How To Prevent A Disaster In Your Home

Insurance Policies are designed to help cover loss during a disaster in a home or business. But they require conditions to be met by the policyholder. Disasters cannot always be avoided buy we have come up with a list of common disasters and ways minimise and identify some of the potential dangers in your home.

How to How to Prevent Fire Disaster

Fires can be catastrophic with overwhelming consequences in just a matter of minutes. They can be easily prevented with a few simple measures and checks. Please follow the list to ensure that you minimise the chances of a fire in your home:

“Did you know, just over half of home heating fire resulted from fires caused by heating equipment too close to things that can burn, such as upholstered furniture, clothing, mattresses or bedding.”

• Smoke Alarms are cheap and very easy to install, you are 4 times more likely to survive a fire if you have a functioning smoke alarm. Do not forget to test your smoke alarm regularly and change the battery if required.
• All Appliances should have an CE marking for safety standards.
• Old Cooking Appliances Should Be In Good Condition: You should make sure that old cooking appliances are well looked after and are in good working condition. Each year many fires start due to heating equipment that hasn’t been maintained.
• During winters, electrical heaters can be often useful to quickly warm up, but they must be kept clear of any sheets, window curtains or any other ignitable materials.

For additional fire prevention and knowledge, please visit your local fire services for free advice. If you have had a home fire, click here to see how Oakleafe Claims can help you.

How to Prevent Weather Damage:

Although we cannot control the weather. There are still many things which we can do so that we can reduce the risks, or even prevent some of the potential problems that might occur during bad weather.

• Clear Guttering: During a stormy weather a clogged gutter can potentially cause problems on your roof that can lead to leaks.
• Plumbing should be in good condition to prevent pipes from freezing with the potential of a burst pipe and escape of water.
• Broken or loose roof tiles should be fixed as this can prevent leaks and potentially prevent other tiles from breaking during a bad storm.

How to Prevent Theft:

Anyone who has experienced burglary in their home will tell you it makes you feel violated, apprehensive and at a loss of your next move. There are different ways that can potentially detour thieves

All Entrances are secured and avoid leaving a spare key under a door mat or somewhere hidden.

• Fences and other Entrances are well maintained, broken or unmaintained entrances can open vulnerabilities.
• High Value Items like Jewellery are kept in a safe or out of sight.
• Consider CCTV and/or Smart Home Security Systems – Just the sight of camera or the alarm is enough to detour most thieves.

How to Prevent Burst Pipes

Pipes freeze because frozen water takes up more space inside your pipes than its liquid form, expanding and causing the metalwork to buckle.

Fact: A large portion of burst pipes occur in the winter due to a drop in temperature.

Here is a list of things you can try to prevent burst pipes.

• Consider Lagging all internal pipework – in particular, pipes in lofts.
• Watch out for changes in your home, drops in boiler pressure or discoloration to floors could all be signs of a leak.
• Insulating your pipes and water tanks to prevent them from freezing.
• Turn off water if you are going away

Engage a Loss Assessor:

Loss Assessors are independent Insurance Claim experts who can take the stress away from your claim. They work for you the policyholder, and only you. Using their expertise knowledge in Flood Damage, Impact Damage, Fire Insurance Claims and Theft Insurance Claims, they have the skills to handle your Insurance Claim from the beginning to your pre-loss condition. Loss Assessors will aim to get everything you are entitled to.  It is important to engage a Loss Assessor as early as possible as they can ensure the entire process proceeds in the correct manner and your claim is not prejudiced negatively.

Fire Fact Source: http://www.firstalert-online.co.uk/fire-safety-facts/