As freezing temperatures hit, get your homes winter proofed

With the arrival of freezing temperatures the odds on a white Christmas are shortening but one thing for certain is homeowners need to winter proof their homes to keep out the cold and prepare in case there is a home emergency.

Confused.com, the insurance comparison website, advises homeowners to take steps, both in and outside the house, to prevent burst pipes in freezing weather conditions.

Clearing guttering, lagging pipes and wrapping up outside taps can help. If you are going away from your house for a while, don’t swithcht the heating completely off as if you you turn thermostats off in a frost, pipes will burst resulting in escape of water damage.

Make sure your boiler is working too and keep it regularly serviced. A number of providers offer home emergency insurance which may well be worth considering.

As Confused.com also suggests, carbon monoxide detectors are a good idea. These devices will alert the homeowner to any dangerous levels of the chemical within the home. In order to avoid such a leak, regular boiler checks are essential.

Above all make sure you are prepared in case you have a home emergency, including

• Know where torches and blankets are kept. If the electricity goes out in storms, make sure you can keep warm and still see your way around your house when in darkness
• If your pipes do freeze and burst, homeowners will need to locate the water mains. Make sure all occupants know the location of this so that the water can be switched off quickly during an escape of water emergency
• Consider home emergency policies. Some providers offer a service which will cover homeowners for 24hour emergencies such as boiler breakdown. This cover does not come as standard so people should ask insurance providers the difference between standard cover and policies with the additional cover added.

Make sure your home insurance is up to date and keep your insurance policy documents in a safe place. If you need to make a claim for damage, you will need to call upon them to check limits and cover.