Do I Need to Insure My Vacant Land?

You can protect yourself with a vacant land insurance policy. Even though it may seem strange to spend money on insurance for an empty lot, it’s a smart investment. Just consider how much a lawsuit could cost if someone takes a shortcut across your land, trips, and breaks their ankle. There are also risks like lightning, which could strike and start a fire that spreads to adjacent property that isn’t vacant, leaving you with liability for burning down a neighbor’s house.

A vacant land policy is basically liability insurance. Just as your homeowners policy can protect you if a guest is injured on your property, a vacant land policy will protect you if something happens on the lot that results in injury to a person or someone else’s property. However, vacant land insurance is not designed to protect damage to the land or any structures or property on the land.

Getting vacant land insurance can be as simple as expanding your current homeowners insurance policy. In fact, your current policy may already cover vacant land in the liability provisions, but you need to read your policy carefully and consult with an agent to verify that current inclusions will be enough to keep you financially safe.

If your current home insurance doesn’t include a provision for vacant land, and extending your existing policy isn’t the best option, you might want to consider an umbrella policy. An umbrella policy is designed to extend coverage for incidents and expenses that go above and beyond your current insurance.

For example, an umbrella policy would kick in to help with liability expenses from a car accident if you’ve reached your auto policy’s limit. Similarly, it can cover liability damages that occur on your vacant land. If you already have an umbrella policy, you might be able to add vacant land coverage for a fairly minimal cost.

To protect yourself from unwanted and expensive lawsuits, it is important to insure your vacant lot. Call an agent today so he/she can help you compare insurance policies and find the policy that gives you all the protection you need.

Before making any final decisions on your insurance company, it is important to learn as much as you can about your local insurance providers, and the coverages they offer. Call your local insurance agent to clear up any questions that you might have. Questions to consider asking include, “What is the best coverage plan for me/my family/my situation?” “What are the minimum coverage requirements in my state and what form of coverage do you recommend?” “Do you guys offer any bundle discounts if I take out both my auto insurance and home insurance with you?” and “What is the average rate of insurance quotes you guys offer?”

Before making any big insurance decisions, use our free tool to compare insurance quotes near you. It’s simple, just plug in your zip code and we’ll do the rest!