Is Boiler Cover Worth It?

A boiler breakdown can be costly and inconvenient, especially during the colder months. With repair costs ranging from £150 to over £400, many homeowners turn to boiler cover plans for piece of mind. But is boiler insurance really worth the money?

Recent consumer reports suggest that over 50% of homeowners who invest in boiler cover rarely make a claim. In contrast, others experience long wait times for repairs. Are you actually getting value for money, or would a pay-as-you-go repair service be a more cost-effective solution?

In this guide, we’ll compare the pros and cons of boiler cover, what’s included in typical plans, and whether investing in protection makes financial sense or considering alternative options like a new energy-efficient boiler.

What is boiler cover?

Boiler cover is essentially just boiler insurance. It works in a very similar way to your home or car insurance policy. You pay a monthly fee and then if the worst happens and your boiler Breaks Down leaving you without heating and hot water, you just call up your provider and they will send someone round to fix the issue.

What’s Included in Boiler Cover? Comparing Plans & Hidden Exclusions

Not all boiler cover plans offer the same level of protection, so it’s essential to understand what’s included—and what’s not before signing up. While some policies provide comprehensive coverage, others may have limitations that could leave you out of pocket when you need repairs the most.

Boiler Cover Features: What to Look For

Most boiler insurance plans typically include the following:

• Annual boiler service – Helps maintain efficiency and catch small issues early.
• Unlimited callouts – Some policies allow unlimited repairs, while others cap the number of claims.
• Parts and labour costs covered – Ensures you won’t pay extra for standard repairs.
• 24/7 emergency response – Check if your provider offers same-day or next-day repairs.
• Low or no excess fees – Many plans charge an excess fee per claim, so compare costs.

Common Boiler Cover Exclusions

Even the best boiler insurance policies have exclusions that could result in unexpected costs. Watch out for:

• Older boilers (10+ years) – Some plans won’t cover older models or limit repairs.
• Pre-existing faults – If your boiler has known issues, they may be excluded.
• System-wide coverage – Some policies only cover the boiler, not radiators or pipework.
• Delays in repair times – Some providers take days or even weeks to send an engineer.

Before committing to a plan, read the terms and conditions carefully and compare providers to ensure you’re getting the best value.

What do you have to watch out for?

You need to keep a few things in mind when choosing boiler cover to ensure your policy will give you value for money. Here are some of the major issues to check when choosing your plan:

• Time limit on how long an engineer can spend repairing your boiler
• You may only be able to make a certain amount of claims per year
• Policy excess
• Timescale before an engineer is sent out to fix your issue
• Waiting period before you can make a claim after sign-up
• Policy not covering boiler failure
• Energy providers charging extra
• Older boilers often aren’t covered
• Maximum repair costs

In addition to the points above, make sure you read the T&C’s carefully so you know exactly what you are covered for and what to expect from your cover providers should anything go wrong with your boiler.

What are the benefits of boiler cover?

Boiler repair bills can be expensive, ranging from £150 – £400 depending on how serious the issue is. Having boiler cover in place means that you (hopefully) won’t get stung with a hefty repair bill that you didn’t have money saved up for.

It should also be quicker to get the problem resolved. A call to your boiler cover provider should see them arranging for an engineer to call round as a matter of urgency is the least you can expect. However, this isn’t always the case with huge numbers of complaints being lodged with the Financial Ombudsman Service every year related to the length of wait time before an issue is resolved.

With boiler cover, you won’t get stung with expensive emergency call-out charges if your boiler breaks down on an evening or on the weekend.

If my boiler is under guarantee why do I need cover?

Many new boilers come with extended guarantee’s or warranties. At WarmZilla, we offer a range of guarantee’s ranging between 2, 5 and 10-years depending on what boiler model you choose and what kind of guarantee you’re looking for.

Combi boilers have a lifespan of around 10-15 years depending on the brand, so if you buy a new boiler from us with a 10-year guarantee you wouldn’t need cover for the first ten years! To maintain your guarantee you just have to get your boiler serviced every year by a Gas Safe registered heating engineer. A service costs on average £80 depending on what part of the country you’re in.

WarmZilla offer Ideal & Worcester Bosch boilers, both companies offer excellent aftercare in terms of their customer service and in terms of response time to call-outs. If your boiler is still under guarantee or warranty there isn’t much point in paying for boiler cover. You may get an engineer out to your home slightly faster but many people have been left disappointed with how long they have to wait for an engineer to be sent from their boiler cover provider.

Is it cheaper to get a local engineer out?

In short, yes, on average it is significantly cheaper to just call out an engineer as and when you need one. The average cost of a repair plus the cost of an annual service according to a Which? Survey was less than £300, with many annual British Gas policies costing in excess of £500.

Chances are you could go years without needing to make use of your boiler cover, at an average of £300 a year this would give you ample funds to cover any local engineer fees to get your boiler fixed if and when it breaks down.

Many local engineers are able to attend to an issue within 24 hours as they understand how much of a struggle it is to be without heating and hot water in Winter.

The WarmZilla way

There is a better way, the WarmZilla way. You could buy boiler cover from anything between £12 – £50 a month and protect your old boiler, or, you could pay less than that every month and get a brand new boiler.

WarmZilla offer pay monthly plans on Ideal and Worcester Bosch boilers for less than £10.68pm*. So for less than the price of a monthly boiler cover plan you can purchase a Brand new Worcester Bosch premium boiler on finance with a system filter, system cleanse, gas safe installation, 10-year guarantee and a smart thermostat.

It doesn’t make financial sense to pay for cover on an old boiler when you can pay less each month to have a brand new boiler installed.

Take the WarmZilla survey and find out how much you could get a brand new boiler for. If you have an ageing boiler, rather than putting money into a boiler cover plan you might be better off putting the money towards a brand new boiler.

Another benefit of buying a newer, more reliable boiler is that according to the Energy Saving Trust, a modern, A-rated condensing boiler will use a third less fuel than an old boiler to provide the same amount of heat. This can cut CO2 emissions by a third and reduce annual energy bills by up to £250.

Summary

If you want peace of mind in knowing that you’re covered if anything should go wrong with your boiler, the cheapest option is to add boiler cover into your home insurance policy. It may not be as comprehensive as standalone boiler cover but it will be significantly more affordable.

If you don’t want the hassle of getting a new boiler installed but you want protection in case your old boiler gives up on you then make sure you shop around on your boiler cover plan and read the small print so you know what to expect when the time comes to call on your cover.

We recommend checking reviews of any company you plan on getting cover from, as even big-name companies that have been around for a long time can have a surprisingly poor review score and bad customer feedback.

You work hard for your money and you want to ensure you’re getting the best deal available, we think that boiler cover is a thing of the past and now that you can get a boiler from as little as £1499 or £9.69 per month on finance that it just doesn’t make sense to cover your boiler. Especially in light of some of the horror stories we hear about wait times and additional costs that get applied.

*Representative Example: Amount of Credit £825.00. Deposit £825.00. 120 Month Agreement. Total Purchase Price £1650. 120 Monthly Payments £10.68 p.m. Interest £456.04. Interest rate 11.9% p.a. Representative APR 11.9%. Total amount Repayable £2106.04. Example boiler: Worcester Bosch 12ri.