Does home insurance cover boiler issues?

If you find yourself standing in front of a faulty boiler, you may wonder if your insurance will help with the cost. Does home insurance cover boiler issues? 

While standard home insurance might cover damage to your boiler under certain scenarios, this isn’t always the case. For greater peace of mind, you might consider other options, such as emergency home cover or specific boiler cover. Here, we’ll go through the various types of cover available and share some top boiler insurance tips.

Is a boiler covered by home insurance?

It seems logical that home insurance would include boilers, but unfortunately it isn’t always so straightforward. Insurers are often reluctant to cover boilers under standard policies because they’re pricey items and prone to problems. 

Let’s take a look at some common scenarios when your boiler may or may not be covered under a home insurance policy.

Scenarios when a boiler may be covered

Home insurance protects you if something unexpected happens like a fire, storm, or vandalism. If your boiler is damaged under these kinds of circumstances, it’ll likely be protected under your home insurance. 

• Specific perils: There are all kinds of risks that could cause loss or damage to your property, from floods and theft to explosions. Which risks are covered will vary between policies, but some that are often excluded are pests, mould, and weeds. 
• Sudden and accidental damage: These are one-off, unforeseen events that weren’t caused on purpose, for example breaks, DIY mistakes, and damage by children or pets. This type of insurance, however, is often offered as an add-on.

Unfortunately there’s no guarantee your boiler will automatically be covered under either of these scenarios. It’ll very much depend on your specific policy and how exactly your boiler was damaged. But if it is covered, you’ll be able to claim for repairs or the cost of replacing it. 

If you’re curious, “Does home insurance cover boiler replacement, as well as repairs?”, the answer is, once again, it depends. Insurers do sometimes provide replacement boilers, but only if the boiler was damaged under certain circumstances. Bear in mind that they may not cover the full amount. Read your policy’s fine print to be sure.

Scenarios when a boiler may not be covered

There are also a few scenarios when your boiler definitely won’t be covered under standard home insurance. These include:

• Wear and tear: As is generally the case for the rest of your property and belongings, insurance doesn’t cover general wear and tear. If your boiler has problems because it’s simply getting on a bit, it won’t be protected under your policy. 
• Misuse and neglect: Similarly, insurance doesn’t usually cover items that haven’t been looked after properly — for example, a broken boiler that’s been overused or not maintained. 

Unfortunately, general wear and tear and a lack of maintenance are very common reasons why boilers go on the blink. This is why other insurance options offer better protection. We’ll come on to those in just a second, but first, let’s quickly cover how to find out what your home insurance actually includes.

How to determine what your home insurance covers

When you’re looking to insure something as fundamental as your boiler, you’ll likely want to be sure about the protection you have under your standard policy. But with boiler insurance being a bit unusual, and with so much variation between insurers, it can take some digging. 

Again, the only way to know for sure is to review your individual policy carefully. This document will tell you exactly what is and isn’t included. Be sure to read the small print and any Ts&Cs — it’s dry stuff for sure, but definitely worth the effort! 

For full peace of mind, you can also ask an insurance broker (like us!) to help you review various policies and find the right one for you.

Other ways to insure your boiler

If your boiler isn’t fully covered under your standard home insurance (and remember, it probably won’t be) then there are other options you can consider for more protection: emergency home cover and specific boiler cover. 

Emergency home cover will be more comprehensive when it comes to your home in general, whereas boiler cover will likely offer more in terms of your boiler and central heating specifically. So it’s about weighing up which one suits you, your boiler, and your home best. 

You could potentially also use these in conjunction with your standard home insurance. For example, if your boiler broke down and damaged your home in the process, your emergency home or boiler insurance could protect the boiler itself, while your standard insurance could cover repairs to your home. 

Emergency home cover

Emergency home cover protects you against any problems that need to be sorted urgently. It usually includes cover for problems like burst pipes, lost keys, and boiler breakdowns. Not only does it provide more protection than standard home insurance, but it also gives you access to things like 24/7 helplines, emergency call-outs, alternative heating, and even temporary accommodation. 

This is especially useful in winter, when a sudden loss of heating can cause real issues. But keep in mind that emergency home cover might only apply over winter, because some insurers wouldn’t count your boiler breaking down as an emergency during the warmer summer months.

Emergency home cover is sometimes included as standard in your home insurance policy, but often it’s an optional add-on. You can also take it out as a standalone policy, but this is usually more expensive. Be sure to check what your existing cover includes so that you’re not paying more than you need to.

Read more: Is home emergency cover worth it?

Specific boiler cover

If you’d like even more protection, you may want to consider specific boiler cover. You might be able to get this as an add-on to your home insurance policy, or you can take it out as standalone cover. 

There are various levels of insurance available:

• Boiler breakdown cover: This is similar to home emergency cover and will protect you if your boiler breaks down. It’ll cover things like emergency callouts and the cost of spare parts. 
• Central heating cover: This extends coverage to the other parts of your central heating system like radiators and pipes. 
• Full cover: This covers all of your central heating as well as your drainage and electrical wiring systems. 

A lot of boiler insurance policies, especially those that are more comprehensive, will also offer annual services to make sure your boiler is well maintained. This could work out cheaper than paying for services yourself. Specific boiler cover might also be more generous than home emergency cover when it comes to things like paying for repairs and contributing towards the costs of a new boiler. 

Tips for homeowners on insuring boilers

However you decide to insure your boiler, there’ll likely be certain conditions attached to your policy. Here are a few tips to help you maximise your level of protection and save yourself money:

• Age: Lots of insurers won’t cover a boiler that’s more than 15 years old, because a standard boiler lifetime is usually 10 to 15 years. Equally, if your boiler is fairly new and still under its warranty, then this would likely take precedence over insurance. More on this below.
• Lack of maintenance: Boilers are essential but temperamental household items, so it’s important to look after them through regular maintenance and servicing. This might even be a requirement of your insurance. So, is your house insurance void if your boiler’s not serviced? Probably. If you’ve fallen behind on servicing your boiler, your insurer may refuse to cover any boiler-related issues. 
• Maximum payouts: If you’re wondering, “Can I get my boiler replaced for free?”, you’ll likely find that you’ll have to pay something in. Some insurers will set caps on how much they’ll give you towards repairs or a replacement, usually up to £1,000 for repairs and up to £500 towards a new boiler. This is especially true of emergency home cover. Specific boiler cover tends to be more generous. You might decide it’s worth paying a little bit more for a policy if it offers a higher cap. 
• Limited claims, call-outs, and labour: In the same vein, some insurance companies will cap the number of claims you can make or call-outs you can request within a certain period — for example, no more than two per year. Similarly, they might limit the number of hours of labour they’ll cover if you do need repairs.
• No-claims period: There may be an initial period of up to around a month during which you can’t make a claim. This is to prevent someone taking out insurance on a boiler that’s already got an issue. 

Boiler coverage under your warranty

If your boiler is still under warranty, it’s always worth checking what this includes before taking out insurance. It might be that you’re already covered for boiler breakdowns and repairs, in which case you don’t need to double up and can save yourself some money. You could still consider insuring the rest of your central heating system separately. 

Boiler maintenance and inspections

It’s crucial to look after your boiler. As far as possible, try and prevent problems in the first place. Most insurance policies, guarantees, and warranties will only be valid if you can prove regular services, usually once a year. 

Good maintenance isn’t just important for protecting against issues, it also helps your boiler to run efficiently. If you’re a landlord, you’re legally required to get your boiler serviced. 

If you do have an issue, never try to repair your boiler yourself. Not only could you risk hurting yourself, but it might also make your insurance policy invalid. Always ask a professional.

For gas boilers, inspections must be carried out by a certified Gas Safe engineer, and for electric boilers by a qualified electrician. They’ll check your boiler is working as it should and identify any issues that need to be fixed. Hang on to all your inspection and servicing documents so that you can prove you’ve been maintaining your boiler should you ever need to claim on your warranty or insurance. 

Quickfire summary

Standard home insurance typically doesn’t cover boiler issues, though it’s worth looking at the Ts&Cs of your particular policy to be sure. If it’s not included, and you would like this additional peace of mind, it might be worth getting emergency home cover or specific boiler cover to protect you. 

The team at Howden is on hand to answer all your boiler cover-related questions. Contact us today, or ask for a quote.

Also read:

• Building insurance vs home insurance: What’s the difference
• What’s the average home insurance cost?
• Here’s why your home insurance claim could be rejected

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