What Is The Best Boiler Insurance?

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Alexandre Desoutter updated on July 24, 2020

Home insurance can cover plenty of items, but does it cover your boiler? And if it does, how well are you covered?
Life without a working boiler is difficult - no hot water for your bath or washing up, and no heating in winter - so taking out the right boiler cover is a big stress-buster.

In this guide, we will explain all you have to know about boiler insurance, what it includes and excludes, and how much you might need to pay.

Let's dive in!

What is boiler cover?

Boiler cover is a policy that covers you if your boiler breaks down.There are different types of boiler insurance:

  • Boiler cover: which covers only the boiler itself and its controls.
  • Boiler cover with servicing, which includes an annual service to make sure your boiler is in good order.
  • Boiler cover plus central heating cover which will also include any damage to your central heating system.
  • Home emergency: which covers all kinds of problems including your electrical wiriing and plumbing as well as your boiler.

This kind of policy is made to give you peace of mind. Boilers can misbehave, and can be very expensive to replace!

What does boiler cover can help you with?

Boiler insurance can include:

  • Boiler repair - always included in basic boiler insurance
  • Boiler replacement
  • Central Heating repairs
  • Plumbing and drainage repair
  • Electrical wiring
  • Pest control

There are policies that include annual servicing of your boiler, to make sure your boiler is in good condition.
Depending on which boiler insurance you choose, you will be covered for boiler repair only, or you could be insured for more than just your boiler.

Does home insurance cover boiler?

Boiler insurance can sometimes be included in your home insurance; make sure you've checked with your home insurance provider whether this is the case. Boiler insurance is included in Home emergency cover, which is an optional coverage that you can take as part of your home insurance.

If you are renting your home, it is not your task to change or repair the boiler - this is the landlord's responsability. They must have a landlord boiler cover to cover this kind of accident, or pay for it from their own pocket.

How does boiler insurance work?

Usually you are covered for boiler repair and extras that you added to this policy.

But, depending on the insurer, boiler cover can work in different ways:

  • Time limit on repairs: this limits the time the engineer can stay.
  • Sometimes, you will have a claim limit, for example only one claim per year.
  • Age limits on boilers. You won't be able to claim if your boiler is too old.
  • A waiting period during which you cannot claim: usually 14 days to 30 days.

Do I need boiler cover?

Having boiler cover can be useful, as the insurer's servicing contract means you'll usually be taken care of faster than if you call a repairer independently. You also know they've vetted the repair service so you get a properly qualified gas safe engineer not a handyman with a van. Boilers usually are expensive, so getting boiler cover means you won't unexpectedly have to pay out a large amount of money for a new boiler.

What are the best insurers to cover boiler?

You will find in this table the best boiler cover, we also indicated cover limits.

Insurer

Available in Home emergency cover

Boiler repair cover limit

Boiler replacement limit

SagaYesUp to £2,000Up to £250
John LewisYesUp to £1,500Up to £1500
HSBCYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
Barclays BankYesUp to £1,000Up to £750
More ThanYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
SainsburyYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
Legal and GeneralYesUp to £1,000Up to £1,000
AvivaYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
SainsburyYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
Best boiler cover providers

Insurer

Available in Home emergency cover

Boiler repair cover limit

Boiler replacement limit

SagaYesUp to £2,000Up to £250
John LewisYesUp to £1,500Up to £1500
HSBCYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
Barclays BankYesUp to £1,000Up to £750
More ThanYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
SainsburyYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
Legal and GeneralYesUp to £1,000Up to £1,000
AvivaYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
SainsburyYesUp to £1,000Up to £500
Best boiler cover providers
Insurer

Available in Home emergency cover

Boiler repair cover limit

SagaYesUp to £2,000
John LewisYesUp to £1,500
HSBCYesUp to £1,000
Barclays BankYesUp to £1,000
More ThanYesUp to £1,000
SainsburyYesUp to £1,000
Legal and GeneralYesUp to £1,000
AvivaYesUp to £1,000
SainsburyYesUp to £1,000
Best boiler cover providers

What are the worst insurers to cover boiler?

You will find in this table the worst boiler cover, we also indicated cover limits.

Available in Home emergency cover

Boiler repair

Boiler replacement limit

EsureYes£500NoBoiler
RiasYes£500NoBoiler
Ageco Yes£500No
Post OfficeYes£500No
Sheila WheelsYes£500No
ChurchillYes£500Up to £250
NastwestYes£500Up to £250
SwintonYes£500Up to £250
CoopYes£250No
Worst boiler cover provider

Available in Home emergency cover

Boiler repair

Boiler replacement limit

EsureYes£500No
RiasYes£500No
Ageco Yes£500No
Post OfficeYes£500No
Sheila WheelsYes£500No
ChurchillYes£500Up to £250
NastwestYes£500Up to £250
SwintonYes£500Up to £250
CoopYes£250No
Worst boiler cover providers

Available in Home emergency cover

Boiler repair

EsureYes£500
RiasYes£500
Ageco Yes£500
Post OfficeYes£500
Sheila WheelsYes£500
ChurchillYes£500
NastwestYes£500
SwintonYes£500
CoopYes£250
Worst boiler cover providers

What should I pay attention to while purchasing boiler cover?

When taking out boiler cover, you should pay attention to a few details:

  • Is boiler cover included in your home insurance?
  • If you take out home emergency cover, usually boiler cover is included.
  • How many claims per year can you report? Does your boiler need to be serviced annually.
  • You should pay attention to the kind of boiler you have - if your boiler is too old, you won't be covered.
  • Is there a waiting period during which you can't claim.
  • Often the first year of boiler policy comes with a discount, so don't forget to check out what is the real price after this discount expires.

How much does boiler cover usually cost?

The cost of your boiler insurance will depend on the coverage you chose.

  • If you choose boiler-only cover with an annual service, it will be around £330 per year.
  • If your cover also includes your whole central heating system, it will cost you around £415 per year.

Average boiler insurance (without service) is about £260 per year.

What are the boiler policy exclusions?

You might not be able to get boiler cover if your boiler is too old at the start of your policy, or on renewal, or the insurer thinks it is beyond economic repair. Different insurers make different decisions, so if you have an oider boiler you may simply find your insurance is more expensive and your choice of insurer is limited.
You may also get a lower payout if the insurer thinks your boiler's problems are due to the fact that you haven't maintained your boiler properly,

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Alexandre Desoutter
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Alexandre Desoutter has been working as editor-in-chief and head of press relations at HelloSafe since June 2020. A graduate of Sciences Po Grenoble, he worked as a journalist for several years in French media, and continues to collaborate as a as a contributor to several publications.

In this sense, his role leads him to carry out steering and support work with all HelloSafe editors and contributors so that the editorial line defined by the company is fully respected. and declined through the texts published daily on our platforms.

As such, Alexandre is responsible for implementing and maintaining the strictest journalistic standards within the HelloSafe editorial staff, in order to guarantee the most accurate, up-to-date information on our platforms. and expert as possible. Alexandre has in particular undertaken for two years now the implementation of a system of systematic double-checking of all the articles published within the HelloSafe ecosystem, able to guarantee the highest quality of information.