Boiler/Heating System Insurance for Landlords

Ed_S

Hello,

I posted the following thread a couple of months ago, asking whether I could rent out my house on a residential mortgage.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1813733&highlight=

Anyway, I got consent to let from NR and I have a tenent moving in on Saturday!! I am going through an agent who are taking 8% of the rental income.

I am in the process of sorting out Landlord's Insurance. I've had a couple of quotes so far which dont seem too bad (cheaper than my current residential buildings/contents insurance). What i'd like to look into though, is some kind of cover for the Boiler/Heating system since this is potentially the biggest risk (short of having a nightmare tenant that smashes the place up) to my income if it goes wrong!

Should I be looking at Emergency Assistance Insurance, or shall I just speak to British Gas or EON to cover the boiler?

Any information appreciated.

Thanks

clutton_2

dont use BG - contact GASSAFE and get hold of a local gas engineer - (you will need him anyway for your LGSC) and talk to him about emergency repairs - until he knows the make and how old the boiler is, he will not be able to answer any questions

sjcollett

i;ve just come across a company called landlord response - though i haven;t checked them out yet!

Ed_S

Hi again,

Well my tenant moved in on Saturday and I got a phone call on Monday saying that the boiler doesn't work at all! No heating or hot water.

I haven't yet organised boiler insurance.

The tenant's (ex) other half is a British Gas fitter but apparently isn't allowed to fix it, he gave me a list of things he's checked and told me what it might be (Printed Circuit Board)

The boiler was fine two weeks ago when I was there (I made a point of testing it) and since then the following has happened:

1. EON came to fit a new gas meter (they sent me a letter saying it had to be done) so obviously the gas supply was turned off. My Mum was at the house at the time and she says she 'thinks' the guy tested the hot water, but I dont know for sure.

2. I had the Gas Safety Check done last Friday, which was arranged by the Estate Agent, and for some reason, a few tiles around the boiler had been knocked off completely and siloconed back on! I have no idea if the boiler was working when they left, but they signed it off as "Safe"

As you can imagine, i'm p$!%ed off about this ..... i'm reluctant to pay for any repairs without an explanasion from whoever did the Safety Check regarding the tiles. However, i've got a tenant who can't actually live in the house at the moment, so I need to sort it!

A plumber that was recommended to me, went round this morning and also said that it's "Probably the PCB" but he could only give me the name of someone else who could fix it, tomorrow or Friday.

Questions:

1. Anybody know anything about Ravenheat RSF 84 ET boliers? I've heard they're sh*t

2. Can anyone suggest anything to try with the bolier based on experiance? People have suggested that because the Gas supply was cut off then the bolier may get "Locked Out" and has to be reset, however i'd expect this to be the first thing the plumber would try.

3. What actually gets done during the Gas Safety Check and why would they need to remove tiles (the pipes run behind these tiles)?

4. If a plumber replaces the PCB (which I think are around £200) and it doesn't fix the problem, what happens then? Do I accept that they got it wrong, laugh it off, and then spend another X hundred quid replacing other random parts?

</rant>

Ed_S

Update for anyone who's interested or has a Ravenheat RSF 84 ET!

I had a Gas Fitter / Plumber go round with me this morning (the 3rd person to have a look) who actually knew what he was talking about...

After 20 mins he identified that the fan wasn't running (2 previous plumbers said the fan WAS running) and a loose connection on the Ignition Circuit Board was causing it - it was a connector which had a clip that had been partially disconnected somehow, he reconnected it and it fired up!

He charged me £35 call out, which I think is good!

I am however going to be speaking to the Estate Agent to get it touch with whoever did the Gas Safety check.....the only way this connector could come loose is if someone was messing with it, with the main cover of the boiler removed! Those guys are the only people who had the cover off before the tenants moved in....and IMHO the last thing they should have done after replacing the cover is test the boiler, which they obviously didnt.

Anyway, back to Bolier Insurance.... has anyone heard of / used "Domestic and General", the Gas Fitter recommended them?