Last winter saw over 200,000 British businesses and homeowners suffer the misery and inconvenience of flooded homes and damage caused by burst pipes. With temperatures reaching record lows in some parts of the country, insurers paid out more than œ400 million worth of claims. Scotland and the North of England were the areas worst affected, and if some of the minus temperatures recorded there had spread further south, the cost of cold weather damage could have run into billions of pounds.

Today (Friday 6 December) the Scottish Office is launching a series of TV and radio commercials advising homeowners on the steps they can take to prevent burst pipes. The launch, to be held at the Glasgow Weather Centre, will be attended by George Kynoch, MP, Minister for Industry at the Scottish Office, and the Scottish weather forecaster Heather Reid. The commercials have been sponsored by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), Hydro Electric and Scottish Power.

ABI's involvement in the Scottish Office campaign follows on from its own Cold Weather Campaign, launched at the end of October, which included a series of public information "commercials". In addition, the Association has initiated a major "Winter Weather Survey", through Scottish primary schools, and produced a variety of "Cold Weather Code" material, including information sheets, posters and bookmarks.

Some of the guidelines included in the "Cold Weather Code" http://www.abi.org.uk/consumer/lossprev/coldweather/coldwea.asp>include:

• Precautions to take before the cold weather arrives:

• Find your main stopcock and make sure you can turn it on and off.

• Repair any dripping taps. Check your loft insulation is thick enough and that it has not been damaged or disturbed since you last looked at it.

• Make sure all pipes and tanks in your loft space (or anywhere else which may be liable to freezing) are fully lagged. Remember not to lag beneath tanks, because this would make pipes more liable to freeze, by creating a cold atmosphere in the loft.

Once the cold weather arrives, and especially if your home will be empty overnight:

• Leave your heating on 24 hours a day, at its usual temperature setting.

• Leave the loft trap door open to allow warm air from other parts of the house to circulate in the loft. This will help prevent tanks and pipes freezing.

• Whenever you are away from home, ask a friend or relative to visit every day, so that if a pipe does burst, it will be detected as soon as possible, and the damage caused will be minimised.

Commenting on the launch of the Scottish Office commercials, Mark Boléat, ABI's Director General, said:

"We are pleased to be sponsoring these new commercials from the Scottish Office. Together with our public information films, they should keep people well informed about what they can do to protect their homes and businesses during the winter months. Last year's big freeze took us all by surprise, and yet severe cold weather has occurred regularly over the past 10-15 years. The damage last winter was especially bad in Scotland, and was made worse by the timing of the cold snap - over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, when many properties were left empty with no-one keeping an eye on them.

If the same level of damage had occurred across the whole of the UK, it would have been a disaster running into billions of pounds.

We hope people will watch, and enjoy, these new commercials, and that viewers will follow the very simple, straightforward advice they contain, giving themselves a trouble-free winter."

Notes

1. Broadcast quality copies of the new Scottish Office commercials are availablefrom Tony McLaughlin at the Scottish Office, Tel: +44 (0)131 244 2542.
2. A video News Release, including broadcast quality copies of ABI's three publicinformation films, is available from Pauline Young at the Association of British Insurers, Tel: +44 020 7216 7452.
3. Free single copies of ABI's "Cold Weather Code" information sheet areavailable. Enquirers should write, enclosing a stamped, addressed envelope, to:"Cold Weather Code", Association of British Insurers, 51 Gresham Street, London,EC2V 7HQ.
4. Media enquiries to:

   Suzanne Moore Tel: +44 020 7216 7411 (Mobile 0378794717)
   Malcolm Tarling Tel: +44 020 7216 7410 (Home: +44 020 82979510)
   Tony McLaughlin (Scottish Office)Tel: +44 (0)131 244 2542

5. An ISDN line is available for radio broadcasts.