Home Emergency and Boiler Cover Explained: What It Pays For and What to Check

Home emergency cover is insurance that pays for an urgent repair at home: a boiler that stops working, a burst pipe, a blocked drain, a failed electrical supply. It sends an engineer to make the home safe and fix the fault, up to a limit. It is separate from buildings and contents insurance, which pays for damage rather than for repairing a broken boiler.

What it usually covers

Policies are usually sold in levels, each adding to the one before:

What each level includes varies between insurers, so check the policy documents rather than the level’s name.

The terms that decide a claim

• The claim limit: the most the policy pays for one claim, including parts and labour.
• The excess: what you pay towards each claim. A higher excess usually lowers the price.
• The waiting period: a new policy often pays nothing for the first weeks, commonly 14 days.
• Servicing: many policies need the boiler serviced in the last 12 months, and may ask for proof.
• The boiler: some policies exclude boilers above a certain age or size, or certain fuel types.
• Exclusions: faults that existed before the cover started, and wear and tear, are commonly excluded.

Boiler cover and home insurance

Some home insurance policies offer home emergency cover as an add-on, so check whether you already have it before buying a separate policy. Some boiler plans are insurance and others are service agreements; the documents say which, and a service agreement is not regulated in the same way.

Renting and letting

A tenant’s landlord is usually responsible for repairing the boiler and heating. Landlords have their own home emergency products, and a yearly gas safety check is a legal duty for a let home: Landlord responsibilities in England sets out the rest.

At renewal

• Compare the new price with last year’s.
• Check the claim limit and excess have not changed.
• Check the boiler still meets the policy’s age and servicing conditions.

How Wisemium helps

Add your home emergency or boiler cover to Wisemium and it keeps the provider, the price and the renewal date with your home’s other responsibilities, so the renewal is shown before it arrives. Wisemium does not give insurance advice.