subject: Could having heating cover improve your health? [print this page] Could having heating cover improve your health?
The UK's unwillingness to switch its heating on in the middle of winter is a ticking health time-bomb, if new research is anything to go by. After the recent cold snap, uSwitch looked into the heating habits of the nation and uncovered some of the shocking ways millions of families are dealing with their rising heating bills and stretched household budgets. While there are many ways you can reduce your expenditure on your utilities including getting boiler cover in place for some families, it appears that flicking a switch is the first response.
According to the report, 55 per cent of the population switched off their heating at some point during the recent Big Freeze in order to save money which means that up to 14 million households have sat shivering on the sofa over the past few months. An even larger number of households 76 per cent - admitted that they have cut down or rationed the use of their heating system, a rise of seven per cent compared to 2010's figures.
One of the biggest revelations in the report was that millions admitted that not being able to afford to switch on their heating was affecting their health 14 per cent said that their lack of heating was affecting their quality of life. Meanwhile, the threat of a huge bill hitting the doormat is helping to heap the pressure on hard-up Brits 23 per cent said they were worried about the size of the next invoice from their supplier.
Discussing the issue and the impact it could be having on the nation's health, director of consumer policy at uSwitch Ann Robinson commented: "The impact on health and quality of life should not be underestimated. There really is no room for complacency we must all start thinking about and managing our energy usage very differently to in the past."
While there's not a lot many of us can do about the huge price rises in the energy sector, there are other ways to ensure we're getting the most value out of our household budgets. For example, getting boiler insurance in place is one way you can avoid costly repair bills when your heating system breaks down. The cost of sorting out your boiler can run to many hundreds of pounds, which could be an even bigger drain on your finances than a large heating bill. However, you'll no longer have to worry about stumping up for an engineer to sort out the problem with boiler cover in place and can instead sit safe and sound in your home knowing your heating is not burning a huge hole in your pocket.
