Holiday Homes Damaged By Bursts
Holiday Homes Damaged By Burst Water Pipes Following Big Freeze
Throughout January and February, thousands of holiday homes across the UK and Europe were wrecked by water pouring through ceilings and floors for days. The water damage follows burst water pipes as a result of some of the coldest winter weather in decades.
- Much of southern England and Wales experienced lows of -10C
- In Aviemore, the temperature dropped to -18C, which the Met Office said was the lowest temperature since January 2003
- In Portugal temperatures dropped as low as -7°C in some regions, which were placed on a yellow weather alert
- More than a million homes were left without power as fierce storms swept across south west France and Spain, the worst conditions in two decades
Many second home owners were caught unprepared for this cold snap. With escape of water damage claims amounting to an average of £2,500, some totalling tens of thousands, holiday home insurers are busy arranging for the damage to be repaired.
Unfortunately, some policyholders are discovering that they are uninsured for water damage as they haven’t met the heating terms of the insurance, or because the holiday home has been unoccupied for a period of more than 30 days.
What causes frozen pipes and bursts
One of the main causes of frozen pipes is switching the central heating off completely when a holiday home is left empty or when pipes in unheated basements, lofts and exterior walls are exposed to sub-zero temperatures.
Also, during freezing temperatures overworked central heating systems break down and electrical networks are prone to tripping which means electric heaters fail.
When the freeze subsides is the time that most water damage occurs, as the water pressure builds up causing pipes to fracture. The subsequent damage from burst pipes can be horrendous – especially when holiday homes are unoccupied and owners return to find collapsed ceilings, furniture and electrical goods ruined.
Are you insured for burst pipes?
Unfortunately some UK and overseas holiday home owners are discovering that the recent damage caused by the escape of water following burst pipes isn’t covered by their insurance.
Why? Because of heating terms and unoccupancy warranties in the policy small print. Some insurance policies exclude all damage caused by escape of water where a property has remained unoccupied for a period of more than 30 days, because the water system hasn’t been drained or the heating maintained at a specified minimum temperature.
Even if you leave your electric heating on and it fails due to a power cut, you could be uninsured. In theory, if this happens you are in breach of the terms of the policy because the temperature wasn’t maintained to the minimum requirement.
Holiday home insurance exclusions – understand your obligations
Exclusions and restrictions can render your insurance worthless just when you need cover the most. It is important that you understand your obligations regarding any heating and unoccupancy warranties. What you think should be covered, may well not be and you don’t want to be finding out after the damage.
If your insurance is written in a foreign language or part of a community block policy, trying to interpret the policy or understand local legislation can further complicate matters.
To avoid being uninsured and facing the financial hassle of drying out and repairing your home, choose a comprehensive holiday home insurance policy that doesn’t include heating and unoccupancy warranties that might invalidate your water damage claim.
It’s also wise to get clarification from your insurer what happens following a burst pipe.