Empty Church Buildings

If your Church, Church Hall or any other building insured under the Scheme becomes unoccupied and is therefore no longer being used for the purpose it was intended and it is going to remain unoccupied for a period of 45 days or more then it is a policy condition that you notify us of this immediately. In respect of churches/church halls a questionnaire will need to be completed and submitted to us, you can obtain this by Clicking Here

Alternatively if you are planning to close a building, possibly following a union and prior to sale, you may want to use our unoccupany planning worksheet to assist you in considering how you will manage the risks involved.

In either case you should get in touch with us as soon as reasonably possible and our experienced team will then talk you through the options available to you with regard to insurance cover on the affected buildings and contents and the precautions that you will need to take. Property becomes more vulnerable to loss once it becomes unoccupied or empty so there are certain conditions that you must comply with to ensure that the potential for loss is minimised and the policy cover remains operative. In addition cover under your policy is automatically restricted 45 days after the date upon which it became unoccupied.

Cover is restricted:

The following Cover does not apply whilst the affected building is unoccupied:

• Accidental damage
• The escape of water from any tank, apparatus or pipe
• The escape of fuel from any fixed heating installation
• Theft
• Malicious damage

Conditions are applied to your policy which you must comply with:

You must:

1. Carry out external and internal inspections of the buildings at least every seven days

(a) maintain a weekly log of such inspections to be retained for a period of at least twelve months.
(b) as soon as possible, repair, or arrange to repair any damage or defects found including the removal of graffiti.
(c) carry out a monthly management check of the weekly inspections log.

2. Remove all loose combustible items, including furniture (other than ecclesiastical furniture), pallets, mail/flyers,waste, refuse,stock and materials in trade, and gas bottles. either within or outside the buildings from the Premises.

3. Securely lock all external doors, close and secure all windows,

4. (a) Turn off all sources of power, fuel and water at the mains wherever possible, chain and padlock the isolation valves,
(b) drain all water and fuel supply tanks, apparatus and pipes

However where the buildings are protected by

(i) an Intruder Alarm, CCTV or Fire Detection System You must provide sufficient power for their effective operation.
(ii) a sprinkler installation, You must provide sufficient power or water supplies for its effective operation and sufficient heat to prevent freezing.

5. Advise us immediately if the buildings are to be occupied by contractors for renovation, alteration or conversion purposes or if the buildings are to become occupied or used.