Most energy suppliers offer insurance policies of this type to their customers, but it is necessarily advisable to buy your energy and your insurance together, as it can often work out a lot better if you buy them separately.
Every policy is different, so it’s a good idea to evaluate what you are likely to need before you purchase a policy, as you do not want to find yourself in a situation where your insurance is inadequate, but you don’t want to be paying over the odds either. It is unwise to assume that all household insurance plans provide unlimited cover, as some will have maximum payout amounts for each claim and per year, usually in the region of £1,000 to £1,500, or limit the number of free call outs per year to two or three.
While some types of cover will pay for your annual boiler service, which is an essential safety precaution, others won’t. A standard annual service costs around £70, so it’s up to you to work out whether you will be cheaper having this as part of your policy, or paying it independently. If you have a brand spanking new house with new, reliable heating equipment, then a cheap policy covering the bare essentials will be fine. However, if you live in an old house with a dodgy old boiler that’s always breaking down, then it might be a better idea to get more comprehensive cover.
The majority of boiler insurance plans provide their customers with a free, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year helpline to call when your heating or hot water breaks down, and pay all the costs of any emergency repair including call out fees and parts and labour. Definitions of ‘emergency’ can vary from company to company however, as some do not consider a lack of hot water to be an emergency, and others do not consider the failure of a central heating system during the summer months to be one either.
Before signing on the dotted line, check the definition of emergency as set down in your policy documents, as your assessment of this term may be very different from that of your insurer. Before you buy an insurance policy for your central heating boiler, it is vital to check that the policy in question is valid for your particular type of boiler, or you could be throwing money down the drain.
Most plans demand that your boiler is below a certain age when you buy the cover, and it may need to pass a safety inspection before it can be insured. Even if your old boiler passes these tests, it is unlikely that your insurer will be willing to pay for a replacement in the event that it stops working for good. It might be worth your while, if you have an older boiler, having it upgraded or replaced before you buy any insurance, as this could work out cheaper in the long run, especially given that modern boilers are far more efficient than older ones.
