Looking back at the UK's big freeze of late November and December of 2010 over 190,000 claims occured for damage to homes and businesses, at a cost of some £900 million. In Scotland which was particularly hit there were 31,000 property damage claims costing some £90 million. Of the property claims 103,000 were for burst pipe damage. The cost of these claims, at £680 million, (average claim costs from £6500 to £7200) was up 35% on the amount paid out for burst pipe claims during the whole of last winter.
During a similar bout of freezing temperatures the previous winter, insurers paid out £700 million in weather related claims.
Our own experience as Holiday Home Insurance specialists has shown a sharp increase in escape of water claims for the past three winters, far greater than any period in the past 20 years. A substantial number of our holiday home owners have suffered the inconvenience and heartache associated with such claims some of which have been very large. Whilst we work hard with insurers, loss adjusters and you to ensure that damage is repaired as swifly as possible, prevention is always better than cure.
Hopefully as Spring arrives the cold weather is behind us for a few months. I would however urge all holiday home owners to consider how to reduce the risk of your pipes freezing during cold spells in the future. Properties with water pipes and header tanks in the attic seem to be particularly at risk and it is these that have the largest claims value for obvious reasons. If you are considering upgrading your heating and water system speak to your plumber and heating engineer about rerouting pipes and elimating the need for header tanks to reduce the risk of freezing.
In any event ensuring that you have controls in place to ensure that you comply with any warranties or conditions in your holiday home insurance policy relating to periods of unnocupancy, will reduce any problems in the event of a claim.
By working together and reducing the frequency of claims, premium increases can be managed at sensible levels.
* Data Collated by the Association Of British Insurers (ABI) and relates to the period 24 November to 31 December 2010.
Boshers Ltd, a specialist independent insurance intermediary based in Bideford, Devon, has been arranging specialist holiday home insurance for owners of commercially let UK holiday homes since 1990. The company has negotiated a specialist holiday home insurance policy with a leading insurer. Details are at www.boshers.co.uk/holiday-home-insurance. You can also visit http://holiday-home-insurance-uk.blogspot.com/ for further informative articles.
