Combi boiler "insurance" / replacement

[Mandy21]

Had a bit of a scare over the weekend when the central heating and hot water stopped working. Managed to rectify the problem this morning (loss of water pressure) but had contacted the company (Worcester-Bosch) who told me that they stopped making this particular model in 1997 (!) and they mentioned that it might be worth replacing it as parts will only be available until December.

So much for the estate agents saying the boiler looked quite new when we were being shown around 18 months ago!!

Anyway, just wanted some advice about boiler protection / insurance because I'm not sure we could stretch to funding a whole new combi boiler and installation at the drop of a hat. Have looked on British Gas' Homecare website and seems you can join irrespective of the age of the boiler, provided that parts are available. This means as of December we wouldn't be eligible anyway.

Are these types of schemes work it? are we likely to have to replace anyway?

Try looking at Helplink.co.uk they do all central heating systems, boiler etc and are really helpful, they will come out and give a free estimate for new etc we were looking at one this am and it was about £17 per month over a ten year period which sounds a lot but they service etc throughout that time also you need to weight up the pros and cons of purchasing one outright (we couldnt afford to do this as they can be about £600 plus fitting) and then a contract to look after on top, if you think though how long you staying at house against cost, maybe worth while getting a plumber in to have a look as we had water pressure loss and it was because the valve which releases excess water was opening slightly, our boiler had a lever which we pumped a few times and this closed valve therefore no more pressure loss, or I was told it could mean that the whole system needs closing down and flushing and all radiators bleeding as there may be a blockage on system.

Be cautious about British Gas. My mum died at christmas, had paid Homeserve for many years, but because she had died and matters went to Probate they refused initially point blank to service or fix the boiler. They had also failed to service it for three years whilst she was ill whilst happily taking her money.

Fast forward to today. British Gas agreed they had behaved incorrectly and sent engineers out. The system was easily fixed because it was a water pressure problem, but they made it very clear they would have condemned the boiler if there had been a fault on that. Any boilers were no parts are now manufactured are immediately shut down. What they believe correct could be different from what you have been told. You could end up paying for a service to have your boiler condemned.

They also served a warning notice on the gas fire. They confirmed it is perfectly safe and workable, but as of very recently if your flue brackets are not made by the same manufacturer as your gas fire they will also shut this down. New rules apparently.