*Check your home insurance. The most common claims are for burst pipes, floods, collapsed gutters and damaged roof tiles. However, some insurers may not pay out if they feel the cause is poor maintenance. Check your buildings insurance policy and read the small print to see what is and isn’t covered.

Ceri McMillan, Go.Compare’s home insurance expert, adds: “Now is the time to look at your home insurance policy documents and understand the cover you have in place. Is it right for your requirements?”

*Check your downpipes and gutters or get someone to check them for you. This is best done during heavy rain when you can see water coming from leaky joints. Blocked gutters can lead to overflow, damp and damage to your house.

If leaves are a big problem then you can have the gutters covered with a mesh guard or a gutter brush. Fitting bird/leaf guards to the tops of soil pipes and rainwater outlets to prevent blockages is also a good idea.

*Examine your roof and look for cracked or broken tiles. Binoculars can help with this. Do your homework and find a reputable roofer/maintenance person as there are plenty of “cowboys” who profess to be experts. Friends and neighbours may have recommendations.

Ettan Bazil, CEO and Founder of Help me Fix, says: “ While a roof inspection will set you back around £250, repairs that don’t require scaffolding can generally be done for around £170 for roughly five tiles.”

*If you have a heating boiler then get it serviced before the cold weather arrives. Ideally, you should have the boiler serviced once a year. This helps prevent breakdown and also makes the boiler more energy efficient.

Make sure you bleed your radiators if they are colder at the top than the bottom. If there are any arguments in your house about turning the heating up or down, experts say that the ideal temperature for your home indoors is at least 18°C.

*If you haven’t had your loft insulated then consider having it done as it makes a big difference to heat retention in the home and can save you up to £300 on your energy bill. The loft of a mid-terrace house costs around £285 to fit with 270mm insulation.

There are grants available for loft insulation and for replacement boilers via the Energy Company Obligations scheme. This is available for those who are on certain benefits and have an income of £16,190 or less.

*Insulate your pipes. This will keep the heat in and will also mean reduced risk of frozen pipes which can burst, causing flooding, damage and leaving your home without water.

*It is surprising how many people do not know where their stop cock is. Find out and check it regularly to make sure it is working. This will enable you to turn off the water to your home quickly should there be a problem.

*Inside the house, condensation is one of the worst winter issues and with many of us not putting the heating on until absolutely necessary, due to the cost of energy, it looks set to be a big problem this winter.

Condensation can lead to black mould on walls and other surfaces, rotting wood or peeling paint, musty odours, yellowish-brown water stains or fluffy white salt deposits on walls along the bottom of basement or ground floor walls, and it is caused by excess moisture in the air from inadequate ventilation and everyday household activities such as cooking, running baths and drying laundry on radiators.

Many of us live with too much humidity in the winter months as we turn heating on and close doors and windows, which reduces air circulation, causing moisture to become trapped indoors.

Open windows and use vent fans when cooking and after a shower or bath. If you are still struggling to control high humidity then use a dehumidifier. The new versions are small and energy-efficient.

*Insurers say that more house fires occur in December and January than in any other months of the year so make sure you install smoke alarms on each floor of the house and test the batteries regularly.

*If you have an open fire or wood-burning stove, you need to have it swept before you starting using it again after in autumn/winter or risk a chimney fire.

Get your home ready for winter