Securing a property in France held from abroad: insurance, claims, squatting, theft
A home that is empty or occupied a few weeks a year is protected in layers: insurance first, with a policy designed for an owner who does not live there, then monitoring, then the gestures that deter. This guide says what the law requires, what it costs, and what Home Select organises so that distance does not become a risk.
By Jean Mascla, founder of Home SelectUpdated · 8 min read
What does "securing" a property from afar mean?
Securing is not only locking up: it is stopping a small incident from becoming a distant catastrophe. Three floors stack, from the most legal to the most physical: the contract (the right insurance, declared at the right occupancy), the presence (someone who looks, records and acts within the deadlines) and the hardware (what closes, shuts off, drains). Each floor holds the other two; the table below makes them readable.
The three floors of security for a property held from afar
Floor
What it covers
Who carries it
Insurance contract
PNO for empty or alternating, GLI for let, tenant’s comprehensive cover
The insurer, with your exact declaration
Human presence
Visits with report, mail, claim deadlines, repairs
Order matters, because each floor conditions the next. Start with a risk inventory: photos, weak points, actual occupancy, what the insurer will ask. Then set the contract straight: occupancy declared as it truly is (empty, used by family, let), covers read, excesses understood. Then put presence in place: a regular visit with a report, tracked letterbox, written instructions for the neighbourhood. Hardware last, only where it pays: reinforced locks, an accessible water shut-off, draining before the first cold.
Risk inventory: dated photos, weak points, actual occupancy.
Contract: occupancy declared exactly, covers and excesses reread.
Presence: agreed visit rhythm, a report at every visit, tracked mail.
Hardware: locks, accessible shut-offs, winter draining, detection if useful.
Instructions: a written note for the neighbourhood and the caretaking, with the numbers that matter.
Under what conditions does insurance respond for an empty property?
Insurance for an unoccupied home follows its own rules, and that is where payouts get lost. The policy must be a non-occupying owner one (or a home policy fit for alternating use), declared at the right occupancy: living in it undeclared, or leaving empty a home declared occupied, distorts the cover. Contracts sometimes condition theft and vandalism cover on precautions: periodic visits, closed shutters, water shut-off; read them BEFORE winter, not after the claim. The table below separates the policies and their purpose.
Who insures what, by the property’s occupancy
Situation
The fitting policy
What it covers
Empty or intermittently used property
Non-occupying owner (PNO)
The building, the owner’s liability, prolonged absence per the terms
Let property
Landlord’s PNO + tenant’s home insurance
The building and the owner on one side, tenant’s recourse on the other
Rents of a let property
Rent guarantee insurance (GLI), optional
Arrears and damage, per the contract’s terms
How much do these protections cost, and who bills them?
What can be said, being law and method: a PNO premium is computed on the property and its declared use, GLI on the rent and the tenant’s file, and a periodic visit is paid by time spent. The table below shares out the bills; our acquisition-plan simulator seats the premiums in the property’s annual budget.
Who bills what in a property’s security
Line
Who bills
Base
PNO and GLI premiums
The insurer
The property, the rent, the file
Installation (locks, detection)
The installer, at actual cost
Hardware and fitting
Visits, presence, deadline tracking
The partner Home Select introduces
Time spent
Within which deadlines do you declare a claim from abroad?
The deadlines are law, and being abroad waives none: the clock runs from knowledge of the claim. The table below holds the main ones; the rule of conduct is single: record (photos, values), declare within the deadline, keep the receipt, and repair nothing urgent save after agreement or documented necessity.
Three differences, all workable. The formalities: statements, photographs, expert survey and mail happen remotely, which requires someone on site to record within the deadlines. Payments last: the payout can be wired to a French or foreign account per the contract; to check when subscribing, not when claiming.
Menton, Côte d’Azur
What should you check before leaving the property for months?
The departure protocol, gesture by gesture
Gesture
Why
Shut off water at the meter and drain if winter nears
A frozen pipe bursts unseen
Fridge emptied and defrosted, devices on sensible standby
Smells, silent failures, electrical fire
Shutters closed, locks checked, valuables gone
What shows outside invites, or not
Letterbox entrusted, dated photos on leaving
Piled mail signals absence; photos date the condition
What risks without protection, and what do they cost?
Without protection, three scenarios recur. The unnoticed claim: water runs for weeks, mould spreads, and the payout turns on proven upkeep. The refused cover: undeclared vacancy, unproven visit, precaution untaken; the contract takes its rights, not the insured. Unlawful occupation: a home that looks abandoned tempts; rehousing, evicting and repairing costs more than the whole hardware floor. The answer to each sits in the sections above; the thread is the same: dated proof of upkeep and presence.
How do you prevent unlawful occupation and burglary?
Prevention comes to three inexpensive gestures: keeping up appearances (mail picked up, lights and shutters that live, a regular presence), closing properly (certified locks, protections on reachable openings) and documenting (photos of belongings, invoices, readings). A regularly visited home does not look like a target; burglary cover, for its part, will often demand proof of the break-in and of the declared protections.
What insurance and security mistakes should you avoid?
The classic mistakes, and their answer
Mistake
Answer
Keeping an occupant’s policy for a property turned empty
Policy switched to PNO from the change of use
Declaring the claim late "because you were abroad"
A mandated presence that records and declares on time
Repairing before the insurer’s agreement
Photos, quotes, agreement; only urgency is documented
Installing detection never maintained
Half-yearly test, batteries, written instruction to the caretaking
What Home Select organises for the security of your property
The security of a property held from afar is decided before the first absence: a suitable insurance policy, a spare set of keys with someone you trust, a mandate to act in case of a claim. From the keys onwards, Home Select introduces you to the partners who hold these three roles.
The concierge service does the inspection visits and the report, the insurer covers the empty or part-time home, the tradesperson comes within forty-eight hours. Each acts under their own responsibility; your property finder stays reachable when a decision is yours.
Frequently asked questions
Which insurance for an unoccupied property held from abroad?
A non-occupying owner policy (PNO), declared at the property’s actual occupancy: empty, occasional family use, or alternating. The classic mistake is keeping an occupant’s comprehensive policy after leaving: on a claim, the inaccurate declaration can reduce or drain the cover.
Does insurance cover a home empty for several months?
Per the contract: many policies cover prolonged absence up to the limit they define, beyond which certain covers, theft and vandalism first, lapse; others keep everything against precautions (periodic visits, closed shutters). The answer is written in your own policy terms: limits, exclusions, required precautions.
Must the tenant insure, and what does the landlord check?
Yes: the tenant must carry rental-risks insurance, and the landlord may demand the certificate every year. The tenant’s insurance is the let property’s first line of defence; the landlord’s PNO then takes over for the building and liability. For the rents, rent guarantee insurance (GLI) is studied with the tenant’s file in hand, before the lease is signed.
Within what deadline must burglary or water damage be declared?
Five working days for water damage, two for burglary or attempt (police report in support), ten days after the decree’s publication for a natural disaster: these are Insurance Code deadlines, and the clock runs from knowledge of the claim, not from your return. Hence the value of a mandated presence that records, photographs and declares on time.
Do alarms or cameras prevent unlawful occupation?
They deter, they do not prevent alone: what truly discourages unlawful occupation is the sign of life (mail picked up, living lights, regular visits) combined with serious closures. Useful detection is chosen with the insurer, since some theft covers require specific equipment.
How do I prepare the property before leaving for months?
One protocol, always the same: water shut at the meter and drained if winter nears, fridge emptied, devices on sensible standby, shutters closed, locks checked, valuables gone, letterbox entrusted, dated photos of the departing state.
Can the insurer refuse to pay a claim on an unoccupied property?
Yes, on precise grounds: inaccurate declared occupancy, required precautions untaken (visits, shutters, shut-offs), missed declaration deadline, or unreported aggravation of the risk. The law frames these exclusions (they must be clearly written), but the principle stands: the cover follows the declaration and the precautions. The answer holds in one word, proof: dated visit reports, photos, declaration receipts.
Is it better to empty and close, or maintain and keep alive?
Keep it alive, almost always: a visited, aired, minimally frost-heated and kept-up property ages better than one locked shut, and insurance and neighbourhood alike prefer presence. Closing hermetically suits very long absences without caretaking, at the price of a tailored policy and added precautions.
Who records a claim when nobody is on site?
The first who can: the neighbour seeing water on the ceiling, the caretaker, the managing agent, the mandated repairer. But for the insurer, what counts is the on-time declaration and the file: dated photos, origin, circumstances, quotes. That is a mandated caretaking’s role: being the owner’s arm and eye, chaining record, declaration and first measures, and keeping the trace of everything.
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