Burst pipes in households are a major problem for insurance companies with payouts around £2.5 million every day to clients who have ‘escape of water’ problems. Much of this damage is caused by frozen pipes bursting in the colder UK winter period and many of these water escape problems could be avoided with some simple measures that any householder can take.

Provided you have the correct insurance cover you will receive a payout for any damage incurred due to water escape but you would be much better-taking care beforehand to prevent the often horrendous clean up necessary after any unfortunate event.

Some ways that you can prepare for a cold winter and prevent any unnecessary clean up later on would be to :

• Check that all pipes and tanks are sufficiently lagged and if not get them lagged
• Check the main stopcock works so that it can be turned off in the event of a leak
• Repair any leaking taps before the winter starts

Things you can do if you are away for any period of time in the winter:

• Make sure that your heating is coming on for an hour a day especially at cold times
• Get a friend or neighbour to check on the house once a day this way they can deal with any potential problem early on whilst you are away
• Leave your loft door hatch open to let the warm air circulate through the loft

If you find that your pipes are frozen then

• Turn your water off at the stopcock and attempt to thaw the pipes out with a hairdryer
• If a pipe has burst then switch the water off at the stopcock, switch off the central heating and call out a professional.

If you find that you have burst pipes and damage then a great course of action for yourself would be to call out an insurance loss assessor to take the hassle of dealing with the loss adjuster and the insurance company. Here at Bell Green we can help you and make sure that you get the payout to cover all the damage incurred, don’t get left short if you have a leak.

Call Bell Green Loss Assessors now on

0800 955 1232