Best value servicing and heating cover?

mickym

Our boiler is past its warranty, and even though we used an independent plumber to install it and do services under warranty, I thought it may be more cost effective to go with a company that offers annual boiler service with repair warranty.

I've seen Homeserve, Hometree and British Gas offer similar services, but wondered which was best value for money for its service and reliability?

Thanks

[Deleted User]

I am not a great believer in boiler warranties: if I did, I would choose someone local. My neighbour told me that she had asked for advice on the town’s Facebook page.

Most heating contractors will want to carryout a full inspection/service before a warranty is offered. I have seen prices as high as £200 per year compared to the £85 that I paid for a service a week ago. The devil is in the detail. Some schemes only cover the actual boiler: higher priced schemes include heating controls; radiators etc.

BooJewels

Whilst I have no argument with what previous posters have said - there's another element to consider - the availability of suitable local tradesmen - both in terms of them getting to you quickly in an emergency - and finding one willing in the first instance.  That's an issue I'm experiencing with all manner of required tradesmen at the moment. 

I've used both BGs HomeCare service (not paying it presently as I have a new boiler under warranty) and have HomeServe cover for plumbing and electrics.  I called the latter out this week when I couldn't solve a perpetually tripping breaker on my consumer unit after eliminating all the potential causes.  They came 2 hours after I rung and replaced what was a faulty breaker.  If that ends up being the only call I make to them this year that single repair might end up being expensive - but knowing I have the service availability 24/7 also has a value to me.  If I end up paying the additional £20 per month for that peace of mind, then I'll still think I've personally had VFM.  If I can find a tame local plumber and electrician, I will change the arrangement. 

There's also another element I've encountered - as a single mature woman - I already know that I've been taken advantage of price-wise by tradesmen being a little enthusiastic with their adding up when pricing a job - so confidence in negotiating with tradesmen is a consideration too.

macman

None. Self-insure and use a local GSR RGI.
You might get HomeCare out in 2 hours in September, but it won't be like that in winter-it could be days.

jimjames

My local installer that fitted our boiler charges us £60 a year to service it. That seems the best value for money to me.

BooJewels

macman said:

None. Self-insure and use a local GSR RGI.
You might get HomeCare out in 2 hours in September, but it won't be like that in winter-it could be days.

I can honestly put my hand on my heart and tell you that in over 30 years of a HomeCare contract and a bit less with HomeServe, I have never had to wait more than 24 hours for them to attend.   The example I cited above was HomeServe for an electric fault, not HomeCare for my boiler.

In the cases where it was a smidge longer (maybe the morning after an afternoon or evening call to them), it was because I had told them it wasn't urgent and could wait - I will not expect a response within hours if I know it's not actually urgent, as conversely, I'd hope that if told them it really was time-sensitive, they'd be responsive. I actually tried to tell HomeServe it wasn't actually urgent this week, but the still came very quickly.

I've had them out late at night on Boxing Day when we came home from visiting family to no heating and water spewing out of the boiler, in the middle of bad storms and in the middle of the night when we had no power but couldn't ascertain why.  I've never had any concerns whatsoever about how long either company would take to attend.

BooJewels

wittynamegoeshere said:

You could work out how much you've paid over those 30 years.

I'm guessing lots of thousands.  Enough for several boilers and a decent holiday.

Living risk-free is very expensive.

Indeed, probably.  But we also had problematic boilers that got a lot of their attention, so felt it was worth it as we went along - I think they perhaps built us several new boilers - one piece at a time - in that time too (hence I recently called it quits and got a new one).  We also paid a fortune in car insurance and only made one small claim in 38 years (a drunk took exception to my neighbours Volvo - said it was laughing at him and took to it and our car with a rock - smashed a side window and then nicked my husband's sunglasses). 

Like all insurance, you actually hope you waste your money.

daveyjp

Home emergency cover including boiler is available through general home insurance policies.  It added about £100 to my premium and included the annual boiler check.

mickym

Plot Twist - My reason for asking this question was that I was paranoid that as we have started putting the heating on with our combi... and knowing from experience thats when we have had issues in the past with faults... today our boiler is displaying a fault saying its failing to ignite. 

So I know this is my own fault and should have got it sorted sooner. 

So, the question now is, what do I do?

Do I get a local gas engineer to scome out and fix, or contact the manufacturer of the boiler to see if they can come and fix it?

Its made by Vaillant.

mickym

Looks like these are my options with the manufacturer

https://www.vaillant.co.uk/homeowners/repairs-and-servicing/repair-options/

BooJewels

Sorry, I was addressing @daveyjp - intervening posts separated me comment and I'd failed to quote.

I'm not sure that my insurance offer it - I'll have to look - but that would certainly be of interest to me going forwards, once the boiler is out of warranty especially.  I'd also love to find a decent local handyman for small jobs.  When they advertise 'no job too small' - they fib!  What I need is a tall bloke who isn't squeamish about going up ladders or the like, who can give me an hour a week to do all the little things I can't reach or don't know how to do.