Are You Winter Ready?
As Winter is fast upon us, it is inevitable that we will experience periods of sub-zero temperatures. During these times your home, equestrian and commercial buildings will be at risk of frozen pipes and subsequent damage caused by escaping water.
When the Beast from the East hit in 2018 the country saw temperatures as low as -14C and clocked up £193million of domestic weather related claims.
Here the Shearwater Insurance team, with a little help from our underwriters, offers some help and advice to get you Winter ready.
There are a number of simple measures you can take to help prevent frozen pipes over the winter months such as:
- Insulate water tanks and lag pipes
- Fix dripping taps
- Know where your stopcock is and make sure you can turn it off if necessary
- Check your boiler has been serviced
- If you have tanks or pipes in the roof space, open the loft hatch to allow warm air to circulate
- If you are away, even if only overnight, leave the heating on continuous on a low heat setting and get a friend or neighbour to check the property
- If a property is going to be unoccupied for long periods, turn off the water at the stopcock and consider draining down the system so there is no water left in the pipes.
