Insurers may not pay if homes unoccupied for 45 consecutive days

Homeowners have been urged to check their policies and advise their insurers if they intend leaving their homes unoccupied for more than 45 days.

The advice comes following the settlement of a case earlier this month where a farmer from Beara in Cork took an action against FBD Insurance after the company refused to pay a claim for a burnt-down farmhouse on the basis that it was unoccupied.

Non-life insurance manager with the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF), Michael Horan, said such a clause was not an unusual one and was standard in policies for many years.