Finances are notably tight at the moment – even though the price of oil and petrol has fallen back in recent weeks they are still significantly higher than they were at the turn of the year and more motorists are looking for alternative methods to save cash.
One such option is biodiesel – making your own fuel, usually by using cooking oil. Under the UK Government’s laws, this is legal – and the first 2,500 litres of biodiesel you produce from home are tax-free.
The problem however, is that if things go wrong in biodiesel production, the expense can far outweigh the savings.
According to a report by Defaqto, an independent financial data and research company, a recent news story noted a man in Northamptonshire was injured making biodiesel because he used an electric drill to mix the oil with ethanol and caustic soda, which in turn produced a spark that led to an explosion – leaving him with 20 per cent burns and no garage.
As a result, homeowners have been urged to check their home insurance policies carefully before creating any biodiesel of their own. Most insurers’ policy wordings state that ‘reasonable precautions’ must be adhered to and that a policyholder is required to ‘keep any property insured in a good state of repair and take all reasonable steps to prevent accidents, injury, loss and damage.’
If there is no evidence that a property owner has taken reasonable steps to avoid such damage, then chances are that the home insurance company will refuse a payout altogether. The savings to be made from biodiesel production are far outweighed by the risk of your home being completely destroyed – so take care, check your home insurance, and if possible carry out the manufacturing process as far away from your home as possible.
