Maintenance and repair avoidance costing homeowners billions

Research recently carried out by the Gas Safe Register has found that homeowners in the UK are losing an average of £1,885 by not carrying out vital home maintenance tasks like servicing their boilers. This means what are being dubbed ‘cash leaks’ are costing UK households around £6.8 billion a year in total.

Financial challenges

Gas Safe Register quizzed 2,000 UK homeowners, finding that the cost of living crisis was causing over one in four people to avoid fixing, servicing and safety-checking household appliances before they become unusable. More than one in five people said they had avoided paying for regular home maintenance tasks.

The task most commonly put off by homeowners was fixing a leaking toilet. This repair can cost up to £60 an hour, though emergency call-out fees can rise to £120. However, if a toilet leak is not repaired when it needs to be it can cause up to around £2600 on average if property damage occurs.

How costs can spiral if checks are postponed

The next task most frequently postponed by homeowners was having their gas appliances serviced and safety-checked. This repair normally costs around £100, but it can leave homeowners with a bill of around £400 if is delayed. Clearing damp and mould was the third most-delayed task. It costs approximately £225 to draught roof windows and doors, but bills can reach around £850 if the repair is delayed.

The research found that men were more likely to delay these tasks than women. 21% of men said they have paid out more than £2000 to fix issues that they had put off, with only 8% of women admitting to this. The region most likely to put off these tasks was Northern Ireland, with 42% saying they had paid more in the long run.

More worrying research

Other research has found that only a third of homeowners know that not having gas appliances serviced annually can cause a house fire. Less than half knew that collapsing and becoming nauseous can be caused by carbon monoxide poisoning from unsafe and unchecked gas appliances.

Gas Safe Register’s head of professional and field services Rob Denman said: “With the cost of living rising across the country, including higher energy bills, there is no denying that we’re all feeling the financial squeeze. But, much like with our health, prevention is better than cure when it comes to gas safety and keeping you covered for the unexpected.

Denham added that boilers were one of the most important appliances within our homes and that it was important to “stay on top of their upkeep”. He said: A regularly serviced boiler not only keeps it working efficiently, helping reduce bills, but can also reduce the risk of gas leaks and carbon monoxide poisoning – keeping you and your loved ones safe.”.

Contact us

At Ability, we are always here to help if you need boiler servicing, repairs or maintenance in South West. You can reach us today by giving us a call on 01892 514495 or by sending an email to info@ability.uk.com. We will get back to you as quickly as we possibly can.

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