How to insure your UK property as a British ex-pat

While there are many reasons a person may find themselves living abroad everyone with a property back home in the UK is faced with the same problem: what to do with it and how best to protect it? For many expatriates the solution is to sell the property, but for many others this is not the best solution as this is, after all, their home and they intend to return to it in due course.

Another option would be to let the property out. This can be a particularly attractive option for people who’ll be working abroad for a fixed period or those who’ve taken time out to do some travelling. It means the property continues to be lived in and can provide a valuable source of extra income. If a person is worried about their personal belongings there’s always the option of putting this into storage.

But what if you want to use the property as often as you can when you’re back in the UK, so it isn’t possible to let the property out? If letting the property out is impractical for this or another reason it’s possible to shut off the services to the property; the electricity and water and secure it with locks until you return. However in this case the property will be left unoccupied and this could cause a problem for your insurance company.

In fact, there are a couple of areas an insurer may need more information for a policy for an expatriate and you may need to enlist the services of a specialist provider. First, they may want to know about your citizenship status and the countries you hold passports for. Second, they may want to know which country you’re currently domiciled in as there may be restrictions on which countries they’re able to cover. Finally, they may also want to know how the property is being used, so whether it’s unoccupied, let, or there is some other arrangement in place, for example a house sitter.

Whatever your situation, Intasure may be able to help if you find yourself living abroad and want to insure a property in the UK. We’ve experience of dealing with similar situations and would be happy to discuss any requirements over the phone.

*The opinions and views expressed in the above articles are those of the author only and are for guidance purposes only. The authors disclaim any liability for reliance upon those opinions and would encourage readers to rely upon more than one source before making a decision based on the information.