Insurance company urges landlords to teach tenants how to turn off utilities in emergencies

An insurance company is urging landlords and letting agents to help tenants locate their utility shut-off points, after research reveals 22 million adults in the UK don’t know how to switch off their utilities in an emergency.

Direct Home Line Insurance reveal only two-thirds of tenants (68%) are confident that they could locate their electricity consumer unit.

To improve safety awareness, the company has created a guide for tenants outlining what to do in the event of a water leak, how to switch off electricity, and what steps to take if they smell gas.

Quarter of tenants don’t know how to switch off gas in the event of a leak

According to the research, more than a quarter of tenants (27%) who live in homes with a gas supply admit that they wouldn’t know how or where to switch off the gas in the event of a leak.

The data reveals 7% of tenants say that they aren’t sure where to switch off their electricity but only 68% say they know exactly where their consumer unit is situated.

A small percentage (3%) of people claimed that they didn’t have an electricity consumer unit in their home and 4% said they didn’t have a water stopcock.

For homeowners, almost one in ten don’t know where to switch off the water inside their home and twice as many (20%) don’t know where their external water stopcock is located.

Almost half of owner-occupiers (45%) have had an incident at home where they’ve needed to switch off their electricity, 44% have needed to switch off their water and 31% their gas supply.

Of those who have needed to switch off their water indoors 31% admit that they weren’t able to do so. Of those that needed to turn off their gas, nearly half (48%) were unable to do so, and 28% were unable to turn off their electricity when an incident occurred.

Important for landlords to show their tenants where to switch off their utilities in the event of an emergency

Direct Line urges landlords to show their tenants how to switch off utilities and has made a list of what to do in the event of an emergency.

Dan Simson, head of Direct Line Home Insurance, said: “It may seem like a small thing, but knowing where and how to switch off your water, electricity and gas is potentially life-saving and could certainly help prevent a lot of damage to your home.

“Our research also highlights how important it is for landlords to show their tenants where to switch off their utilities in the event of an emergency. Domestic emergencies can happen at any time, so it’s important that everyone in the household knows in advance how to switch off utilities quickly and safely.”

In the event of a water leak, Direct Line advises making sure you know where the stopcock is located so you can turn off the water supply. This can usually be found in the kitchen under the sink, although in some homes it may be located in the front or back hall, or outside.

If you smell gas, the insurance company recommends turning off the gas at the mains tap, which is usually found near the gas meter and has a handle that can be turned 90 degrees. Direct Line warns not to turn on or off any power or light switches, and not to light any flames inside the property. Instead, open doors and windows to ventilate the area and contact your gas supplier immediately.

To switch off electricity, locate your consumer unit, the central electrical panel for your home, often known as the fuse box. It is typically found in the hallway, under the stairs, in a cupboard near the front door, or in the kitchen. It’s often positioned close to your electricity meter, where the main power supply enters the property.

The consumer unit will contain the mains switch that turns off all power in the property. This switch is usually red and located at one end of the row of circuit breakers.