Winter checklist: the home and car jobs to do before it freezes

The winter checklist at a glance

Here’s everything in one place. Each job has its own section below with the rules and what to look for.

1. Boiler service

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises that gas appliances, flues and pipework should be serviced at least once a year by a Gas Safe registered engineer. If you own your home, nothing makes you do it, but a service is how faults such as a carbon monoxide leak get caught, and missing one could affect a manufacturer’s warranty.

Winter is the hardest time to book, because engineers are busy with breakdowns. If you’re overdue, book now anyway, then move next year’s service to the spring or summer. Our guide to how often to service a boiler covers costs and what a proper service includes.

If you rent: your landlord must arrange a gas safety check every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and according to Shelter, you can’t be charged for it. You should get a copy of the record within 28 days of each yearly check. If you haven’t seen one this year, ask.

HSE also strongly recommends a carbon monoxide alarm as an early warning, but says it doesn’t replace a yearly service.

“Most winter problems are cheaper to prevent than to fix. An hour on a dry weekend now, finding the stopcock and checking the tyres, is far easier than doing it in a hurry once something has gone wrong.”

2. Find your stopcock

The stopcock (or stop tap) turns off the water to your whole home. The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) says finding it now, before anything goes wrong, could save a lot of damage. Start by looking under the kitchen sink and near where the water pipe comes into the house.

Once you’ve found it, check it turns. A stopcock that hasn’t moved in years can be stiff, and you don’t want to find that out with water coming through the ceiling. Tell everyone in the house where it is, and write it down somewhere you’ll find it.

3. Protect your pipes from freezing

CCW’s winter advice is practical and cheap:

• Lag pipes and water tanks in cold spots like the loft, garage or under the floor. Lagging is sold at DIY shops.
• Insulate outside taps, or turn them off inside and drain them.
• Fix dripping taps and overflows, because ice can build up and block them.
• If you’re away for a few days, leave the heating on low, set to come on at least once a day.
• Find a registered plumber now, so you’re not searching in an emergency. CCW points to the WaterSafe website.

If a pipe freezes: CCW says turn off the stopcock, turn on the nearest cold taps so water can escape as it thaws, and keep hot taps off until the central heating is switched off. Move anything that could be damaged. Thaw the frozen section gently with a hot water bottle or a hot, wet towel. If a leak appears as it thaws, turn the water off at the stopcock and call a plumber.

If you rent, CCW suggests checking whether your landlord has lagged the pipes. Report a burst or leak to your landlord straight away.

4. Check your tyres

The law says car tyres must have at least 1.6mm of tread across the central three-quarters of the tread, all the way round, according to the Highway Code’s vehicle maintenance rules on nidirect. It also says to check tyre pressures weekly, when the tyres are cold.

A quick check is the 20p test. Put a 20p coin into the main grooves. If the outer band of the coin is hidden, your tread is above the legal limit. If you can see it, get the tyres checked.

The penalties are steep. Using a vehicle with defective tyres carries 3 penalty points (code CU30 on GOV.UK), and Liverpool City Council says drivers face a fine of up to £2,500 and three points for each illegal tyre. Worked example: four worn tyres could mean fines of up to £10,000 and 12 points, which is enough for a driving ban. A new tyre costs a fraction of that.

Before any icy journey, the Highway Code (rule 229) says you must clear all snow and ice from your windows, and make sure lights are clean and number plates are readable.

5. Check the car battery

The RAC says car batteries generally last three to five years, and that cold weather can significantly reduce a battery’s power. A battery that copes in September can give up on the first frosty morning.

Signs of a weak battery, according to the RAC: slow starting, dimming lights, the battery warning light, and electrics that play up. If you see these, get it tested at a garage before winter rather than waiting for it to fail.

What helps: avoid lots of very short journeys, which don’t give the battery time to recharge, and use a trickle charger if the car sits unused for weeks. The Highway Code’s maintenance rules also say to check anti-freeze in the radiator and screenwash before winter.

Not sure how old your battery is? Check your service history or the receipt from when it was replaced. If it was fitted five or more years ago, it’s at the end of its usual life.

6. Look at your breakdown cover before it renews

Breakdown cover is easy to forget because it often renews by itself. In Which?’s 2025 car survey, published in October 2025, 32% of people said they renewed with their breakdown provider without shopping around. Of those who challenged their provider at renewal, 76% got a cheaper quote.

Three to four weeks before your renewal:

• Check what you have. Roadside only, or home start too? If the car won’t start on your drive, roadside-only cover may not include it.
• Check the cancellation and refund terms before you switch, so you know what you’d get back.
• Get a couple of quotes, then ask your provider to match or beat them. Which? suggests live chat, so you have the offer in writing.
• Compare the yearly cost, as some sites show monthly prices by default.

The same habit works for car insurance. See the best time to renew car insurance.

7. Cold Weather Payment

If you get Pension Credit, Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Support for Mortgage Interest, you may get a Cold Weather Payment. In winter 2026 to 2027, it’s £25 for each 7-day period when the average temperature where you live is recorded or forecast to be 0°C or below, for cold spells between 1 November 2026 and 31 March 2027. You don’t need to apply. For example, three qualifying cold spells would mean £75.

In Scotland, GOV.UK says you can’t get Cold Weather Payments. You may get the yearly Winter Heating Payment instead, which doesn’t depend on the weather.

What happens if you do nothing

Usually, nothing, until a cold week arrives. Then it’s an engineer you can’t book for days, a car that won’t start before work, or a burst pipe while you search for the stopcock. None of these jobs is hard. They’re just easier to do on a mild afternoon in November than in January.

A simple plan

1. This week: find the stopcock, check it turns, and tell the household where it is.
2. Book the boiler service if it’s been over a year. Renters: ask for this year’s gas safety record.
3. Do the 20p test on all four tyres and check the pressures.
4. Find your battery’s age. If it’s near five years, or slow to start, get it tested.
5. Check your breakdown cover renewal date and what it includes.
6. Lag exposed pipes and deal with outside taps before the first frost.
7. Set reminders for next year, with the boiler service moved to the summer.