Home Emergency
Planning Guide
Accidents in the home can happen even to the most prepared. Help to protect your home against an emergency involving gas, fire, electrical problems, frozen pipes or flood with the following hints and tips from Castle Cover.
To further protect your home against unforeseen emergencies, take a look at our home emergency cover which offers a 24 hour emergency helpline for your peace of mind.
Download our helpful Emergency Contact PDF (1.3 MB). Print it out and write down your local emergency contact numbers. Keep it safe and accessible in case of an emergency. We have already listed some national helplines to get you started.
Gas
If you have a gas emergency or suspect a gas leak call the National Gas Emergency Helpline on 0800 111 999 and inform your supplier.
Whilst waiting for the National Gas Emergency engineer to arrive, open doors and windows, turn off the gas supply at the meter and wait outside. Do not create a flame, smoke or use electrical switches such as the lights.
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Fire
Everybody knows that fire can be completely destructive to your home and its contents. Make sure that you have Home Insurance and Building and Contents Insurance to help protect yourself against loss. There are also some basic measures you can follow to keep safe:
Be prepared for fire by making sure that everybody in the house understands the safest escape route in the form of a fire action plan. Install reliable smoke alarms outside bedrooms, at the top of stairs and near the kitchen and test them once a year. Wires that are exposed are a fire hazard, so keep them in good order and make sure that any wiring faults are dealt with by an electrician.
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Electrical
Getting through a power cut can be far less stressful with careful planning: Keep a torch in an easily accessible place with new batteries for your safety. During the electrical failure, turn off all of your appliances and lighting leaving one switched on to let you know when power is restored. If you have advanced warning, boil some water and keep it in a flask so that you can still make hot drinks.
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Flood
If you find yourself in contact with flood water, wash your hands. Until local authorities confirm otherwise, think of all water as unsafe and stock up with a safe supply from local shops. Do not eat food which flood water may have contaminated and sterilise utensils. Electrical items should not be used until confirmed safe by an electrician.
These precautionary measures could reduce the risks of infection in a flood to you and your family. Home Insurance from Castle Cover could help to relieve the financial burden too.
Find out if you are at risk from flooding with advice from the environment agency.
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Frozen or Burst Pipes
A frozen pipe emergency should be dealt with promptly by turning off the water supply and turning off the stopcock in the cold water tank. To avoid further damage make sure that anything that has frozen around the pipe is protected.
Open the tap that is closest to the frozen part of the pipe and thaw it out using a hot water bottle or hair dryer and work back to the hot water tank.
Should the pipe burst, it can cause major damage to your home and contents. Castle Cover Home Insurance can help in the event of any damage, but there are also some preventative measures that you can take:
Firstly turn off the main stop tap and drain the system by turning on all of your taps. If the ceiling is bulging, create a hole and place a bucket underneath. Turn off the heating system and once shut down, drain it and call a plumber.
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