Survey shows broken boilers are a big worry for homeowners

The financial services comparison website, GoCompare.com, recently released results of a survey they carried out on almost 2,000 householders and they showed some interesting figures. 25% of those surveyed were ‘worried’ about their boiler breaking down, with many having financial concerns about how they would pay for repairs. In the event of a £300 repair bill, 27% of people have a fund specifically put aside to cover such issues, 23% held actual boiler cover and 10% said they would need to use their credit card. Some other interesting figures on the survey discussing boiler issues were: 42% had experienced some sort of boiler trouble in the last 3 years. Of these 42%, 22% needed their system completely replacing, 19% required emergency repairs and 54% needed minor repairs. The average cost of the above repairs was £469, with 12% actually having a bill over £1,000. 56% of those that took part in the survey had not had their boilers serviced in the last 12 months. 9% hadn’t had their boiler serviced in the last 2 years. 11% had never had their boiler serviced. However, many people were unaware that the cost of a boiler breaking down may be covered by home buildings insurance. Household misfortunes are often covered under home emergency insurance, which can include things like home security issues, draining and plumbing issues and boilers breaking down. Up to to a maximum limit, the insurance will usually cover call out fees and labour and material costs for temporary or permanent repairs. GoCompare.com also reviewed over 300 home building insurance policies and found 20% of policies provide home emergency cover as a standard part of the policy, while a further 51% provided emergency cover as an upgrade with an additional fee. Of the 71% of policies that did offer emergency cover either as standard or as an upgrade, 98% covered the main central heating system and 72% covered hot water failure. As we’ve previously highlighted, it’s incredibly important to have your boiler serviced annually to ensure they run efficiently and effectively. Often people don’t even think about their boiler until it goes wrong, but as it’s one of the most expensive things in the home to repair or replace, homeowners can get a nasty shock when the bill comes through. What can also be surprising to many is that many home emergency insurance policies will not cover any issues that have been caused by lack of servicing and neglect, making it even more important to have your boiler and central heating system in general serviced once per year. Article by Benjamin Clarke
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