M&S Home Insurance offers extra winter protection

Thursday, 14 January 2010 12:00

M&S is offering extra protection against cold weather-related plumbing problems through its home insurance package.

Customers have the option of adding home emergency cover to their policy to ensure they do not have to fork out an unexpected bill to pay for emergencies such as leaking pipes or broken boiler.

The insurer is promoting the feature after it saw the number of home emergency claims soar during the winter.

David Wells, head of insurance at M&S, said: "We have seen three times as many home emergency claims during the winter compared to the summer months, including a 200 per cent increase in the number of claims for water damage such as burst pipes."

It is expecting the number of claims to increase even more throughout January and February as the cold weather puts pressure on heating and plumbing systems.

As well as adding its home emergency cover, which can be done either when opening the policy or renewing it, M&S has also offered additional advice for minimising home emergencies during the winter.

It suggests insulating pipes to prevent them from freezing, giving your heating system a regular MOT and ensuring the roof and exterior of the home are well maintained by ensuring gutters and drains are free from leaves and blockages.

M&S also recommends finding out where your main stopcock is and ensuring you can turn it off and on. And it also advises homeowners to leave heating on to maintain a constant temperature of 15 degrees centigrade if they are going away.

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