notify you that the property will be empty?
Get the answers in writing. An email from your broker confirming the requirements is worth having if a claim is ever made.
A common pattern in Canadian policies is a requirement to either maintain heat during the heating season or shut off and drain the water supply, sometimes paired with a required check interval. But that is a pattern, not your policy. Ask.
VacantHomes.ca provides documented property visits that give you an organised record of monitoring. We do not represent that any service, or any visit frequency, satisfies any policy condition — that determination is between you and your insurer.
Will a home watch service satisfy my insurance requirements?
That is entirely for your insurer to determine, and any company that tells you otherwise is making a promise it has no standing to make.
Some policies require checks by a "competent person" at a defined interval and do not specify further. Others are more prescriptive. Some require no checks at all provided water is shut off and drained. Whether a particular service meets a particular condition is a question for the insurer who wrote the policy.
What a documented service does provide is evidence: dated, photographed records of when the property was attended and what was observed. If your policy requires checks, having a record that they happened is materially better than asserting it afterwards.
Before you rely on any arrangement, confirm the requirement with your broker and tell them what you have arranged. If it matters to your coverage, get their confirmation in writing.
Do I need to tell my insurer I am going away?
Quite possibly, and it costs nothing to ask.
Many policies require notification if a property will be unoccupied beyond a defined period. Some require it in writing. Failing to notify where notification is required can affect how a claim is handled.
For short absences — a two-week holiday — notification is generally not required under most policies. For extended absences of a month or more, and particularly for a full snowbird season, it is worth a call regardless of whether you think it is required.
The conversation is short. Tell them how long you will be away, when, whether anyone will be attending the property, and what arrangements you have made for heat and water. Ask them to confirm in writing what conditions apply.
Important
VacantHomes.ca is not an insurer, insurance broker, agent or adjuster, and provides no insurance advice. Nothing on this page is a statement about your policy. Insurers word vacancy provisions differently and only your own policy governs your situation. We make no representation that any service, or any visit frequency, satisfies any policy condition or that any documentation will be accepted by any insurer for any purpose.
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