Vacant Building Insurance Carriers and LRO Markets
Eight US markets for vacant homes, vacant commercial buildings and LRO, with published TIV limits, occupancy rules, policy terms and what the application asks.
Placement criteria
- Type of exposure
- Vacant home, vacant commercial building, partly occupied building or leased building needing LRO: each goes to a different program. Blitz excludes vacant habitational buildings; Pathpoint moves buildings 30% or more occupied to lessor's risk.
- Occupancy percentage and vacancy date
- USLI asks the occupied square footage, who occupies it and the year the building became vacant. Seneca has no vacancy length restriction but prefers buildings vacant less than three years.
- Renovation scope
- Cosmetic work is accepted by Blitz, and by Pathpoint up to 50% of building value. In USLI's application, structural work or a project of $250,000 or more adds a construction and premises section.
- Building condition and protection
- USLI asks construction, protection class, year built, roof type and age, plumbing, sprinklers, burglar alarm and, for pre-1978 buildings, aluminum or knob and tube wiring.
- Loss history
- USLI's instant quote requires no losses in the past three years. DeCotis asks three years of loss runs, Kinsale five years of currently valued company loss runs.
Who writes this risk
American Modern Insurance Group
Carrier- Eligible classes
- Vacant homes for sale, Vacant homes under renovation, Vacant homes in an estate closing
Note: Options for homes in good condition that might benefit from replacement cost coverage.
Blitz
MGA- Eligible classes
- Vacant commercial buildings, Commercial buildings under cosmetic renovation
- Limits
- Building up to $5M TIV per location; premises and operations GL at $1M or $2M aggregate.
- Territory
- All states and Washington, D.C., except Hawaii, Idaho and Louisiana
- Policy terms
- 3, 6, 8, 10 or 12 months.
- Structure
- Package or monoline general liability, E&S (non-admitted insurers).
- Excluded
- Vacant habitational buildings; condemned, foreclosed, abandoned or demolition-bound properties; modular or manufactured structures and trailers; signs of contamination; vacant land with no buildings; premises over 5 acres.
Note: Blitz describes itself as a full-stack MGU; the insurer is not named on the product page.
DeCotis Specialty Insurance
Wholesaler- Eligible classes
- Lessor's risk only (LRO), Mixed-use buildings, Condominium buildings and complexes, Retail plazas, strip malls and shopping centers, Office buildings and medical facilities, Light industrial and warehouse
- Territory
- Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
- Coverages
- Building and property, general liability, business income and loss of rents; equipment breakdown and ordinance or law.
- Submission
- ACORD 140 and three years of loss runs.
Note: Surplus lines LRO for property owners; protection classes 1 to 10.
Foremost
Carrier- Eligible classes
- Vacant homes for sale or for rent, Vacant manufactured homes, Homes in the name of an estate or an LLC
- Coverages
- Named perils, vandalism and malicious mischief, replacement cost options; liability optional.
- Term
- Annual policy, pro-rated refund on cancellation subject to a minimum earned premium.
Note: Not all products and coverages are available in all areas.
Kinsale Insurance Company
Carrier- Eligible classes
- LRO and lessor's risk, Vacant buildings and land
- Size
- Revenue under $2.5M, area under 100,000 sq ft, buildings under 200,000 sq ft, vacant land under 1,500 acres.
- Submission
- Commercial and general liability applications, supplemental where appropriate, five-year currently valued company loss runs, website information.
- Form and deductibles
- ISO occurrence form; deductibles $1,000 to $10,000.
Note: Small Business casualty division: general liability only, no building property.
Pathpoint
Wholesaler- Eligible classes
- Vacant buildings, factories and other, Vacant land (general liability)
- Limits
- Property instant quote up to $2.5M TIV, maximum $10M TIV; premises liability up to $1M/$2M.
- Occupancy
- Less than 30% occupied; above that, lessor's risk.
- Terms
- 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, up to 24 months.
- Building age and renovation
- Buildings built as early as 1850 with updates; cosmetic renovations up to 50% of building value generally accepted.
Note: Theft and vandalism coverage and additional insureds available; general liability and package for vacant buildings.
Seneca Insurance Company
Carrier- Eligible classes
- Vacant buildings, dwellings and estates, Retail, mercantile and warehouses, Vacant, occupied or partially occupied properties on one policy
- Limits
- Up to $30M TIV per location.
- Restrictions
- No building age restriction, no length of vacancy restriction.
- Terms
- Annual; six or nine months also available.
- Preferred
- Vacant under three years, recently vacated, coming off builder's risk, defined plans for the building, no stock or furnishings.
Note: Vacant property product of Seneca's specialty package unit, sold through brokers and agents.
USLI
Carrier- Eligible classes
- Buildings completely or partially vacant, Vacant condominium units, Tenant leasing space that will be vacant
- Coverages
- Property and general liability; liability occurrence limits from $100,000/$200,000 to $1M/$3M.
- Terms
- 3, 6, 9 or 12 months.
- Instant quote
- Only for accounts with no losses in the past three years.
Note: Vacant Building Product Application, edition VBPA 1/23.
Public terms gathered from each market's own website, as of the date shown on each listing. Confirm with the market before binding coverage.
Why vacant buildings get declined
Nobody is on site to catch a leak, a break-in or a small fire, and standard forms price that in. The ISO Building and Personal Property Coverage Form (CP 00 10, 10 12 edition, as summarized by IRMI) treats a building as vacant for its owner unless at least 31% of the total square footage is rented to tenants for their operations or used by the owner. Once the building has been vacant more than 60 consecutive days before a loss, the form pays nothing for vandalism, sprinkler leakage (unless the system is protected against freezing), building glass breakage, water damage, theft or attempted theft, and reduces every other covered loss by 15%. Buildings under construction or renovation are not considered vacant under that form. Homeowners policies have their own unoccupancy limits: Foremost notes the trigger is usually 30 days and varies by state.
So start by naming the exposure: a vacant home, a vacant commercial building, a partly occupied building, or a leased building where the owner needs lessor's risk only (LRO) liability. Each one lands in a different program.
Who writes it, by exposure
Vacant homes. American Modern writes homes vacant because they are for sale, under renovation or part of an estate closing, with replacement cost options for homes in good condition. Foremost covers homes for sale or rent, vacant manufactured homes and homes held by an estate or an LLC: named perils, vandalism and malicious mischief, optional liability, annual term with a pro-rated refund subject to a minimum earned premium. See also the Foremost portal page.
Vacant commercial buildings. Blitz writes E&S property and GL up to $5M TIV per location, terms of 3 to 12 months, in every state and D.C. except Hawaii, Idaho and Louisiana. It takes cosmetic renovation and excludes vacant habitational, condemned, foreclosed, abandoned or demolition-bound buildings, manufactured structures and premises over 5 acres. Pathpoint quotes buildings less than 30% occupied, instantly up to $2.5M TIV and up to $10M TIV in all, with premises liability up to $1M/$2M and terms up to 24 months. Seneca goes up to $30M TIV per location with no building age or vacancy length restriction; it prefers buildings vacant under three years, coming off builder's risk or with a defined plan. USLI's application covers completely or partially vacant buildings, vacant condo units and leased space that will be vacant, with 3 to 12 month terms.
LRO and liability only. DeCotis places surplus lines LRO for mixed-use, condo, retail, office, medical and light industrial buildings in 21 states and D.C., with property, GL and loss of rents. Kinsale lists LRO and vacant buildings and land in its Small Business casualty appetite, for buildings under 200,000 sq ft and revenue under $2.5M. That is general liability only: the building itself needs a property market.
What underwriters ask, and what to prepare
USLI's application (VBPA 1/23) is a good checklist, because the other markets ask the same things in shorter form:
- Occupancy: occupied square footage and who uses it, the year the owner took title, the year the building became vacant, the intended next use.
- Renovation: total cost, structural or not, subcontractors and their certificates naming the owner, start and completion dates, watchman, fencing. At USLI, structural work or $250,000 or more adds a construction section (underpinning, added stories, blasting, a general contractor carrying at least $1M/$2M).
- Building: construction, protection class, year built, roof type and age, plumbing, sprinklers, burglar alarm, and aluminum or knob and tube wiring before 1978.
- Red flags: foreclosure, bankruptcy or tax judgments in five years, a cancellation or nonrenewal in three years, current fire damage, a building not locked and secured, planned demolition, an eviction in the last 60 days, a pool.
- Loss runs: three years for USLI's instant quote and for DeCotis, five years currently valued for Kinsale.
Keep building, improvements, contents, business income or rents and liability limits in separate fields. Collecting photos, the renovation contract and loss runs once, then reusing them, is where document collection saves time for commercial lines agencies.
When tenants come back
A tenant moving in or work starting changes which policy fits. Pathpoint moves buildings at 30% occupancy or more to lessor's risk; Seneca allows vacant, occupied and partially occupied buildings on one policy; Foremost refunds pro rata if the vacant policy is cancelled, minus the minimum earned premium. Ask how the change is handled before binding.
Preparing the same submission and entering it on several carrier portals takes time. Covera's carrier quoting agent fills those portals.
Frequently asked questions
When does a commercial building count as vacant?
Under the ISO CP 00 10 (10 12) form, a building is vacant for its owner unless at least 31% of its total square footage is rented and used by tenants or used by the owner for customary operations. After more than 60 consecutive days of vacancy, vandalism, sprinkler leakage, glass breakage, water damage, theft and attempted theft are not covered, and other losses are reduced by 15%. Check the actual policy form, since carriers can amend it.
Does an LRO liability market also insure the building?
Not always. Kinsale's Small Business division writes general liability only. DeCotis lists building and property, GL and loss of rents on its LRO page. Ask for property and liability as separate lines on the quote.
Does a long vacancy disqualify the building?
Not by itself. Seneca publishes no length of vacancy restriction, while listing buildings vacant under three years among its preferred risks. A defined plan for the building is also on its preferred list.
Can a building under renovation go on a vacancy policy?
Yes, within limits. Blitz accepts cosmetic renovation, Pathpoint generally accepts cosmetic work up to 50% of the building value, and USLI adds a construction section for structural work or projects of $250,000 or more. Demolition planned in the policy term is a red flag on USLI's application.