gas heating boiler breakdown cover

[berno]

I?m currently paying £15 per month for gas boiler cover which I haven't used (thankfully) for 2 years. That £360 is cheaper than a new boiler but I thought I'd look around at what else is on offer as our boiler is only 7 years old and unlikely to need replacing for at least 5 years.

All the larger companies appear on page 1 of Google and even MoneySavingExpert doesn't dig very deeply but, with only a brief stab at research, I have discovered considerably cheaper cover from smaller companies, as follows: Swinton £6.60 per month, omni-assist £5.50 per month and gas-elec £5 per month (payable annually).

At renewal, in a couple of months time, I can save £300 a year by switching to the gas-elec heat-care plan! I suggest that other householders look into this too, as the cover seems to be the same.

www.gas-elec.co.uk/heatcare.html

Check what you are replacing and ensure it really is like for like. I looked at doing this but when I delved deeper cover wasnt the same, eg limited number of call outs. Probably doesn't matter with a newish boiler but it would be a concern to me if the boiler was 8+ years old. Having said that my boiler is 18 yrs and I know I'm living on borrowed time. It first went wrong when it was 7 yrs old.

The cheaper insurance plans require you to have an annual boiler service from the company, which will probably cost more than the cost of the insurance.

For £15 a month you should be getting an annual service included within the price - for instance British Gas Homecare at £13 a month.

I pay £13 a month for a Landlord policy with a local company to Hampshire and I get an annual service on the boiler, and gas safety check included in the price. Unlimited call-outs as well.

Have a shop around, but also check the fine print.

not worth the paper its written on in my experience. better of putting money in the bank and building relationship with local company to service your boiler annualy and to come to any call outs. the insurance companies manage the margins to such a degree that when something does go wrong you get very bad service.

my boiler has broken down (nine years old) and I have a homecare agreement with BG. The damage may be terminal! BG have confirmed if it is beyond repair I am entitled to a replacement free of charge under the Homecare agreement. So its been well worth the money on this occasion

Yes I too am with Omniassist as they are the cheapest I have found.

I have been with Omniassist for a little over a year. The policy was in place as piece of mind, however now that something has gone wrong with the boiler I have not found them very helpful at all.
The boiler broke down, they could not locate the problem, so i had to call out another firm who found it not problem. Omniassist sent an engineer back out , who confirmed what the people I hired had found. We then had to keep chasing them for a week to find out what was going to happen. Was told it would cost £876 to repair, so I though Ok that is covered in the £1k policy limit. Howerver Omniassist decided in their wisdom that it would be better to replace the 7 year old boiler. For this they would pay £250 towards the cost of the new boiler if we used their approved installer. (yepp, the same ones who could not locate the problem!)
Be very careful if buying this sort of policy, and ensure you find a company that is not going to try get out of it when a costly repair arises.