How to keep your home warm as winter snap moves in

Confused.com offers homeowners advice on what needs to be done to prevent damage to their property. As the UK braces itself for a frosty Christmas, winter proofing is needed in order to give the elements a cold shoulder.

Winter seasons brings with it freezing conditions which can burst pipes, along with heavy gusts of wind which can damage buildings and roofs. Snowfall can also spell travelling trouble for those needing to get from A to B. All elements can result in problems for people who are caught unaware of a frosty mother nature.

Darren Black, head of home insurance at Confused.com said: ‘winter is the time when all homeowners want to have nice and cosy homes to use for some respite from the cold and wet elements associated with winter. In order to create this warm, safe haven, essential checks need to be carried out. Prevention is certainly better than cure when it comes to an emergency in the home so people need to clear out guttering, lag pipes and wrap up any outside taps.'

Advice from Confused.com which will help minimise home disasters includes:

Let's go outside:

Clear the guttering and drain pipes of any leaves and debris. This will reduce the risk of blockages occurring

Cut back tress and large hedges which could cause damage if they are blown down in a storm

For those with outside taps, wrap them up with material which will act as a jacket from the cold!

Homes with chimneys will need to make sure they are swept. As the chimney will not have been used for months, debris and soot will have built up. If a fire is lit underneath this build up, the chance of a chimney fire is far greater. Get it swept before the home fires start burning!

Under the roof:

Make sure that your loft is ventilated, preventing the valuable heat from escaping

If you are leaving the home for a while, do not switch the heating off. If you turn thermostats down (or off) in a frost, pipes will burst resulting in escape of water damage

Before the cold snap arrives, make sure your boiler is in working order. They should be serviced on a regular basis. As winter month's put strains on them, checks need to be done to ensure they can cope under the additional heating pressure!

When the heating is switched on, carbon monoxide detectors are a good idea. These devices will alert the homeowner to any dangerous levels of the chemical within the home. In order to avoid such a leak, regular boiler checks are essential

For the unlucky ones:

Know where torches and blankets are kept. If the electricity goes out in storms, make sure you can keep warm and still see your way around your house when in darkness

Keep your insurance policy documents in a safe place. If you need to make a claim for damage, you will need to call upon them to check limits and cover

If your pipes do freeze and burst, homeowners will need to locate the water mains. Make sure all occupants know the location of this so that the water can be switched off quickly during an escape of water emergency

Consider home emergency policies. Some providers offer a service which will cover homeowners for 24hour emergencies such as boiler breakdown. This cover does not come as standard so people should ask insurance providers the difference between standard cover and policies with the additional cover added