The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is relaunching its Cold Weather Campaign for winter 1997/98. The Campaign focuses on a "Cold Weather Code", offering simple, straightforward advice to homeowners and businesses on how best to avoid having burst pipes during winter.

Insurers decided to mount a concerted publicity campaign after severe weather in winter 1995/96 resulted in more than 200,000 claims for damage as a result of burst pipes. The total insured cost was over £400 million. Last winter, milder weather, combined with increased public awareness of the risks of freezing weather, reduced these losses by over half, to £190 million.

The Cold Weather Code advises homeowners and businesses to prepare for winter before the cold weather arrives by:

• Finding your main stopcock and making sure you can turn it on and off.



• Repairing any dripping taps.



• Checking your loft insulation is thick enough and still in good condition. Make sure it has not been damaged or disturbed since you last looked at it.



• Fully lagging all pipes and tanks in the loft space, or anywhere else which may be liable to freezing, if you have not already done so. Remember not to lag beneath tanks, because this could make pipes more liable to freeze and burst, by creating a cold atmosphere in the loft.
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During spells of freezing weather, especially if your property will be empty overnight:


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



• Open your loft trap door to allow warm air from other parts of the building to circulate in the loft, if you have one. This will help prevent pipes and tanks freezing.



• If you are away from home, or leaving your business premises empty, ask someone to visit every day, so that, if a pipe does burst, it will be detected as soon as possible, and the damage caused by escaping water can be minimised.

Commenting on the Cold Weather Campaign, Mark Boléat, the ABI's Director General, said:

"Severe winter weather hits Britain often, and yet it always seems to take us by surprise! I hope our Cold Weather Code will help convince people that protecting their property need not be complicated or expensive, and that it is certainly less complicated and expensive than suffering a burst pipe.

The sooner you can take action to protect your home or business, the better. Don't wait until the freezing weather strikes - by then it may be too late."

Notes

1. A copy of the full "Cold Weather Code" is available. Readers can obtain free copies by sending a stamped, addressed envelope to: Cold Weather Code, ABI, 51 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7HQ.
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2. The Cold Weather Campaign will run from December 1997 to February 1998, and will focus on a series of three public information films prepared for ABI by the Central Office of Information. The films were shown over 23,000 times on TV last winter, and will be reshown this year.



3. For further information:





Suzanne Moore    +44 020 7216 7411    (Mobile: 0370 441277)
Malcolm Tarling    +44 020 7216 7410    (Home: +44 020 8297 9510)




4. An ISDN line is available at ABI for radio broadcasts.