Snow misery for uninsured millions

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The cost of January's big freeze topped £2 billion as the snow left many homeowners across the UK with hefty home repair bills, a report has revealed.

A report by HomeServe, the home emergency and repair firm, showed that an estimated 5.9 million homes were hit with average repair bills of £343 - with millions of homeowners uninsured.

According to the company just 21% of households were covered by insurance - leaving 4,779,000 without protection.

Of those faced with huge bills and no insurance, 472,000 claim they can't afford to have the work done.

Boiler trouble was the most common call out during the Arctic weather - with 2.2 million households faced with an average bill of £351 after a visit from an engineer.

However, people needing to repair a damaged roof were left with the highest bill - facing an average cost of £546.

Jon Florsheim, chief executive officer of HomeServe Membership, said: "We've found around six in 10 people are taking out insurance so that they are covered the next time they face an emergency of this kind."

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