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Protecting properties prior to probate
Posted on 29 February, 2016
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Due to the nature of the probate process being quite lengthy, such properties are particularly vulnerable to unwelcome visitors, with insurers severely restricting cover when properties are unoccupied beyond a certain period – normally 30 days.
So how can solicitors help families to safeguard the estate from the depredations of burglars, vandals and the weather?
The answer is to keep the property occupied, as the Home Office, police and insurers all agree. But by whom? It must be people in whom all interested parties have complete confidence. Family and friends are not always available or appropriate; security companies are very expensive and they do not ensure properties look welcoming for viewers should the home be on the market.
Professional help is available. Increasingly solicitors, executors and managing agents are instructing Homesitters Ltd for speedy provision of live-in caretakers.
The company offers a nationwide service and is not an agency: the near 1000 sitters are meticulously vetted and are bound by detailed rules and conditions of employment. They are comprehensively insured and benefit from the company’s back-up and direction at all times. Homesitters are allowed to leave properties for limited periods only – when necessary, 24 hour cover is provided.
An added bonus is that if the property is put on the market, Homesitters can continue to provide cover, even if the majority of the contents are removed and only sparse furniture remains. Where a property is uninhabitable, the sitter could be accommodated in a caravan on site.
Homesitters are fit and active individuals who enjoy the opportunity of some continued responsibility after leaving full time employment. They come from a variety of backgrounds but all are sensible, quick to take instruction and motivated largely by job satisfaction.
With civilised caretakers in residence rather than ‘a man with a stick’, clients enjoy benefits beyond security cover. Homesitters will deal sensitively and professionally with the bereaved and with others who have authorised access: solicitors, valuers, surveyors, estate agents, architects etc. They will hoover up between viewings, they will care for possessions and they will carry out low level site management responsibilities.
Insurance companies welcome Homesitters and will waive the normal exclusions when the company’s employees are in residence.
From £44.00 + VAT per day (2016 rate), Homesitters will move very fast to ensure that vulnerable properties are in reliable caring hands.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- Homesitters Ltd invented the concept of homesitting as a commercial service in Britain. Since 1980 the company has provided a nationwide live-in homesitting service, available throughout the year.
- Originally conceived to care for pets and properties while homeowners are away on holiday or business, cover is now provided in a much wider range of scenarios. These include properties awaiting probate/on the market and empty or sparsely furnished properties.
- Homesitters is not an agency. The 1000+ employees are meticulously vetted, personally interviewed and fully insured. They operate under the company’s direction with 24 hour back-up.
- The Homesitters website is www.homesitters.co.uk
For further information please contact: press@homesitters.co.uk
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