Ask Your Peers  State Farm Vacant Property Insurance 

Hello All,

I spoke with a prospect today that said his State Farm agent is writing his vacant property insurance. I've been writing vacant properties for years and never heard of State Farm writing this type of risk, does anyone know if they're actually writing this product and/or if they have an endorsement for this? Any information would be greatly appreciated as I don't think this guy is being properly insured.

Thank you!

I've never heard of that either, however, when in doubt, call them. I have called State Farm on many things and simply asked, do you do X type of insurance? Sometimes I will call 2 to corroborate but I usually get a very clear picture after a call or two. On this, seems odd they would, doesn't sound very State Farmy but again, I don't know.

I get referrals every week from two State Farm agents on vacant and builders' risk properties, so this would be VERY NEW if true at all. I'll bet you need to look at the actual policy OR endorsement to be sure, but I'm not holding my breath. Also, I've noticed that lots of Allstate agents write a rental policy for vacant since they allow a 60 day vacancy clause (or did) on those and probably don't check closely. My policy (and yours I'm sure) is to NEVER give an insurance company a reason not to pay a claim!

Randall Jones

In Georgia, State Farm DOES NOT write vacant property coverage. There are a few SF agents in my area that refer this type of business to me, so I'm fairly certain that it is not the type of risk they will insure. Possibly being placed with the Arizona Assigned Risk Pool?

Hi Matthew,

I did a little research and from what I read they offer a vacant endorsement policy. I couldn't find a specific product page, only a blog that they posted about vacant houses after moving. They mention speaking to a State Farm agent in regards to a vacancy endorsement if the home will be vacant for a month or longer. Hopefully this helps :)

https://www.statefarm.com/simpleinsights/residence/5-ways-to-protect-your-vacant-house-after-moving

Thank you!

Thank you everyone for your input. Randall I'm pretty sure you're right, they're writing the landlord policy and banking on the insured selling before it's technically vacant and/or before he has a claim. Sounds like I will be calling State Farm to further discuss and see if I can get some more info on the vacancy endorsement they offer. Like Uwe said this doesn't sound very State Farmsy and I'm thinking the insureds current agent is doing this just to keep the premium on the books which is a poor call and makes other agents look bad, not to mention it could end really poorly for both the insured and agent in the event of a claim.

I will be calling today and will let all of you know if they give me any insight.

It probably depends on what the insured is telling them is the status of the risk. If it's purchased to flip in 60-90 days might not be a problem. The State Farm agent might also be writing it through a carrier other than State Farm. Need to get a copy of the dec.

Hi TeEvans,

State Farm does have a vacancy endorsement they can place on the landlord policies when there is a gap in tenants however it doesn't provide coverage if the insured doesn't intend on placing a tenant. Like most policies they also have the 60 day clause in place so even if the current agent is writing it as a DP product there's still a gap in coverage. I'm doing a bit more digging and will see if I can get some more info on how this agent is writing the policy.