Assets

Assets

We recognise there is a fundamental need to secure your business critical assets, from vacant land, development sites and compounds, to plant, materials and fuel. As a leading provider of sustainable security, we are perfectly positioned to secure, monitor and protect your valuable assets.

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Why should your empty property be insurance compliant?

Significant evidence exists to confirm that the likelihood of damage to, or injury from an empty property is very high even if the property is only temporarily vacant, such as it would be prior to sale or refurbishment. Therefore, it’s important to know about vacant property insurance and how to achieve compliance.

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vacant property insurance
vacant property insurance

Mitigate Risks and Protect your Assets with Clearway

Clearway’s suite of fully insurance-compliant products and services, including loss prevention works, are designed to mitigate any risks and retain the full value of your assets.

vacant property insurance

The need for vacant property insurance

In the UK alone there are around 9000 fires each year in empty buildings. In addition, property is damaged, contents or fixtures are stolen and the properties or land are victim to vandalism, fly tipping and illegal occupation by squatters or travellers. Water damage is a further concern particularly where maintenance and repairs are inadequate.

Property owners have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of third parties entering the premises, whether they are employees, estate agents, surveyors, buyers, tradespeople or trespassers, and even children who decide to use the property as a playground.

In assessing the risk to your particular property (or properties) all major vacant property insurance providers look for the following:

Locality

  • What is crime like in the area?
  • Who is the site likely to attract? e.g. youths, vagrants or squatters
  • Is the site secluded or isolated?
  • What is in place to deter access or entry? e.g. lights, fencing, nearby occupancy

Management

  • Make someone responsible for each premises
  • Ensure each premises is routinely inspected
  • Remove graffiti and posters
  • Record and control the issue of keys
  • Ensure all utility services (gas, water, electricity) are turned off and/or drained-down
  • Keep the site looking like its being cared-for and maintained
  • Correct type and value of Unoccupied Premises insurance is in place
vacant property insurance

Security

  • Ensure perimeter fences/gates are in good order
  • All doors, windows and any other accessible openings (roof hatches, skylights) are protected and secured
  • Replace all locks and account for all keys (vacant property insurance requirement)
  • An approved intruder alarm is installed, working and maintained
  • A mobile security guarding service is in place
  • All rubbish and other combustible items, both internally and externally are removed
  • Any new rubbish dumped/fly-tipped is regularly removed
  • The property’s letterbox is secured in the closed position
  • Existing sprinkler systems should be operational and correctly working
  • Existing fire alarm should be in full working order

Regular property inspections provide advanced warning of any vulnerabilities before significant issues arise. A full report will assist the property owner in complying with relevant insurance requirements.

We provide a comprehensive, professional and regular vacant property inspection service designed specifically to help ensure your property is, and remains, insurance compliant.

Clearway building

Why Clearway?

Clearway is a vacant property security expert with extensive knowledge and understanding of the importance of being compliant with insurance conditions, ensuring your empty site, unit or residence is suitably and legally protected.

Our risk assessors can provide independent guidance about elements of your vacant property likely to cause an issue should you need to make a claim. This is particularly relevant where empty buildings are exposed to high risks of theft, illegal entry, squatters, environmental damage or arson.

We provide the complete range of services, from bespoke advice on securing your vacant property against specific threats to scheduled regular inspections to help you retain the highest levels of condition and protection against break-ins.

Where risk levels or the property condition has changed, and this is expected to have a material impact on your insurance coverage, we can recommend adaptations to improve compliance and potentially reduce the cost of vacant property insurance premiums.

Clearway Property inspections

Related Services

Along with vacant property insurance compliant services, Clearway boast a broad range of effective security services and installations, either as required by your insurance provider or to ensure that your property qualifies for particular levels of coverage.

Many vacant property owners opt for complementary security measures to ensure continued compliance over the long term:

  • Steel Security Doors and Screens: commercial-grade security steels are installed over doors, windows and entrance ways to physically prevent any access to a vacant property – with resistance to crowbars and heavy impacts such as from vehicles. Fully specified security screens are preferable for vacant property insurance, with keyless doors available to allow seamless site access for authorised visitors.
  • Wireless Intruder Alarms: wireless alarm systems with 24/7 monitoring are an excellent deterrent and provide immediate notification if an intrusion is attempted. They can also be programmed to detect other threats to the integrity of your property, such as smoke, smashed glass and water leaks. Wireless vacant property alarms use powerful batteries and do not require any mains electricity connection to remain continually operational.
  • Professional Vacant Property Inspections: regular inspections give your insurance provider the reassurance that any changes in the condition or security of your property will be swiftly identified and acted upon. Our inspectors assess both the interior and exterior of your property, ensuring isolated utility supplies are safe and raising an alert if there are any issues such as attempted break-ins, fly-tipping, water damage or infestations.
  • Concrete Barriers: concrete barrier blocks are a robust, practical solution where a vacant property is accessible by vehicle, particularly where the property contains fixtures or fittings of value. Blocks can be hired for short or long-term periods and are impossible to move without professional lifting equipment.

Please contact Clearway for further information about any of these services or require guidance about how improving your security defences positively impacts compliance with vacant property insurance terms.

Frequently asked questions

Vacant property owners are substantially more likely to need to make an insurance claim because any empty building without heating and lighting is exposed to greater instances of intrusion, crime, vandalism and environmental damage such as water ingress, mould and damp.

Insurers place strict caveats on their vacant property insurance, with the requirement that every aspect of your property, from the standard of door locks to the type of alarm system you have installed, remains fully compliant.

Absolutely. Damage to a vacant property can be severe and mean that the costs of bringing the building back into a habitable state are prohibitively high and potentially higher than the market value.

Insurance coverage is vital for every vacant/void property or site, whether residential or commercial. It provides a lifeline for owners who find that their property has been exposed to arson, material theft, roofing damage during high winds, vandalism or serious flooding.

Compliance can be complex, with technical terms, specifications and requirements all linked to meeting the conditions of a vacant property insurance policy. Our experts can work through the exact wording to indicate where changes are required, if at all, for example replacing locks, preventing access via removable glazing, or isolating utilities to minimise the risk of fire and flooding.

Many property or site owners are caught out when they need to make a claim, not having realised that a minor issue renders them non-compliant and, therefore, without any financial protection.

Rebuilding or restoring a damaged or vandalised vacant property can cost you tens of thousands of pounds, where there is a condition within your insurance small print that you have not met, and you will need to cover the cost of repairs yourself.

Another advantage of compliance assistance is that you can often negotiate down vacant property insurance premiums by demonstrating that you have applied best practices in risk mitigation, security controls and deterrents to avoid criminals targeting your empty building.

Discovering that your vacant property insurance is invalid can be crushing, especially following on from distressing serious damage to your empty building.

Our vacant property compliance teams deliver:

  • Full property inspections to assess areas of concern or security equipment that do not comply with your insurance terms.
  • Comprehensive reports to identify the actions required, in order of priority, and advice on the various solutions available to suit your budget.
  • Ongoing routine inspections to determine any hazards or changes to the property condition requiring attention.

We support vacant property owners taking out insurance for the first time, those renewing coverage for a longer-term vacant building, or existing property owners keen to find ways to reduce the cost of vacant property insurance premiums.

Vacant property insurance has strict conditions related to health and safety, protection of the public and securing the integrity of the property and any related fixtures or materials.

Insurance providers commonly reject claims due to unaddressed fire hazards, poor maintenance, a lack of inspection logs, non-advised changes, intact utility/power supplies causing a fire or flood, substandard security, or the absence of fire/smoke alarms or CCTV.

If a claim is rejected, the insurance will not pay anything towards the cost of repairs, leaving you to either cover the expense yourself or sell the property to recoup what you can.

Understanding the terms of your insurance and ensuring you are fully compliant is a significant advantage in terms of peace of mind, ongoing costs and having financial protection available as and when you need it.

Talk to us now

Talk to us now to discover how our loss prevention works can help you ensure your vacant property is insurance compliant before arranging insurance. Call us on 0800 085 8695.

Contact us now

Contact our experts now to discuss your requirements and get a quote from us.

Call 0800 085 8695 or email us at enquiries@clearway.co.uk

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