Steven V. Buckman Insurance Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Homeowners insurance policies contain a clause titled “Vacancy” or some variation thereof. In fact, the clause is included in Oklahoma’s Standard Fire Insurance Policy, 36 O.S. _ 4803.

The effect of the clause is to avoid coverage for losses incurred during periods where the property is vacant or, under some policies, unoccupied. As with most property insurance policies, Oklahoma’s standard policy provides that coverage will not be lost until the property is “vacant or unoccupied” in excess of 60 consecutive days.

Perhaps used interchangeably by some, the terms “vacancy” and “unoccupied” have been given different meanings across the nation, although it does not appear Oklahoma courts have directly addressed the issue.

Across the nation, “vacancy” is generally understood to mean the property is “empty or devoid of goods and personal property of the insured.” Couch on Insurance, _ 94:112. Although property “need not be totally free of any fixtures and furnishings” to be vacant, “the [state] of the structure’s interior, combined with surrounding circumstances, [must] indicate that the premises are not being used in any regular manner.” Id. _ 94:132.

On the other hand, “unoccupied” has been defined as the “absence of the insured or other persons from the premises.” Id. _ 94:112. Specifically, “a dwelling house is ‘unoccupied’ when it is not used as a residence—when it is no longer used for the accustomed and ordinary purposes of a dwelling or place of abode.” Id. _ 94:127.

Although it does not appear the Oklahoma Supreme Court has directly addressed the difference between “vacant” and “unoccupied”, the state’s highest court has held that temporary absence from one’s home is not sufficient to fall within the vacancy clause.

In Monarch Ins. Co. of Ohio v. Rippy, 369 P.2d 622 (Okla. 1962), the Supreme Court held that an insured may be “temporarily absent from their home for a reasonable length of time without their home becoming ‘unoccupied’ as [the] term is used in reference to insurance.” Id. at 625.

Interestingly, the Rippys had taken a three-month vacation to Florida (November 1958 until February 1959) only to return to a home damaged after frozen pipes burst.