Boiler Insurance
Considering the cost of replacing a boiler, or major parts of your central heating system from scratch, it’s no wonder that insurance plans to cover your boiler, and other parts of your system, have become so popular.
And one for the largest schemes out there is offered by British Gas.
But lets have a look at the basics first.
In the U.K. alone there are over 22 million properties that use a boiler to power their hot water and central hearting systems, and what quite a few might not realise, is that boilers are rarely covered by home insurance.
So if your boiler decides to have a bad day and throw in the towel, you would be at least looking at anywhere between £750 to £3,000 to get a new one and replace it. And as you should have your boiler serviced once a year, you might as well get that in as part of your insurance deal.
Of course, it’s only necessary to get such cover if you are the owner, or landlord of the property, because if you are a tenant, then it’s not your responsibility. But if you are a tenant, do make sure that your landlord, or housing association, does service the boiler at the stated one year interval. If they don’t, not only is it a danger to you, but also against the law.
The various insurance schemes on offer are usually arranged in monthly payments and can cover everything from the boiler itself, to the boiler and central heating system, to the top end schemes which can even cover pipework and appliances.
The minimum you should have is a boiler and boiler service cover. As mentioned earlier, boiler servicing is essential, but it’s said that four out of ten people don’t bother with such cover.
And bear in mind, that the cost alone of having your boiler serviced by a Gas Safe Registered engineer is anything from £75 to over £100, depending on the size of the boiler and the system you have.
But, if you can afford it, it is advisable that you take the leap up and get cover that will at least cover your boiler and central heating system, if not the pipework and appliances.
There are quite a few companies that offer such cover, but one of the most comprehensive schemes out there is from British Gas.
Their HomeCare® plan is based on a set monthly fee, which will cover you against a graduated list of things that can go wrong with your boiler, central heating system, and other systems and appliances. The more you pay, the more things are covered. And within each level of the programme, you can opt to effectively pay an excess (as with a car insurance) and pay less per month.
It starts with Level 100, or to be precise, HomeCare® Flexi 100™. This starts from £9 a month and the Flexi in the title basically refers to the £50 excess, which represents a £50 fixed fee per repair. Therefore, no matter what your repair costs British Gas, it will only cost you £50 per repair. Now with boiler repairs averaging around £250, you’ll be £200 better off straightaway.
Still on Level 100, the next step up is to HomeCare® 100™. This is basically Level 100 without the excess; an all inclusive price.
And it goes right up to Level 400, from £27 which covers boiler, central heating system, and plumbing and drains. In other words, the ultimate cover.
Now, when you take on any of these agreements, just have a quick look at the fine print, because there are a number of possible clauses that you need to understand. There might be a cap of an engineers time on a particular job, certain emergency repairs might not be covered, or that a certain boiler might be deemed too old to include within a policy.
So, whatever level of cover you feel comfortable with, one of these policies will certainly give you peace of mind with what it one of the most important systems in your house.
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