Guides
Snowbirds and seasonal homes: vacancy, freeze and theft
Leaving a home empty for months can trigger vacancy and freeze conditions. What the standard policy says, what seasonal endorsements change, and a checklist.
If you leave a furnished home for the winter or the summer, your policy usually stays in force, but several conditions get harder to meet. The standard ISO homeowners form (HO 00 03) conditions freeze damage on your keeping the heat on or draining the system, removes vandalism and glass coverage after more than 60 consecutive days of vacancy, and many insurers' own forms add shorter clocks, theft limits and water-damage exclusions for unoccupied homes. Tell your insurer how many months each year each house stands empty, and ask in writing what changes.
The ISO wording here is from the May 2011 edition of the HO-3, hosted by the Maine Bureau of Insurance. Newer editions and insurers' filed forms differ, so your declarations page and policy control.
Vacant, unoccupied and seasonal are different things
Policies use "vacant" to mean empty of belongings and people, and "unoccupied" to mean furnished but with no one living there for the moment. The ISO HO-3 uses only "vacant," and it applies the term to vandalism and glass coverage after 60 consecutive days. Insurer forms often reach further. The Texas Department of Insurance says in its home insurance guide that most companies stop coverage when a home is vacant 60 days or more, though usually not for liability (TDI). That describes common practice in one state, not a rule for your policy.
A furnished winter home you will return to is, in most readers' minds, not vacant. The policy's definition decides, and the declarations page decides which of your houses is the "residence premises." Say yours is a Michigan home you use eight months a year and a Florida condo you use four: the HO-3 is written around the dwelling "where you reside," so an insurer may ask which home is your primary residence and may want a different form (a secondary or seasonal policy) for the other. Do not guess; ask. The full difference between the terms is in vacancy and unoccupancy exclusions.
What the standard form does while you are away
| Loss while you are away | ISO HO-3 (2011) | What to check in your own policy |
|---|---|---|
| Frozen pipes | Excluded unless you used reasonable care to maintain heat or to shut off the water and drain all systems and appliances | Any minimum temperature, heating method or "unoccupied" exclusion |
| Vandalism and malicious mischief | Excluded if vacant more than 60 consecutive days | A 30-day clock, or an unoccupancy trigger |
| Glass breakage | Excluded if vacant more than 60 consecutive days | Same |
| Theft | No vacancy clause in the form | A limit for unoccupied or seasonal dwellings |
| Water leaks that run for days | Covered only if "sudden and accidental"; continuous or repeated seepage is excluded | Gradual-damage and water-damage language |
| Fire, wind, hail | No vacancy clause in the form | Roof, wind and unoccupancy restrictions |
| Liability | No vacancy day count in the form | Whether the house is a covered "residence premises" |
The freeze condition is the one that hurts snowbirds. The insurer can deny a burst-pipe claim if the house sat cold and the lines were not drained, and a furnace that quits in January looks, on a claim file, like a failure to maintain heat. burst and frozen pipes: what's covered explains what counts as reasonable care and what an adjuster looks for.
The leak problem is similar. A supply line that drips from December through March does not look sudden and accidental to an adjuster; mold and rot found in April are often treated as long-term seepage. Ask your agent how your policy treats a leak you could not have discovered because nobody was there. See sudden vs gradual water damage: where insurers draw the line.
Ask for a seasonal or unoccupancy endorsement
Insurers handle seasonal use in one of four ways.
- Nothing special. The policy is a standard HO-3 and the vacancy clause applies as written. Fine if you are gone less than the clause allows; risky if you are not.
- A seasonal or secondary-residence form. Written for a home used part of the year, with its own conditions about heat, water shut-off and inspections.
- A vacancy or unoccupancy permit or endorsement. Adds a time period during which vandalism and similar coverage continues, often on conditions like a monthly inspection.
- A different policy. A vacant dwelling policy or a dwelling-fire form for homes the insurer will not write as a homeowners risk. See vacant home insurance: when you need it and what it covers and second and vacation home insurance.
Get the answer in writing: "this policy remains in force with my home empty from November 1 to April 15, with these conditions." If the endorsement attaches conditions, a claim can turn on whether you met them.
Before you leave: a checklist
Use this list for each departure, and keep a dated record of what you did, with photos. If a claim is ever disputed, those records are your proof of reasonable care.
- Tell your insurer and agent your departure and return dates, who has a key and who will inspect.
- Shut off the water at the main and open the faucets to drain the lines, or have a plumber winterize the system. Drain or service water heaters, ice makers and washing machine hoses. If you keep heat on instead, set a thermostat you are willing to defend, and consider a monitor that texts you if the temperature drops or power fails.
- Install leak sensors and an automatic shut-off valve if the house stays on water; water leak sensors and shutoff valves: discounts and value explains the options and their effect on discounts.
- Arrange regular inspections by a neighbor, property manager or caretaker, who writes down dates and what they saw. A weekly or monthly check can matter more to an adjuster than a high-tech device.
- Make the house look lived in. Timers, a stopped newspaper and mail, cleared driveway and snow removal.
- Move or insure valuables. Jewelry, firearms and cash have special limits in the HO-3 ($1,500 theft limit for jewelry, $2,500 for firearms in the 2011 edition) that apply wherever they are; see special limits on jewelry, firearms, cash and collectibles.
- Give the insurer a mailing address you read. A nonrenewal or cancellation notice sent to an empty house arrives late; ask for email notice and let a trusted person open mail.
- Confirm payment methods. An expired card on an installment plan can lead to a cancellation for nonpayment while you are away.
The warm-weather home
For snowbirds, the destination home has its own problems. A Florida or Arizona house closed up for the summer faces heat, humidity, hurricane season and an air conditioner that someone may turn off to save money. Mold can follow a power outage, a roof leak or an AC failure that nobody notices for weeks.
- Storm exposure. In coastal states the hurricane deductible is typically a percentage of Coverage A, and you may have to prepare the house from afar. Read hurricane season insurance checklist, and arrange for shutters and an evacuation plan with a local contact. See Florida for the state's rules and market.
- Flood. Homeowners policies exclude flood. National Flood Insurance Program policies carry a 30-day waiting period in most cases, according to FEMA's Flood Insurance Manual (October 2025), so a policy bought after a storm forms is too late. See the 30-day flood insurance waiting period.
- Heat and AC. Leave the air conditioner on a humidity setting and ask whether the insurer requires it.
- Power outage. Food spoilage coverage is limited; see food spoilage and power outage coverage.
When something goes wrong while you are away
The sooner the insurer hears of a loss, the better. Ask a local contact to photograph damage before and after emergency steps, and have them call a mitigation company to stop the water, since the policy requires reasonable steps to protect the property from further damage. See reasonable repairs: what you can fix before the adjuster comes and how to file a homeowners insurance claim. Keep the receipts. Expect the adjuster to ask when the house was last occupied, when it was last inspected, what the thermostat was set to and whether the water was shut off.
Key takeaways
- The ISO HO-3 removes vandalism and glass coverage after more than 60 consecutive vacant days and conditions freeze coverage on heating or draining the system; your insurer's form may be stricter.
- Tell your insurer how long each home is empty each year and ask for written confirmation of any seasonal endorsement and its conditions.
- Winterize or heat, install leak sensors, schedule dated inspections and keep records. These are the proof of reasonable care.
- A warm-weather home needs its own plan for storms, flood waiting periods, humidity and power failure.
- Policy wording varies by insurer and state, so ask for the vacancy, unoccupancy and freeze language by name.