Vacant Home Insurance in Santa Rosa Beach and on 30A

If your house will sit empty, call us before it does. Homeowners policies usually limit or exclude some coverage once a home has been vacant 30 to 60 days in a row, and the standard form excludes vandalism after more than 60. We can read your policy’s vacancy wording and quote a vacancy endorsement or vacant home policy.

Vacant home insurance on 30A, as of November 2026

• The ISO HO-3 homeowners form (2000 edition) excludes vandalism and malicious mischief to the house and other structures if the home has been vacant for more than 60 consecutive days immediately before the loss. Its separate glass breakage coverage carries the same 60-day vacancy exclusion. The same form says a dwelling being constructed is not considered vacant.

• Many policies we read in Florida are on the insurance company’s own form, and some vacancy clauses start sooner or limit more. The Insurance Information Institute puts the usual range at 30 to 60 consecutive days.

• A home that will sit empty past its policy’s limit can be covered with a vacancy endorsement on the current policy, where the company offers one, or with a separate vacant home policy. When a home is rented out, we usually write it on a dwelling (DP3) policy.

• The Insurance Information Institute says vacant home policies tend to cost more than standard homeowners coverage. Every quote is subject to underwriting.

• Some empty homes are placed with a surplus lines insurer. If your quote is surplus lines, we tell you so at the quote, along with the fact that you would not have the protection of the Florida Insurance Guaranty Act if that insurer became insolvent; the policy itself must say so on its first page (section 626.924 of the Florida Statutes).

• Florida law lets an admitted insurer cancel a homeowners policy that has been in effect for 60 days only for listed reasons, and a substantial change in the risk is one of them (section 627.4133).

Can an empty house stay on your homeowners policy?

Sometimes, for a while. A homeowners policy is written for the home you live in; the standard form describes the insured home as the dwelling where you reside. Once you move out, or once the house passes the policy’s vacancy limit, the coverage you counted on can shrink. Some companies offer a vacancy endorsement that keeps the home on the policy; otherwise the house needs a vacant home policy of its own. Which one fits depends on the company and on why the house is empty.

A furnished second home you come back to is a closer call. The standard form does not define vacant, and company forms differ, so whether that home counts as vacant depends on your policy’s wording. We read it with you, and it may be able to stay on a homeowners policy, subject to underwriting. Our second home insurance page covers that case, and our post on what changes in a homeowners policy when a house sits empty walks through the standard form line by line.

What vacant home insurance covers

A vacant home policy, or a vacancy endorsement, is built for a house nobody is living in. The Insurance Information Institute lists what these commonly include: fire, lightning, windstorm and hail; water damage from a plumbing or heating failure; theft, vandalism and damage by trespassers; and liability for injuries on the property. Policies differ, so we go over the covered causes of loss and the exclusions in your quote with you before you buy.

Wind and flood need their own look on the coast. On some homes we insure near the Gulf, wind is on a separate policy, and flood is excluded on the standard homeowners form, so we write it on its own flood policy. Tell us how the house is insured for wind and flood today so nothing drops off when it goes empty.

What does it cost to insure a vacant home?

We cannot give a fair number until we know the house. The Insurance Information Institute says vacant home policies tend to cost more than standard homeowners coverage, and the carriers we represent decide whether to offer coverage and at what price. When we quote an empty house on 30A, we ask:

• how long it will be empty, and why

• whether it stays furnished, and whether the power and water stay on

• who checks on it, and how often

• the age and condition of the roof, wiring and plumbing, and whether a wind mitigation report is on file

• whether it is listed for sale, under contract or being worked on

• how wind and flood are insured today

Every quote is subject to underwriting.

Why houses along 30A sit empty

• Listed after the move. Once you have moved out, a vacancy clause can start counting even though the house has not sold. We can check when your policy’s count starts and quote coverage for the stretch until closing.

• Waiting on an estate. A house can sit for months while a family settles things. Florida law enforces a property policy only for people with an insurable interest in the home at the time of the loss (section 627.405), so we look at who holds that interest now. Call before the house is cleared out, since an emptied house can start a vacancy count.

• Between long-term tenants. We usually write a long-term rental on a dwelling (DP3) policy, and its vacancy wording is worth checking before the next lease starts. Our rental property insurance page covers those policies.

• Emptied for a remodel or repairs. The standard form says a dwelling being constructed is not considered vacant, but its vacancy wording does not say whether a remodel of an existing home counts, and company forms differ. Tell us the scope of the work and how long it will run.

• Finished but not moved into. The standard form excludes theft in or to a dwelling under construction, and of its building materials, until the dwelling is finished and occupied. If your builders risk policy ends at completion and the move-in is weeks away, call us before it ends.

Looking after an empty house

Whatever policy it is on, an empty house needs someone to look in. The standard form expects reasonable care to keep the heat on or to shut off the water and drain the systems and appliances, and after a loss it asks you to protect the property from further damage. The Insurance Information Institute suggests a weekly check by a neighbor, a family member or a property manager, and leak detectors or cameras you can watch from away. Keep a simple record of the visits.

Talk to us before the house goes empty

To have us read the vacancy wording in your policy, or to quote a house that will sit empty, call the office at 850-622-5283 and ask for Alex Reber, Erica Johnson, Chris Jayne, or Trista Cordell, Fuller Insurance LLC, Florida license L039483. You can email your declarations page to hello@fuller.insure or use the quote request form on this page. The office is at 4821 US Highway 98 W, Suite 103, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459, open 9 to 4, Monday through Thursday.

Sources for this page: the Insurance Services Office’s HO-3 homeowners form, 2000 edition (HO 00 03 10 00), posted by the Insurance Information Institute as a sample HO-3 policy; the Insurance Information Institute’s June 3, 2025 article on vacancy insurance; and sections 626.924, 627.405 and 627.4133 of the 2026 Florida Statutes, each read November 7, 2026. Insurance company forms differ from the sample, your own policy’s wording controls, and every quote is subject to underwriting.