How long can a California house be vacant before coverage changes?

California writes a standard fire policy into its Insurance Code. Section 2071 says the insurer is not liable for a loss while a building "is vacant or unoccupied beyond a period of 60 consecutive days."

The rule gives way only to terms "in writing added hereto," so written permission added to the policy can change it. It applies to rentals too: "whether intended for occupancy by owner or tenant."

A homeowners policy does not have to copy the state form word for word. Under Section 2070, its fire coverage, taken as a whole, must be "substantially equivalent to or more favorable to the insured."

So your own policy's vacancy section is the one that counts. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) calls the Special Form, known as the HO-3, "the most popular of all homeowners forms."

The model HO-3, from Insurance Services Office (ISO), drops coverage for vandalism and broken glass once the home has been "vacant for more than 60 consecutive days."

Some policies use a shorter clock, so read yours, or ask your insurer to show you the section. The same rule can reach a second home left empty part of the year.

The NAIC draws the line at furniture. A house is vacant "if there are no occupants and it is unfurnished," and unoccupied "when it is furnished, but there are no occupants."

California's 60-day rule covers both, because it says "vacant or unoccupied," so leaving furniture in a house nobody lives in does not stop that clock.

The FAIR Plan's policy also uses both words, and it calls a home unoccupied "if there is no person residing lawfully in it."

Furniture can matter under a policy that says only "vacant," as the HO-3's vandalism and glass rules do. Ask your insurer how its policy defines the words, as the NAIC suggests, and get the answer in writing.

A house being built is a special case. Under the model HO-3 form, a home being built is not considered vacant. The FAIR Plan's form counts one as vacant if it lacks "the furniture and the furnishings minimally necessary for human habitation."

California's standard fire policy sets no visit schedule, but your policy or a vacant-home policy may. Casa's questionnaire asks about it for any second or vacant home: "When no one is there, does someone check on the home at least every 30 days?"

The Insurance Information Institute suggests a weekly check by a neighbor, family member or property manager.

Keep a dated log of each visit, with photos. The Institute says insurers typically want proof that reasonable steps were taken to look after an empty house. A visit is not the same as someone living there, so ask your insurer whether visits change its vacancy clock.

Water damage is one of the most common and costly problems in an empty house, the Institute says. On each visit, check these:

• Water: look under sinks and around the water heater, or shut off the main valve and drain the pipes.
• Heat: keep it on, or drain the pipes, since many policies pay for frozen pipes only if you did one or the other.
• Doors and windows: locked, with no broken glass.
• Signs of trespass: a forced lock, trash, or someone sleeping there. Report it to the police and to your insurer.
• The outside: keep walkways clear and lit, the yard and brush trimmed, and mail from piling up.
• Power: keep it on for timers, alarms and leak sensors.

Plan for the vacancy rule before you move out, because a sale can take longer than 60 days.

Write to your insurer first. Ask whether the policy still covers the house once you leave, from what date the vacancy clock runs, and what it stops covering.

If the answer is no, ask for written permission for a set period, which insurers call a vacancy permit. The NAIC says some companies offer an add-on that "specifically allows coverage for your house to continue" during a long vacancy.

The other choice is a vacant-home policy, often a dwelling policy written for a house the owner does not live in. A United Policyholders expert, answering a seller with an empty house, said what the seller needed was "a fire dwelling policy."

Keep the house insured until the sale closes and the buyer's own policy starts. With a mortgage, a gap can lead your lender to buy insurance for you and bill you for it.

After closing, cancel your policy and ask how the refund for the unused part of the year works. If the house came to you after a death, insuring an inherited house covers the first steps.

It can, within limits. The Plan's online price estimator lists "Vacant or Unoccupied" as a choice. Its rules make a building ineligible once it has been vacant or unoccupied "for longer than one year," unless ongoing construction is the reason.

Its dwelling policy has one vacancy rule. Vandalism, an add-on, is not covered once the home has been vacant or unoccupied more than 30 days in a row before the damage. Fire coverage does not stop just because the house is empty.

The Plan's 2021 application said a "Vacancy Permit Endorsement" (an add-on) was "necessary" for vandalism coverage on a vacant home. The current sample policy does not mention one, so ask a licensed agent whether the Plan offers it today.

A FAIR Plan policy covers fire and smoke, plus wind and hail if you add them. It does not cover water damage from a burst pipe, theft, or someone getting hurt on your property.

Those gaps weigh more on an empty house, where a leak can run for days before anyone sees it. So the better fit is often a vacant-home policy that covers more, from a standard insurer if one will take the house, or from specialty insurers.

A rental between tenants counts as empty too, so the same rules apply to it.

A vacant-home policy is written for a house no one lives in. The Insurance Information Institute says they typically cover fire, wind and hail, water damage from failed plumbing or heating, vandalism and theft, and injuries to others.

Terms differ from one insurer to the next. Before you buy, ask three things in writing: how long the policy runs, what it leaves out, and how often someone must visit.

If you plan to rent the house out instead, renting out your house explains what has to change first.