How Pests Can Affect Your Home

No-one wants to think about having an infestation of pests in their home, but by including pest removal within your Home Emergency Cover you can ensure that you don’t have to deal with the problem alone. Most home insurance policies don’t cover pest infestation, so it’s important to check before a problem occurs.

With experts stating that the UK is due to be hit by around 120 million rodents as the weather gets colder and torrential rain forcing them above ground, they may be searching for a warm, dry place to nest. According to one expert, pest-controllers see a 30%-40% increase in callouts over the colder months.

Unfortunately, having these pests in your house can cause both damage to your home and to your health, so making sure you have a plan in place before the worst happens is important.

Rodents

Rats and mice can chew holes in your soft furnishings as well as in your woodwork. They also gnaw at pipes, brickwork and timber and through electrical wiring which can damage appliances, affect your electrical supply and even start fires. The insurance industry estimates that around 25% of all electrical fires in buildings are caused by rodent damage to the wiring.

Rats in particular are also carriers of many infectious diseases, including salmonella and tuberculosis and most of these can make you ill for several months, leading to time off work.

Besides damaging your walls and furniture and infecting your food, mice and rats could also damage things such as important documents or even family heirlooms.

Having a rat or mouse infestation has also been shown to wipe around £24,000 off the value of an average house so as well as being unpleasant to live with, it can also impact you when you come to move.

Wasps and hornets

Although these aren’t seen as a winter pest, wasps and hornets (usually the queens) will find somewhere warm and dry to hibernate over the colder months. Wasps nests are built by wasps chewing wood materials into pulp, so they can cause (generally) minor damage to your home. You also run the risk of being stung which can pose significant risk to those members of your family with allergies.

By taking out our Complete Cover package, you can ensure that you’re covered should you find your home infested with mice, rats, wasps or hornets.

To find out more about our Complete Cover and how our other plans are here to solve your home emergencies, including plumbing and drains and home appliances cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301 or get a free quote online in minutes!