Winter proofing your home

Another winter home insurance warning this time Halifax are warning that many homes need winter proofing to avoid damaging your home and adding extra cost to your home insurance premiums. The insurers has said that 20,000 people needed broken or frozen pipes fixing last winter costing on average of £2000 pounds to fix. Alongside the cold weather freezing the pipes storm damage is also another big cost with roofs being the most likely to be damaged in a storm. According to Halifax they had around 30000 different claims last year which cost the insurer around £17 million to repair.

David Rochester from Halifax Home Insurance said: "With home emergencies, prevention is certainly better than the cure, and much of the damage could be avoided if householders spent a small amount of time preparing for the bad weather."

So if prevention is better than the cure what can be done to help avoid unwanted cost during the winter months? Pipes freezing and bursting can cause thousands of pounds worth of damage which is going to push up your home insurance premiums a lot. Taking these simple precautions can save you a lot of money and hassle.

1) Check the location of your stop taps and ensure they are in good working order
2) Repair dripping taps and turn them off
3) Ensure tanks and cisterns are lagged and open the loft door to let heat circulate
4) Lag pipes in unheated areas, especially the loft. The best lagging for pipes is pre-formed tubular insulating material, available from most DIY stores
5) If you are going away, even for the weekend, leave heating on low or drain down the system
6) If a pipe bursts, turn off the stop tap and central heating boiler immediately and call a plumber
7) Lastly, if you experience flooding or water damage from a broken water pipe, be sure to watch the home for mold or mildew. Black mold can be a serious after effect to a flooded home that's far worse to deal with than the actual water damage

These seven simple precautions should help to avoid any burst pipes during the cold winter months. Frozen pipes are not the only risk to your home, winter storms can cause extensive damage to your roof which can be easily avoided if the roof is properly maintained. You can check your roof yourself for any loose tiles, but be warned only go up onto your roof if you feel capable enough. If you don’t feel confident enough then get a roofer to check it out as any maintenance costs will be a lot less than if your roof is damaged in a storm.

Taking these simple measures will help you save a lot of money on your home insurance premiums and with Christmas coming up the last thing anyone wants is a burst water pipe to sort out.

Seamus has more articles pertaining to home insurance and other insurance related articles.