Protecting Your Park Home in the Cold Winter

With most of the country recently experiencing the first extended cold spell of Autumn / Winter, it seems appropriate to feature how you can best keep your Park Home protected from the cold weather and what you might expect from your insurance in the event of loss or damage should the measures you take fail.

Also,  with the fast-approaching festive period when some of you might be going away for a break – perhaps to visit family and friends – it’s also worth having a look at how this might affect the cover provided by your insurance.

With improvements over the years in the insulation installed at the time of their manufacture, it’s certainly true to say that the modern park home is far more resilient to extreme cold weather than its equivalent of, say, 30 years ago. Even with older park homes, there are numerous specialist refurbishment companies using the latest and most efficient materials available, whom owners can employ to upgrade their home to match (or in some cases potentially exceed?) the protection enjoyed by newly delivered park homes.

Check your Pipes

To protect your park home best, ensure that exposed and accessible pipes are properly lagged. It’s also worthwhile to regularly check on the condition of any underfloor insulation if you are able to access the underside of your park home, as this can often deteriorate and/or fall away over the years and can also sometimes have been attacked by wildlife seeking to use it to insulate their own homes! Again, if you believe your underfloor insulation needs replacing or cannot assess it for yourself, there are several reputable business specialising in park homes you can approach.  

While the cost of fuel may seem to be ever-rising, modern heating installations are far more efficient and reliable than in the past. You should look to set your thermostat to maintain the temperature within your home at a constant and comfortable level. If you leave your park home for a lengthy period in the colder months, the best option to avoid damage can sometimes be draining the heating system entirely and opening stop taps, although most modern heating systems will have a frost setting you can use and which afford you a high level of protection during normal circumstances.  

That said, should the heating system ever fail during an extended cold period, there is always the risk of pipes freezing and damage being caused to the plumbing installations. Should pipework become compromised, the subsequent thaw can then prove to be the most damaging and costly period. With ice within compromised pipes thawing, the subsequent escape of water can very quickly cause substantial damage to any park home, given the high use of wood in floors, panelling and walls. Furthermore, damage can often go undetected for some time in light of pipes within park homes often being hidden out of sight by screening, and the seepage may only be discovered when it has spread some distance from its source and when you notice the floor in one area has become spongy, at which time the floorboards will very likely be beyond the point of saving through the use of driers and/or dehumidifiers.

Check your Insurance

While insurances can never cover you for the inconvenience and hassle arising though any damage your park homes suffers, the good news is that damage resulting from the freezing of pipes and any subsequent escape of water will often be amongst the principal perils that a decent policy will provide coverage for. That said, it’s always important for you to check the detail of your own policy – particularly how long it is before your insurance provider might determine that your home has been left “Unoccupied”, and how much (if any) you have to pay toward  the cost of repairing water damage that occurs (your “Excess”).

Provided your park home is your permanent residence, many insurance providers will allow for you to leave the property on a temporary basis for a reasonable period without restricting the cover you would enjoy when you are living in the park home. In the case of our Park Home Economy policy, your home is not considered to be Unoccupied” until after 30 consecutive days and, for our Select policy, you can be away for 60 consecutive days before special terms are applied. Unfortunately, however, not all insurances may be as accommodating – in some instances your park home may be determined to be “Unoccupied” after as little as 48 hours in the winter months so please check carefully, especially if you are planning a few days away over the festive period.

Many insurance policies are subject to an Excess, and it has become increasingly common for any standard Excess to increase for claims that are the result of an escape of water – perhaps not surprising given the potential vulnerability and exposure arising from the nature of, and materials commonly used, in the construction of park homes and referred to in this article. Our Select policy has no standard Excess so you do not have to pay towards a claim, even if it is the result of an escape of water. Our Economy policy does, however – the standard Excess of £100 increases to £350 for such claims and, while this might seem a lot there are often even higher Excesses applied by some insurance providers. The level of the Excess can also sometimes be determined by the age of the park home, with far higher Excesses being applied to older park homes, In the case of our policies, Excesses do not vary according to the age of the park home but, if you are not a Paul Baker Insurance Services policyholder, you should check and speak to you provider if you are unsure or have any concern.

Finally, when reviewing your insurance cover, establish if claims are settled on a “replacement as new” or “indemnity” basis. If it’s the former, as is the case with our policies, the full cost of repair or replacement will be paid, subject to any Excess (in the case of  the Economy policy). If your policy is on an “indemnity” or “market value” basis, however, deductions might be made to reflect the age and condition of the affected property – potentially leaving you far more out of pocket than you expected.