Newly completed Australian home before move-in, insured as an unoccupied new build

Home Insurance for a New Build Before You Move In

The builder has handed over, the lender wants cover from today, and nobody lives there yet. An empty house at inception is outside some markets' appetite. We take it to the ones that write it, with the handover and move-in dates declared.

Day 1

Cover from handover, not from move-in

~$9K

Placed, $1.7M building only

24-72h

With all information in hand

Recognition

THE SHORT ANSWER

A new build that is handed over but not yet lived in is insured as an unoccupied home, building only, from the handover date, with the lender noted and the move-in date declared. A house that is empty at inception is outside some markets' appetite; the ones that write it want the handover and move-in dates, how often the property is checked and whether the water is off, and usually attach inspection and alarm conditions. Appetite is case by case.

Tank arranges this for owners between handover and move-in, and for developers and trusts completing more than one dwelling. On one recent placement four markets declined on unoccupancy and one wrote it; the difference was presenting the risk to a market that writes unoccupied new builds every day.

01WHAT CHANGES WHEN NOBODY LIVES THERE

Six Things That Decide Whether an Empty New Build Gets Written

The house is new, so the construction is not the problem. The occupancy is, and it is answerable.

Why an Empty House Is Rated Differently

Nobody is there to notice a burst pipe, a break-in, a fire starting or a storm-lifted roof sheet. The expected claim is larger and later, so an unoccupancy condition, typically triggered after 60 or 90 days, is standard on home products, and on several individual placements a market has declined a house that was empty at inception.

Handover Is the Trigger, Not Move-In

Your obligation to insure starts when the builder's cover ends at handover, and the lender's requirement usually says the same. The weeks between handover and move-in are the gap, and it is the gap an online form cannot handle, because it only asks whether you live there.

What the Insurer Wants to Know

The handover date, the expected move-in date, whether anyone is checking the property and how often, whether the water is off, whether an alarm is monitored, and whether the house is being finished (landscaping, fit-out) in the meantime. Those answers turn a decline into a referral and a referral into terms.

Conditions That Come With It

Cover for an unoccupied new build often comes with conditions: regular inspection, water isolated, an alarm, a higher excess for water damage or theft. They are not punitive; they are the difference between a market writing it and not. Read them before you bind and keep to them.

Building Only Until You Move In

Contents cover starts when there are contents. Insure the building from handover and add contents at move-in. That is also when the unoccupancy condition falls away and the premium can be revisited.

If There Are Two Dwellings

A new dual occupancy or a pair of townhouses handed over together is two dwellings on one title, unoccupied, often mid-subdivision. That combines two narrowing factors and is exactly the kind of risk that gets presented rather than submitted. See home insurance while a subdivision is in progress.

NEW BUILD QUOTE

Send the handover date and the move-in date

Plus the rebuild cost, the lender's name and whether the water is off. That is most of what the market that writes this wants to know.

Open quote form

CLIENT SUCCESS

Empty at Inception: How It Actually Gets Placed

Recent Tank placements, anonymised. Premiums are approximate gross figures and reflect each risk at the time, not a guide to future pricing or turnaround.

01 Handed over, empty, lender waiting: four declines and one policy

A builder handed over a new two-dwelling property on the NSW south coast, eight bedrooms and six bathrooms across the pair, weatherboard and timber over concrete with colorbond roofs and roller-door garages, rebuild value $1.7 million. The lender required building cover from handover. Nobody was living in either dwelling and the subdivision into two titles was still running.

Four markets declined on unoccupancy. The risk went to the market that writes empty new builds every day, presented with the handover date, the lender's requirement and the plan for the split, building only, $1,000 excess.

THE RESULT:

Placed with Castle at approximately $9,000 a year, building only, lender noted, to be split into two policies when the titles register.

02 Three new-build dwellings in a family trust, cover from completion

A family trust in Melbourne's south-east completed three dwellings on one title in 2026, each with a basement, ground and first floor, four bedrooms and three bathrooms, brick walls, timber floors and colorbond roofs, $1 million rebuild each. The trust wanted cover from completion with the lender noted, monitored alarms and CCTV in place, and chose a $10,000 excess.

Each dwelling was written on its own home policy in the trustee's name, which keeps the certificates clean for the lender and lets each be restructured on its own when it is occupied or sold.

THE RESULT:

Placed with Castle at approximately $2,400 a year per dwelling.

Premiums and outcomes described are specific to each client and indicative only. Your own terms will depend on your circumstances and the insurer.

UNOCCUPIED NEW BUILD FAQS

Common Questions Between Handover and Move-In

01 The builder has handed over but we don't move in for two months. Can I get home insurance?

Yes, though not through an online form that assumes you live there from day one. The house is an unoccupied new build for those two months, and on one recent placement four of the five markets approached declined on that alone. The one that wrote it wanted the handover date, the move-in date, whether the property is checked and whether the water is off. Send those with the enquiry and it moves quickly.

02 Does the lender need cover from handover or from move-in?

From handover, almost always. The builder's contract works cover stops at practical completion or handover, and the lender's mortgage conditions require the building to be insured from that point with the lender named as interested party. The certificate of currency follows binding, so the policy has to be placed first; with all the information in hand that can be as little as 24 hours and usually 48 to 72.

03 What conditions come with insuring an empty new build?

Typically some of: regular inspections (weekly or fortnightly), water isolated at the meter, a monitored or at least working alarm, no contents cover until occupied, and a higher excess for theft or water damage during the unoccupied period. They vary by insurer and they are the reason the market that says yes can say yes. Keep to them; a breached condition is the classic reason an unoccupied-period claim is declined.

04 How much does home insurance cost for an unoccupied new build?

One recent placement: approximately $9,000 a year for a $1.7 million two-dwelling build on the NSW south coast, building only, unoccupied at inception, after four markets declined. For comparison, three trust-owned new builds in Melbourne's south-east, insured from completion, were placed at approximately $2,400 each on $1 million sums insured with a $10,000 excess. Unoccupancy is the single biggest reason the first figure sits where it does. See the home insurance cost guide.

05 Is this the same as vacant property insurance?

Related but not the same. An unoccupied new build is empty for a known, short period with a move-in date, and it is presented that way. A rental that has been vacant for months, or a house that will stay empty indefinitely, is a different risk with a different, smaller market, and it is quoted through our landlords insurance team rather than as a home policy.

06 What happens when we move in?

Tell us. The unoccupancy condition falls away, contents can be added, and the premium can be revisited with the markets that declined at inception, several of which will quote an occupied house they would not quote empty. It is a five-minute endorsement if we know, and a claim-time argument if we don't.