Tennessee property owners & investors
Empty for 60 days, and the policy may stop answering
Most property policies are written for a building someone is using. Once it sits vacant past a set period, often 60 consecutive days, many policies stop paying for some losses entirely and pay less on the rest.
Between tenants, mid-renovation, held for sale or redevelopment: we place vacant building coverage anywhere in Tennessee, shopped across multiple carriers, including specialty markets.
Send us what you have nowOr call (615) 378-7187. Franklin office, serving all of Tennessee.
A Tennessee case worth knowing
Visiting the building isn't occupying it
In Cashen v. Camden Fire Insurance Association (Tenn. Ct. App. 1961), a restaurant building was padlocked in October and burned the following February. The policies excluded loss once the building was vacant or unoccupied beyond sixty consecutive days.
The owner had been stopping by almost every day and storing his tools in the back room, and the former tenant's equipment was still inside. The court held that was not the occupancy the policy contemplated. The exclusion applied, and the claim failed.
The lesson still holds. Vacancy is decided by your policy's wording, not by how often you check on the place. If a building is empty, the policy has to be written for that.
Vacant or unoccupied?
Policies define these differently. Vacant usually means empty of contents and people. Unoccupied usually means the contents are there but no one is using the building. Some commercial forms use a square-footage test instead.
Read your policy's definition before a building goes quiet, not after. Tennessee has no statute that sets the period; it comes from the policy.
What usually changes after the vacancy period
Where a vacant building claim goes wrong
Wording varies by carrier, but this is the common shape of a vacancy condition on a commercial property form, and why an empty building needs its own coverage.
Vandalism and theft
Often excluded outright once the vacancy period passes, which is exactly when a building is most exposed to break-ins, copper theft and squatters.
Glass and water
Glass breakage, sprinkler leakage and water damage are commonly excluded too. A burst pipe in an empty building in January can run for days before anyone sees it.
Everything else, paid at less
Many forms reduce what they pay on other covered losses, such as fire, once the building has been vacant past the period.
Renovation is its own risk
A building under renovation is neither occupied nor simply vacant. Depending on the scope, it may need builder's risk or a renovation policy rather than a standard property form.
Liability doesn't go vacant
Someone can still be hurt on the property: a trespasser, a contractor, a buyer on a showing. Keep liability in force even while the building is empty.
Tell the carrier
If a building is going to sit empty, tell your agent before the vacancy period runs out. Coverage written for vacancy up front is better than discovering the condition at claim time.
Questions
What Tennessee owners ask
How long can a building be vacant before insurance stops covering it?
It depends on your policy, not on Tennessee law. Many property policies use 60 consecutive days, after which some losses are excluded and others are paid at a reduced amount. Some forms use other periods or definitions. Check yours, and arrange vacant coverage before the period runs out.
What is the difference between vacant and unoccupied?
Policies define them, and the definitions differ. Broadly, vacant means empty of contents and people, and unoccupied means the contents are there but the building is not being used for its normal purpose. Some commercial forms use a square-footage test. The wording on your policy is what counts.
Does checking on the building count as occupying it?
Usually not. In Cashen v. Camden Fire Insurance Association, a 1961 Tennessee Court of Appeals case, near-daily visits and stored tools did not count as occupancy, and a fire claim was denied under a 60-day vacancy exclusion.
I'm renovating a building. Is that vacant?
Possibly, and it may need a different policy altogether. Depending on the scope of work, a renovation is often better written on builder's risk or a renovation form. Tell us the scope, the budget and the timeline.
Can I get insurance on a building that is already vacant?
Usually, yes. Vacant buildings are typically written by specialty markets, often for shorter terms and with conditions such as securing the building, winterizing and regular inspections. We shop it across multiple carriers.
What do you need from me?
The address, construction and year built, how long it has been or will be empty, why (between tenants, renovation, for sale), how it is secured, whether utilities are on, and your current declarations page if there is one.
Also for Tennessee owners and investors: landlord and rental portfolio insurance, short-term rental insurance in Nashville, apartment building insurance (5+ units), small business insurance in Franklin, and Sullivan James Tennessee.
Start here
Tell us about the building
Upload the current declarations page if there is one, and tell us how long the building will be empty and why.
A licensed Tennessee agent reads it and shops it across multiple carriers. No obligation to switch, and nothing changes on your current policy unless you ask.
Sullivan James Tennessee · 230 Franklin Rd, Building 2B, Franklin, TN 37064 · by appointment
(615) 378-7187 · tn@sullivanjames.com
General information, not legal or tax advice, and it creates no agent-client relationship. Whether and on what terms a carrier will offer coverage depends on its own underwriting, and policy wording varies by company. The case described is Cashen v. Camden Fire Ins. Ass'n, 348 S.W.2d 883 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1961), read October 31, 2026. Sullivan James is an independent insurance agency licensed for property and casualty insurance, not an insurance company; for questions about how property is titled or held, talk to your attorney.