Preparing your Leisure Home for the Winter

Your leisure home insurance policy is designed to protect you against risks of things happening suddenly which you could not have expected such as fire, theft, accidental damage, flood and storm.  In the winter months your leisure home can be very vulnerable, especially if it is not being used and can be damaged by the cold.  There are certain things you need to remember when closing down your leisure home for the winter to prevent things such as escape of water.

The cover you are provided for escape of water is designed to provide cover for damage to your property caused by water leaks. One of the largest risks of water occurs when you are away during the winter months when pipes can freeze and burst, causing significant damage to your leisure home.

Important things to remember

Between 1st November and 31st March both days inclusive, if your leisure home is left without an occupant for more than 48 hours you must drain down the entire water system as a precaution to prevent freezing and any potential damage this may occur. If your leisure home has a sealed heating system containing antifreeze then this does not need to be drained down but antifreeze levels checked annually and particularly prior to the period of unoccupancy. In addition, all water tanks must be emptied by leaving both hot and cold taps fully open with plugs removed throughout the leisure home.

Or

If you wish to leave the water supply turned on between 1st November and 31st March both days inclusive, you must ensure:

• The entire home benefits from a heating system being gas or a geothermal or full electric system (not night storage heaters), fitted with automatic controls and a separate thermostat. The system must be set to operate continuously for 24 hours of each day (not controlled by a timing device) and the thermostat set to not less than 13 degrees Celsius and all internal doors must remain open throughout the leisure home and where fitted the loft hatch left open.

Or

• If the heating system as described above is installed and additionally fitted with a ‘frost stat’ that is designed and installed to override all the heating controls, irrespective of their functional status, then this may be set to operate at no less than 4 degrees Celsius.

These things are very important and failing to comply with the requirements will result in loss or damage resulting from escape of water or burst pipes being excluded from your insurance.

It’s important that you read your insurance policy in full, along with the policy schedule to ensure that you are fully aware of the extent of the insurance cover, as well as the terms and conditions which are applied to your cover.

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