While we often think of winter maintenance as cleaning the gutters or checking the roof (see our recent article on outdoor maintenance), some of the most expensive insurance claims stem from issues inside the house.
When winter hits New Zealand, the combination of plummeting temperatures, heavy rain, and high humidity puts a lot of stress on our homes.
Taking a proactive approach to indoor maintenance not only keeps your home warmer and healthier, but it also helps you avoid the headache of insurance claims - many of which can be declined if insurers deem the damage to be caused by long-term gradual neglect.
Here is a practical checklist of indoor maintenance tasks to tackle this winter to protect your home and your policy.
Water & plumbing
Water damage claims are among the most common in New Zealand, and winter air makes it harder for hidden leaks to dry out, accelerating rot and mould.
- Check under-sink plumbing. Take a torch and examine the pipes under your kitchen, bathroom, and laundry sinks. Look for slow drips, pooling water, or swelling in the cabinetry.
- Inspect flexi-hoses. These are the braided stainless-steel hoses connecting your water supply to taps and toilets. They have a limited lifespan (usually five to 10 years). Check for any rusting, fraying, or kinking. A burst flexi-hose can flood a house in minutes.
- Monitor the hot water cylinder. Look around the base of your hot water cylinder for any signs of dampness or rust. Check that the pressure relief valve isn't constantly leaking.
Ventilation & heating
Kiwi homes are notoriously prone to moisture, and locking the house up tight to keep the cold out can trap litres of water inside daily.
Insurance rarely covers damage caused by environmental mould or mildew, as it's considered a maintenance issue.
- Clean heat pump filters. Dust-clogged filters make your heat pump work twice as hard, reducing its efficiency and affecting air quality. Slide them out, vacuum or wash them, and let them dry completely before reinserting.
- Maintain extraction fans. Check that the fans in your kitchen and bathroom are actually pulling air. A simple test is holding a single sheet of toilet paper up to the grill while it's running—it should hold the paper in place. Clean away any dust buildup.
- Manage condensation. Wipe down crying windows in the morning to prevent water from pooling on wooden sills, which leads to rot and ruined paintwork. If you use a dehumidifier, clean its filter regularly too.
- Check your window seals. Make sure the seals around your windows and doors and in good condition. Replace worn draught stopping and re-calk any visible gaps as required.
Fireplaces & chimneys
If you have a fireplace to keep your home cozy, it requires specific indoor attention before and during the peak burning season.
- Check the flue and hearth. Ensure the firebox lining bricks aren't cracked or crumbling. Check that the door seal (the fiberglass rope) creates a tight seal so embers can't escape.
- Ash disposal. Never vacuum up ash, and always place cleared ash into a metal bucket. Move the bucket outside immediately, away from timber decks, walls, or wheely bins, as embers can retain heat for days.
The ‘gradual damage’ trap
Most standard New Zealand home insurance policies have strict limits or total exclusions on gradual damage.
If a pipe has been slowly dripping behind a wall for six months, causing dry rot, the insurer may decline the claim because it wasn't a ‘sudden and accidental’ event. Regular indoor inspections are therefore your best defence against this.
Spending a little bit of time checking your water and heating can save you thousands of dollars, weeks of disruption, and the stress of dealing with a major winter insurance claim.
