Frozen pipe alerts for vacant rental properties
Burst pipes in empty properties are a common, expensive, and often late-discovered claim — nobody is there to notice until the damage is done. Freeze risk emails you when a hard frost is forecast at a property you've flagged as vacant.
Why this matters for landlords
- Most UK buildings insurance policies expect 'reasonable care' to prevent escape of water in unoccupied properties — periodic inspection, heating maintained at a minimum temperature, or the water system drained.
- If you can show you were alerted to freezing conditions and had the chance to act, you're in a much stronger position with an insurer than someone who wasn't.
- Portfolio landlords with several empty units between tenancies can't realistically watch the forecast for every postcode by hand.
How we detect it
This one only fires when two things are both true: a hard frost (0°C or below) is forecast within the next three days, and the property's flagged vacant. No vacant flag, no alert — occupied properties have someone there and heating running, so this trigger stays quiet for them on purpose.
Full methodology, including the backtesting and where the evidence is strongest and weakest, is on the how it works page.
What to do when you get this alert
- Arrange a check on the property, or ask a keyholder or neighbour to look in, before the forecast frost arrives.
- Make sure heating is set to a frost-protection minimum, or that the water system has been properly drained if the property will stay empty for a while.
- Know where the stopcock is, in case a pipe does fail — minutes matter for the amount of water damage.
- Keep the alert as a dated record showing you had advance warning and a chance to act — useful if a claim is ever needed.
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Free, no card required. Every property on your account gets all four triggers, not just this one.
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