Recommend me a boiler insurance

[R3X]

I have crossed off the big brands ie Corgi, British Gas or anyone with rip off excess charges am left with:

Help-Link (£17.99 no excess, all parts+labour, say no price increase in year 2)
Swale heating (£15.50 no excess all parts+labour and same claim as above)
Homeserve (£25 no excess, all parts+labour but they bump up price each year)

Anyone had any experience with staff or engineers with the above 3 on my short list ?

 

[spoffle]

I can tell you 100% that they'll never send an engineer out to you!

Why wouldn't home insurance cover your boiler to a satisfactory level?

 

[nutcase]

I can tell you 100% that they'll never send an engineer out to you!

This.

Self insure? Can you cover an emergency cost in the next year on credit card or similar? If so, start putting in £18 a month or whatever you would pay a month and let it build up. In the unlikely event of a fail in the first year you would need your credit card but after that you've got a fund for it?

 

[Maccapacca]

Very rarely are these things good value for money, they are comforting till you need to use them.

https://www.swaleheating.com/boiler-cover-and-service-plans

Just looked at Swale's T&Cs and mostly everything that has gone wrong with my boilers in two houses we've had wouldn't be covered.

Put £20 away a month in a bank and forget about it

 

[koolpc]

We have BG cover. We pay approx £18 a month. Was wondering about cancelling but knowing our luck the boiler etc might have a big failure and we could be left with a hefty bill!

 

[Drizmod]

We took out boiler cover with Baxi once the two years had ran out and paid £10 a month. After a few months our boiler stopped lighting up and Baxi sent out an engineer and they fixed the issue in a few hours.

 

[R3X]

The issue with using home insurance is once you make that claim the premium sky rockets the following year, claiming on the emergency cover or boiler cover does not do it so much depending on company.

I have used Saga home insurance for the past 2 years and reckon they have done well for £300 each year, the cost of 3-5 roughly placed call outs per year, would have cost £1K+ alone.

Engineers in London charge £75-100 call out fees and that is just for the first hour, 2nd hour sometimes same or slightly less and not including parts, we could be talking about £200-300 per visit which is much more then boiler cover for myself.

So not sure how putting even £10 let alone £20 will be a better move for myself, one engineer call out would take the entire pot and the several other pots !

 

[Maccapacca]

But there's twice as many people who haven't claimed at all and happily paying their premiums. One anecdote isn't the answer.

 

[R3X]

We have BG cover. We pay approx £18 a month. Was wondering about cancelling but knowing our luck the boiler etc might have a big failure and we could be left with a hefty bill!

BG give good top service I hear but that £60 excess fee per call out is not nice, Swale heating, City help no excess fee or call out charge and cheaper. Homeserve do a £25 monthly fee with more things covered and no excess but do jump the price each year.

But I can't fault BG service the excess fee of £60 maybe worth the extra cost in the long run.

 

[R3X]

But there's twice as many people who haven't claimed at all and happily paying their premiums. One anecdote isn't the answer.

So better to put £20 aside and not let premiums for all to go up and up ?

 

[SPG]

Apart from trying to get a decent plumber.... pro`s and cons of both tbh.

 

[£15]

I've had boiler cover for the last 4 or 5 years and it's more than paid for itself in that time.

I'm currently paying £18 pm for BG and have called them out 3 or 4 times in the last two years. They've come out within a day or so and always been top-notch.

I always check out the cashback websites first, e.g. topcashback, quidco and can usually get a good deal.

However, my current boiler is a not very confidence inspiring, cheap Vokera and the one in my last house was a rather old Worcester-Bosch. If you've got a half-decent boiler with a good history, then it might be better 'self-insuring'.

BG also offer one-off boiler repair services, which might be worth considering.

It's another case of what you can afford and want - if it helps you sleep at night, then go for it. I don't have mobile phone insurance, but some people can't manage without it.

 

[bitslice]

Worcester boiler
never been serviced, no insurance
still running fine 8 years later

money saved £1,920
ie. enough for TWO new boilers...

do the moths