Whether its frozen pipes bursting in the house, or a leak in your home (known in the insurance industry as an 'escape of water') water can cause a lot of damage in a short space of time.
While your insurance may be able to help in the event of an unexpected incident, water damage is one of those situations where prevention is always better than cure.
Here's what you can do to help protect your home
- Add lagging to all internal pipework, especially pipes in the loft. This can be done easily and cheaply with pipe insulation covers that you can buy from a DIY store.
- Keep your cold-water tank well insulated. A drop in temperature may cause the water within the tank and pipes to freeze and potentially burst.
- Protect outside taps with covers to help prevent freezing.
- Watch out for changes in your home. Drops in boiler pressure or discolouration on floors could be signs of a leak.
- Keep an eye on the condition of your sealant and grout around the house, such as in the bathroom. You're not covered if the water damage is caused by this failing.
- Check if your boiler has been maintained in line with the manufacturer's instructions. These can usually be found in your boiler user manual or on the manufacturer's website.
- Keep your home in good general condition and deal with any problems quickly to avoid any issues if you need to make a claim.
Be prepared and check your home cover
The amount of damage and type of help you’re insured for will vary depending on your cover level.
Always check your documents and look out for optional add-ons, such as Home Emergency cover, which may come at an additional cost but could provide valuable help if you need it.
One insurance term to look out for is Trace and Access – this is insurance speak for any work required to find the source of a leak and may include things like lifting (and then replacing) floorboards. If you’re not sure if you have this cover, it’s a good idea to check your policy booklet or speak to your insurer.
Are you going away?
If a water pipe bursts when you're on holiday, that could mean up to 250 gallons of water an hour escaping into your home. So, if you're going away during cold weather, here are some tips to help prevent disasters.
- Consider turning off the stopcock. If a pipe bursts, this will limit any escape of water.
- If you can, leave the heating on and set it to 12°C (54F). Pipework shouldn't get cold enough to freeze.
- Open the loft hatch. You want warm air to reach your loft pipes or water tank.
- Ask a family member or friend to check in on things regularly. If there’s a leak, spotting it quickly could limit the damage.
Remember, if you’re going to be away from home for a long period, such as several weeks, then it’s always best to check your policy terms and conditions to make sure you’re still covered.
