Can anyone recommend an insurance company who have reasonable premiums for vacant properties?

We are leaving our house for a few months (furnished) and our current company want to charge us an extortionate fee because it will be empty. Has any one else used a company they can recommend?

<snip>

Well, worth a try at selling but if you know of any companies (apart from Johnsons) please let me know.

Steve

Canada, Nova Scotia. I was hoping for either Canadian companies or UK companies, which insure holiday homes.

Nova,

I had friends in a similar situation. They moved to Ontario before selling their home in Nova Scotia, so the NS home was going to be vacant until it sold. The insurance company wanted to raise their rates because of this but my friend assured the company that somebody (namely me) would go to the house every second day or so to check up on it and that seemed to satisfy the insurer. Not sure if this was a unique situation, but might be worth asking...

The trouble then is that if the house burns down, the insurer will likely require proof that you've been visiting the house.
If you adopt this approach, make sure you record your visits, just to make sure there's no problems in the event of a claim.