For many homeowners, the question of whether or not to buy boiler cover can be something that plays on their mind for a while. The more they think about it, the more convinced they become that they need it. Then you have the energy suppliers who know you’ve just moved into a property and will have quesions like “is it a good idea to buy boiler cover?”. They’ll use that to their advantage and out they come with the sales pitches, the leaflets through the door, discount boiler insurance, telesales calls…All leading you to think about it more.
Don’t go buying cover just yet though, because it might turn out you don’t need it at all.
For students who just moved out of their parents place to go to college, they might find that an affordable property for their budget is a small bedsit. Those properties wouldn’t be covered for boiler repairs.
It’s the same for mobile homes. Also for privately rented properties, where you pay the landlord. The boiler isn’t your responsibility. It’s up to the landlord to make sure that they have adequate measures in place to maintain the boiler. Making sure that you are not going to be without hot water or central heating.
The same goes for local authority housing.
Then there’s the issue of your existing home contents insurance and your building insurance. You’ll want to take a look through those policies as it could be that you’re already covered for boiler repairs. Some policies have that.
Bear in mind though that with your home contents insurance, you could find that you’re covered for *boiler parts only* and not your central heating. You’ll want to keep an eye out for that.
The same can happen if you one of those premier bank account services, where for a small monthly fee for your current account you get added perks included, such as insurance. Yep, that’s right. Even your bank account can give you some insurance policies included for a premium. One of the popular ones is mobile phone cover as well as roadside recovery being included in some accounts.
If you find that you don’t have any sort of insurance cover in place in the event of a boiler breakdown, you will find yourself facing an unnecessary and otherwise avoidable expense. It could especially be necessary if you recently got a heating oil tank or new boiler installation Glasgow (or elsewhere) by a professional. The last thing you want is to spend more money on a newly bought product and end up with no heating or hot water.
Shop around though. Dont just call your energy supplier to enquire about it or buy from the next company that calls you.
There might be cheaper alternatives around. No! Correction. There probably will be a cheaper solution.
When you think about it, having your boiler break down leaves you with no hot water and no heating. Thats classed as an emergency. So look into home emergency cover policies and compare the prices for those against how much it would cost to get boiler cover or your boiler and the central heating covered. Also, keep the number for Blueox Energy Products & Services or a similar HVAC company at hand so that you can call them around for an inspection and repair. If they can’t fix the problem, they would at least be able to offer you guidance on what to do and how to resolve the issue promptly. Within a short time, you should have hot water again.
You might find that it works out cheaper, equal, or a tad bit higher. It probably wont be by much though. However, with emergency cover, you get a whole lot more value for your money, as its not just your boiler thats covered. You also have major repairs covered from when the cold spells hit and leave burst pipes, slates of roofs, and water leaking through.
If you are going to look into this, then measure the costs against each other. Consider what’s included in each policy. If there are excess fees, etc. For boiler cover, there could be extras included, like your annual gas or oil safety check or even some plumbing cover for your drainage. In those cases, you’d need to keep in mind the cost you’d save compared with hiring someone to carry out plumbing jobs. It’s essential to weigh the benefits of boiler cover and additional plumbing services against the costs to make an informed decision. Having experienced plumbers like those at AC Plumbing (visit https://www.acplumbing.com.au/plumber-brisbane/ to know more about them) or a similar plumber service near you can be advantageous in such situations as they can provide expert advice on the best options for your specific needs, ensuring that your plumbing system remains in top condition and minimizing the potential for costly repairs or emergencies.
As in the case of fuel tank installation and maintenance for the boiler, you can bring in a contractor for your annual safety checks. If you already avail delivery service for heating oil refilling from a website such as romeosfuel.com, you can talk to their technician about regular tank upkeep and safety inspection to reduce the occurrence of unnecessary emergencies. This can improve the condition of your heating system and reduce the initial payments for boiler cover.
When you’re further looking into this, you’ll need to know the age of your boiler. On older models, the cover will be reduced if the company reckons it will need a lot of maintainence. In some cases they could also cap the number of call outs included in a 12 month period. After 6 call outs there might be charges incurred. In cases like that, you’d have to consider if it’s worth covering an old boiler or shelling out for a more reliable system.
While most plans provide you with a dedicated help line for emergencies, there’s others who have an excess charge.
If you have a young family then you’d want to be sure that the engineers can be with you in a matter of hours and not 24 hours later, (without an extra charge) leaving your family wrapped up under duvets, trying to keep warm.
Never use a service which uses a premium rate number to call them. You’ll get a cheaper policy but will cost a fortune to call them up. A while back there used to be a lot of this, however the telecoms industry seems to have cleaned a lot of that up now.
If you’re boiler’s over 7 years old, then the cover is going to be limited on it, more expensive and may even have an exclusion clause drawn into the policy if it does die a sudden death one day.
Boiler cover isn’t usually going to be the first thing on your mind when you move home, but it is important to have it. Without it you’ll find life gets difficult pretty fast.