Tenant leaving property empty for almost 3 months while visiting home country

[heavy.road3410]

I rent out a 2 bed flat in Scotland using the Scottish Governments Model Tenancy Agreement.

The girls messaged me to say they are visiting home for the summer and their total trip duration is just under 3 months. I contacted my insurance broker CIA Insurance and they said provided the flat is not vacant for more than 60, all is fine. I asked if I can buy an interim cover or soemthing since they will be gone longer than 60 days:

Following this date, your policy will then go onto a restricted level of cover until you advise that the tenants have moved back into the property. Unfortunately, we are unable to extend the 60 day vacancy period so please just notify us once the tenants are due to move back in.

Reading the Scottish Governments Model Tenancy Agreement that I used, there is a section on absences:

Absences

A long absence from the property may affect the landlord’s insurance costs. If the tenant is not going to be at the property for more than 2 weeks at a time, then the tenant must do three things:

Before the property is left unoccupied, the tenant must tell the landlord that they won’t be there and for how long

Before leaving, the tenant must do anything reasonable that the landlord has asked the tenant to do to keep the property secure during the tenant’s absence - this means to stop the property being broken into or lived in by anyone else

Before leaving, the tenant must have checked the property to be sure that, during the tenant’s absence, reasonable care will still be taken of the property, as set out in Note 17 – Reasonable Care. For example, if the property is going to be empty during the winter time the tenant should make sure that (1) the heating is on timer, to stop the property getting damp inside and (2) the water is turned off, to prevent damage that might be caused by burst pipes.

There’s nothing that says what to do for an extended absence wrt insurance though. I have less than a month of ‘restricted cover’, not sure what that means.

What should I do? I’ll probably add a custom clause to any future contracts on extended absenses, but I have never been in this scenario before.

[tatemono]

I would tell the tenant that due to their extended absence influencing insurance costs, I’ll be raising the rent slightly to offset that. Thank them for their understanding. That’s the only way to recoup extra costs legally.

Your insurance company will tell you precisely what “restricted cover” means as it will vary. Typically though, it requires things like letterboxes to be sealed, water systems to be drained, and weekly inspections. You might also find you’re not covered for things like forced entry.