Empty house insurance - is this expensive?

[Cydonia]

Backstory - My brother and I inherited my dad’s bungalow when he passed away at the end of 2019. At the time, I swapped the existing insurance into my name and informed them of the change in circumstances. This is now up for renewal, but I’m struggling to find a policy to suit our needs.
We did initially put the property on the market, but I had a change of heart and have decided to buy my brothers share and move into the bungalow, after some renovation work. So I want empty house insurance, as with all the delays going on at the moment we don’t even have plans yet, let alone planning permission, so it will be empty for a while yet. But I will need to declare there will be work going on.
I’ve tried various price comparison sites without any luck, the only one that gave me a quote was for £450-590 depending on cover, which seems like a lot considering the building is empty and the policy was only for 9 months. Or is this just how much I should expect to pay? Any previous experiences, hints and tips appreciated! Thanks.

My experience of empty house insurance is that it is 2 or 3 x normal insurance and requires the owner to fully inspect the property regularly ( weekly in my experience) to carry out building works requires a different policy ( more expensive again ) and my broker requires regular updates on progress

Some councils also impose Council Tax on empty properties, to avoid them being left empty for very long periods of time and also to maintain local services. (There are certain exceptions for holiday lettings afaik) Sometimes no charge is imposed for a couple of months or so but then one has to start paying as normal.

If you are not currently paying CT you may wish to check with your local Council.

It costs more to insure an empty building than one which is occupied. Greater risk of things going wrong with no-one there to spot the problem and take action to prevent further damage. Eg, a burst pipe would cause extensive damage if no-one there to see what’s happening and turn the water off. Also risks of vandalism, theft etc.

Shop around and see if you can bring the costs down.

You can usually get a better deal by using a commercial insurance broker. I used bedfordinsurance.co.uk for my late parents bungalow & got cover for under £200.

Thanks for the replies, I hadn’t realised it would be more expensive! I found it hard to shop around as the comparison sites ask questions I can’t answer, they don’t seem to cater for it. Will try a broker, thanks.
Re the council tax, we had a period where we didn’t have to pay, but now that’s passed we are paying full council tax on it which is annoying.

It’s only 5 minutes drive from my current house, so easy to keep an eye on it. Thinking about it, I think the policy we had last year ( that was adapted when I called to update them on change of circumstances) wasn’t empty house insurance as it had a lot of exclusions. That’s why it was cheaper!

That sounds a lot, we had empty property insurance on my MIL’s flat after she died and while we were renovating. We went through a broker but I think the policy was with the Salvation Army. Maybe try ringing a broker instead.

Just checked the insurance was £345 which included 2 flats (one let, one empty).

TwoBlueFish thanks, I’ll have a look for some brokers to ring, if there’s any working at the moment! Might help if I can explain a little rather than the yes or no answers on online forms.

We insured an empty house. The first year was no problem and inexpensive to insure but they warned us it would be an issue after that. The second year, we had to apply to a specialist insurer and it was about twice as much. I think I had to visit the house every month. Possibly it depends on the area too, this was a very safe area. (as far as that goes)

It's not for everyone, and brave in winter, but you could consider buying Fire, Lightning, Aircraft and Explosion only. This means no cover for water damage, flood, theft, vandalism, subsidence, etc. I got a quote on this basis once for our house when it was empty and it was a fraction of the All Risks cost, perhaps 30% or so.
I don't think price comparison websites are the place for what you need. Try a specialist. Google vacant house insurance UK, try someone like Towergate, perhaps.