Keeping your home safe after a bereavement

Make sure you use reliable information and advice on how to keep yourself safe, such as:

A home you own

• British Gas: How safe is my boiler
• Electrical Safety First: Safety around the home

A home you rent

If you are renting, you may be able to ask your landlord to organise repairs and maintenance.

• Take a look at Shelter’s information on what landlords should be doing to keep your home safe.

Hiring qualified and trusted gas engineers, plumbers and electricians is important to keeping your home safe. If someone does not have the right training, they could make mistakes that put you and the people who live with you in danger.

• Find a gas engineer on the Gas Safe register.
• Find a registered electrician from Electrical Safety First.
• How to find a good plumber from Which?
• Find a technician for your open fire or wood burner (including chimney sweeps) from Hetas.
• Find an oil technician from OFTEC.

Appliances that burn gas, wood, oil or coal may give off carbon monoxide if they are broken or not fitted properly. This includes ovens, boilers, heaters, open fires, wood burners and more.

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that can make you seriously ill. You cannot smell it.

If you have carbon monoxide poisoning, you might feel:

• dizzy
• sick (including actually being sick)
• weak
• confused
• chest and muscle pain
• shortness of breath
• headache

The NHS has information on carbon monoxide poisoning.

If you have a carbon monoxide leak you might see:

• a yellow or orange flame on a gas appliance which should be blue
• flames that burn weakly, slowly or go out, including the pilot light on your boiler
• yellow or brown sooty marks on an appliance
• lots of condensation in a room with the appliance

If you think you have a carbon monoxide leak, get everyone out of the house straight away and call the National Gas Emergency Helpline. This is a different number depending on which part of the UK you live in. See What to do in a gas emergency from the Gas Safe Register.

Your home can become damp or mouldy for different reasons:

• cold temperatures inside that cause condensation
• water coming up from the ground
• water coming in from another source, such as a leaking gutter, pipe or roof

Damp can cause problems with your breathing, your eyes and your skin. It can also be stressful and upsetting when parts of your home or belongings are damaged. We know this can be very hard to cope with when you’re facing all the practical and emotional challenges of grief and bereavement.

If you have damp and mould in your home:

• See National Energy Action’s advice on damp and mould.
• If you rent your home, Citizen’s Advice have information on damp and mould.