Plumbing insurance: Know your numbers

Panic. It’s the first thing many people do when something goes wrong, especially when it involves water, leaks and damage to fixtures, fittings and possessions.

However, there are plenty of ways to prepare for the unexpected. Knowing what you’ll do, who you’ll call and how you’ll cope in an emergency can really put your mind at rest. From getting plumbing insurance to make sure the cost of a repair doesn’t cripple your wallet to knowing the right phone numbers to ring, every little bit of preparation counts.

Get an action plan in place

This doesn’t have to be a lengthy document containing military-style planning and precision. Just jotting down a few important phone numbers on your kitchen calendar or saving them in your mobile could make all the difference when something goes wrong, saving valuable seconds and minutes. For plumbing and drainage emergencies, make sure you know the number for your local water company. All should have out of hours services, but check if there is a different number for this. Some will redirect you from the main call centre number, while for others there will be a different telephone number entirely if your pipes burst or you lose supply.

You should also save the number of a reliable local emergency plumber. In fact, jot down two or three, in case you can’t contact your main man at 3am on a bank holiday.

Consider plumbing insurance

Better still, if you’ve got plumbing and drainage cover, make sure you’ve got the number for your provider’s 24 hour hotline. More and more households in the UK are finding that getting this type of cover in place is a smart financial move, saving time, hassle and, most importantly, money.

With this type of policy in place, there’s no need to ring round plumbers for quotes. No need to fret about the call out fee or repair cost. And no reason to worry if you need a pricey replacement. In most cases, it’ll all be covered under your insurance.

The fact is that even the best maintained homes can be hit by a plumbing problem or drainage disaster. And no matter how well prepared you are, dealing the damage and destruction can be painful. But one way to minimise the disruption and get things back on track as quickly as possible is to invest your time wisely in planning and insurance. Spending ten minutes arranging a policy and noting down those all-important numbers could end being crucial a little further down the line.