Brits are being encouraged to have home emergency cover during the winter months.
Churchill home insurance research showed how nearly one in five (18 per cent) had experienced boiler failure and one in six (15 per cent) did not know where their home’s stopcock was.
One-third of adults delayed putting their central heating on this winter, with the majority (80 per cent) admitting this was a cost-cutting move – even though it could result in frozen or burst pipes.
Martin Scott, head of Churchill home insurance, said: “The last thing anyone wants to have to think about is what they would do if they were locked out in the cold, or the house having no hot water in January.”
He advised customers to take out home emergency insurance cover for peace of mind.
Churchill offered some suggestions for how to protect your home in the winter months, such as ensuring your loft insulation is suitably thick (10 inches), find your stopcock’s location and learn how to shut it off in case pipes burst and replace the washers on any dripping taps.
Customers are also advised to leave their heating on at a low level, or at least on a timer daily to combat the cold weather.