Standard home insurance usually does not pay to repair or replace a boiler that breaks down because of age, wear and tear or a failed part. Buildings insurance treats the boiler as a fixture, so it may pay if the boiler is damaged by an insured event such as a fire, flood or, if you have the cover, an accident, and it often pays for water damage from a sudden leak, but not for fixing the breakdown itself.

Why home insurance and boiler breakdowns do not mix

Home insurance exists to protect you against sudden, unexpected events. The Financial Ombudsman Service puts it simply: everything wears out eventually, and an insurance policy cannot protect you from that. A boiler is a machine with a fan, pump, valves and circuit boards, all of which have a working life. When one of those parts fails, insurers treat it as wear and tear or mechanical breakdown, not an insured event.

What buildings insurance does cover is damage to the structure of your home and its permanent fixtures and fittings. The boiler is a fixture. So if a fire in the kitchen destroys the boiler, or a flood swamps it, the claim is for damage by an insured event, and the boiler can be part of it.

If your boiler has stopped working and you need it fixed now, our boiler repair engineers can diagnose it, whatever the make.

What is usually covered and what is not

Every policy is different, so treat this as a guide and check your own wording.

What happened	Standard buildings insurance	Home emergency add-on	Manufacturer’s guarantee
A part fails through age or use	Usually not	Often, within limits and exclusions	Yes, if it is a manufacturing defect within the guarantee period
The boiler leaks and damages the ceiling below	The ceiling damage often yes (escape of water). The boiler repair usually not	May pay for an emergency repair to stop the leak	Only if the leak is from a manufacturing defect
Fire or flood damages the boiler	Usually yes, as an insured event	Not the main purpose	No
Someone knocks and breaks a boiler pipe	Possibly, if you have accidental damage cover	May pay for the emergency repair	No
Sludge or limescale blocks the heat exchanger	No, this is gradual damage	Often excluded	No, guarantees exclude damage from sludge and scale
Frozen condensate pipe in a cold snap	No	Sometimes included	No
A fault that existed before the policy started	No	No	Depends on whether the guarantee is still valid

Escape of water

Escape of water is the part of a buildings policy most likely to help when a boiler goes wrong. It covers damage caused by water escaping suddenly from fixed water or heating systems. If a boiler pipe splits and water comes through the ceiling, the ceiling, flooring and decoration are often covered. The repair to the boiler or pipe itself usually is not, and a leak that has dripped slowly for months may be refused as gradual damage. Some policies include trace and access, which pays to find a hidden leak and make good afterwards.

A boiler that keeps needing topping up often has a slow leak somewhere. Our guide to a boiler that keeps losing pressure explains what to look for before it turns into a claim.

Accidental damage

Accidental damage cover is sometimes included and sometimes an optional extra. It covers sudden, unintended damage, such as a pipe cracked by a dropped object. It does not cover wear and tear, gradual deterioration, deliberate damage or poor workmanship.

Home emergency cover

Home emergency cover is an optional add-on to many home insurance policies, or a standalone policy. It is designed to get an engineer out to deal with a genuine emergency, such as a total loss of heating or hot water, a burst pipe or a failed electrical supply. Standalone boiler insurance, sold as breakdown insurance for the boiler and heating, works in a similar way, with similar limits.

Before relying on it, check the wording for these common limits:

• A cap on each claim, which may not stretch to an expensive part.
• Age limits, where older boilers are excluded or only partly covered.
• Pre-existing faults, which are not covered.
• Servicing conditions, where you must be able to show the boiler was serviced.
• Beyond economic repair, where the insurer decides the boiler is not worth fixing and pays nothing towards a new one.
• Consequential damage, which most home emergency policies do not include.

The Financial Ombudsman Service regularly sees complaints about boilers declared beyond economic repair, so read that section carefully.

Your manufacturer’s guarantee

A new boiler comes with a manufacturer’s guarantee, and this is often your best protection in the early years. It covers parts and labour for manufacturing defects. It does not cover wear and tear, damage from sludge, blockages or limescale, accidental damage, or other parts of the heating system such as thermostats and motorised valves.

Most guarantees have two conditions that catch people out:

1. Registration. Vaillant, for example, requires its boiler guarantee to be registered within 30 days of installation, or it drops back to 12 months.
2. Annual servicing. The boiler must be serviced every year by a Gas Safe registered engineer, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

As an Ideal Max accredited installer and a Vaillant myREWARDS installer, we can offer manufacturer guarantees of up to 12 years on selected Ideal boilers and up to 10 years on selected Vaillant boilers, and every job we do carries our own 12 month labour guarantee. Keep your service record up to date with an annual boiler service so the guarantee stays valid.

How to give yourself the best chance with a claim

1. Make it safe first. Stop the water and switch the boiler off. Our broken boiler emergency checklist covers the first steps.
2. Read your policy wording. Look for escape of water, accidental damage, trace and access and any home emergency section.
3. Call your insurer before non-urgent work. Many insurers want to approve repairs or send their own contractor.
4. Get a written engineer’s report. It should say what failed and why. Insurers decide claims on whether the damage was sudden or gradual.
5. Keep your records. Service history, the guarantee registration and receipts all help.

What it costs with Vantage

We do not sell insurance or breakdown policies. We fix boilers and charge fairly for the work. In normal working hours there is no call-out fee. Gas faults start with a fixed-price Gas Safe diagnostic visit, and if we can fix it on the same visit, part of that diagnostic charge comes off the repair. After the first hour, time is charged in half-hour steps, and parts are quoted before we fit them. Evening, weekend and overnight visits are charged at the out-of-hours rates. Every rate is published on our prices page, so you know what you will pay before we arrive.

If the repair bill is starting to look like a large part of the price of a new boiler, read our repair or replace guide before you decide.

Frequently asked questions

Does home insurance pay for a new boiler?

Only in limited cases, such as when the boiler is destroyed by fire, flood or another insured event. A boiler that fails because it is old or worn out is not covered by standard home insurance, even if it cannot be repaired.

Does home insurance pay if my boiler leaks?

It often pays for the damage the water causes to ceilings, floors and decoration under escape of water. It usually does not pay to repair the boiler itself, and a slow leak over a long period may be refused as gradual damage.

Does contents insurance include my boiler?

No. The boiler is a fixture, so it falls under buildings insurance, not contents insurance. If you rent, the boiler is your landlord’s responsibility to repair.

Do I need to service my boiler to keep my guarantee?

Yes. Manufacturers require an annual service by a Gas Safe registered engineer to keep the guarantee valid, and many home emergency policies have similar conditions. Keep the service record somewhere safe.

Who pays when a rented property’s boiler breaks down?

The landlord. Landlords must keep the heating and hot water in repair and have gas appliances safety checked every year, which our landlord gas safety certificate service provides.

Boiler repairs across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire

Whether or not your insurer is involved, our Gas Safe engineers can find the fault, give you a clear written report and carry common parts on our fully stocked vans. Visit our boiler repair page or call 01462 506374. The phone is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with 24/7 emergency cover.