Holiday Cottage Burst Pipe & Escape of Water Claims Facts

At the height of winter, the list of concerns that holiday cottage owners have about their property gets a little bit longer. Long nights already create security risks for unoccupied properties, but it is the drop in temperature that can potentially lead to the most damage. A burst water pipe doesn’t just mean the destruction of your possessions: any flood can cause significant damage to the building itself. Schofields created this infographic detailing the cost of burst water pipes.

While the problem is in no way specific to holiday home owners, it is definitely one that is compounded by the nature of second home ownership. Unoccupied, unheated homes are the first to freeze when the temperature plummets. As we can see from our research below, when those cracked pipes thaw, up to two bathtubs of water can escape every hour. Add to this the fact that many holiday cottages are in colder, rural locations that see little passing traffic, and that an Olympic-sized swimming pool could steadily flood into your home over the period of a month, and you start to see the true scale of the problem.

Schofields has discovered that the average burst pipe insurance claim is about £14,000, but six-figure insurance claims for water damage of this kind aren’t unheard of. Considering you may be renting out your property to holidaymakers, further losses may be incurred as you attempt repairs.

Providing details on the damage and potential costs of your claim, our infographic also offers advice on how to prevent burst pipes.