Boiler breakdown cover.

[Bill Derr]

Can anybody recommend a decent boiler repair plan, the sort of thing that you call out when the boiler breaks down?

A quick google revealed that there are loads at it now, just want something that is reliable.

 

[finneyb]

I don't have one - but hear tales of cover being removed as the boiler gets older - arguably just when you need it.
You could save the money and be your own insurance.
And look around for a local gas fitter so that you know who to contact quickly if it does breakdown.

Brian

 

[Hot stuff]

It's like all insurance, if you need to claim it's great to have but if you don't then it could be argued it's wasted money.
Mother had boiler insurance with Scottish Gas, circa £350 per annum. Not the cheapest by any means but I can't fault the service we received from them. It gave her and us, who lived over 100 miles away, great peace of mind knowing it was there and the age of the boiler didn't seem to make any difference.
It included an annual service with all parts and labour covered and any breakdowns or problems were dealt with promptly and with no messing about.
When she passed away a couple of years ago we had the boiler serviced before we sold the house and it needed a few hundred pounds of parts, again no problem whatsoever.
You might get cheaper deals with smaller companies but it may be a bit of a lottery and you don't want to find out in the middle of a freezing cold spell that you've picked the wrong lot to deal with.
Just my experience.

 

[MrTeroo]

We pay £17 per month to Scottish Power.

Annual service included. It went wrong a couple of years ago and they came and fixed it pronto.

 

[Hemsby]

Have used British Gas for years for boiler cover contracts including annual service. Have always found them very good.

I only choose cover for Boiler and controls, not the full system (can sort that myself) this year the annual cost was £201 on a 4 year old combi boiler. They do tend to increase the price annually. This year they tried a renewal for £240 said I would cancel so they reduced it to the £201.

I think it would be difficult to find a local engineer that would offer a breakdown & service contract including parts, due to the cost of some components and the huge variable stock they would need to hold. Additionally they would probably struggle to maintain an acceptable breakdown attendance during busy times.

Shop around and try a bit of negotiation. It costs nothing to ask

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

Check what cover your boiler manufacturer offer. I have a Pottereton boiler and they gave cover even when it was not working for £20 per month including the initial repair. The advantage of going with the manufacturer is that the vans carry all (well most) of the spares for their boilers so they can usually fix it on the first visit.

 

[tsb]

Have used British Gas for years for boiler cover contracts including annual service. Have always found them very good.

I only choose cover for Boiler and controls, not the full system (can sort that myself) this year the annual cost was £201 on a 4 year old combi boiler. They do tend to increase the price annually. This year they tried a renewal for £240 said I would cancel so they reduced it to the £201.

I think it would be difficult to find a local engineer that would offer a breakdown & service contract including parts, due to the cost of some components and the huge variable stock they would need to hold. Additionally they would probably struggle to maintain an acceptable breakdown attendance during busy times.

Shop around and try a bit of negotiation. It costs nothing to ask

I've found BG to take advantage of people. They will fit an own brand boiler and put you on a boiler contract at a monthly cost. There are decent boilers out there with a 10year parts and labour cover from the manufacturer. All you need to do is have a service once a year.(£60-£70 ish). If something goes wrong with boiler, ring manufacturer and they will send there own engineer to fix free of charge.
10 years @£70= £700. 10 years @£200= £2000.
I've known BG to persuade pensioners to go on their scheme even when they've had a boiler with 10year cover fitted.

 

[Hemsby]

Have used British Gas for years for boiler cover contracts including annual service. Have always found them very good.

I only choose cover for Boiler and controls, not the full system (can sort that myself) this year the annual cost was £201 on a 4 year old combi boiler. They do tend to increase the price annually. This year they tried a renewal for £240 said I would cancel so they reduced it to the £201.

I think it would be difficult to find a local engineer that would offer a breakdown & service contract including parts, due to the cost of some components and the huge variable stock they would need to hold. Additionally they would probably struggle to maintain an acceptable breakdown attendance during busy times.

Shop around and try a bit of negotiation. It costs nothing to ask

I've found BG to take advantage of people. They will fit an own brand boiler and put you on a boiler contract at a monthly cost. There are decent boilers out there with a 10year parts and labour cover from the manufacturer. All you need to do is have a service once a year.(£60-£70 ish). If something goes wrong with boiler, ring manufacturer and they will send there own engineer to fix free of charge.
10 years @£70= £700. 10 years @£200= £2000.
I've known BG to persuade pensioners to go on their scheme even when they've had a boiler with 10year cover fitted.

Absolutely agree regarding B/Gas own installation system costs, but why would anybody pay those prices.

Think the OP was referring to an already installed boiler. Based on my experience with currently 7 boilers installed in different properties I have found B/Gas the best for callouts and service. (No discounts for multiple contracts #-o )

If I were now to need a new boiler installed clearly I would choose a model with extended warranty subject to initial purchase price and T&C especially the small print.

 

[user 4112]

£150ish to a local fitter who employs a few men and has a few vehicles. He tells me it’s not the most efficient boiler out there but it is in perfect working order and the pay back time to change it makes swapping it out uneconomical to do so.

Same day callout 364 days a year which we’ve used twice in 15 years, there’s an annual service thrown in for free as well. My advice is to stay local.

 

[John Brown]

Check what cover your boiler manufacturer offer. I have a Pottereton boiler and they gave cover even when it was not working for £20 per month including the initial repair. The advantage of going with the manufacturer is that the vans carry all (well most) of the spares for their boilers so they can usually fix it on the first visit.

I agree 100% with this. On a few occasions I've had problems whereby the boiler repair man has to order parts that take a week(even though I could probably get them in 2 days from eBay). The man who turns up under the contract we now have will usually have the parts.
This is even more relevant these days, when most boiler menders don't seem to have any diagnostic skills, but fix things by changing parts until it works.

 

[graduate_owner]

Our household insurance (saga) has an option for heating / boiler cover. When our old boiler broke down about 5 years ago they arranged for a plumber within 24 hrs. The plumbing firm was a bit of a waste of time, couldn't get the part, couldn't come back because of snow etc. After complaining to saga they eventually agreed that I could fetch the part locally myself and got a local plumber to fit it ( the part the plumbing firm couldn't find) and they reimbursed me so it didn't cost me anything. Service was not as good as saga claimed in their documentation, but it did get done.

K