It's never a good thing when your boiler packs up and you're left with the appealing prospect of cold showers and microwave dinners. That event is especially unwelcome toward the beginning and end of the year when getting snowed in your house for a week is a very real prospect.
When the boiler does suddenly stop it's a pretty big deal. A cold family is normally an unhappy family (unless they're an Eskimo family), and getting a new boiler or
boiler repair isn't normally a stress-free exercise. That's not least down to the fact that a new boiler can cost a lot of money. But there are a number of measures that the consumer can take to either rectify or completely avoid the opportunity for a boiler to spoil your ability to cook and wash in relative comfort.
British Gas offer two of these measures that can give you complete peace of mind when it comes to your boiler. They can either come to your house and fit a brand new
Britsh Gas Boiler (expensive) or offer you a boiler care service that is basically insurance on your heating system.
A Shiny New Boiler
Make no mistake about it, a new boiler, British Gas or not, is a very expensive option. Then again a fully-functioning boiler is a bit of a necessity in the household as most of us tend to either like hot food to eat or hot water to wash with. Or both if you're really spoiled. So we're almost being held to ransom effectively because we need a boiler. Most people also don't know how to fit a boiler themselves so they have to pay someone to come in and do it. When you choose to bring someone in you're not just paying for a boiler, you're paying for the entire
Boiler Installation. This is of course more expensive than fitting it yourself but its definitely a cheaper option than buying a whole new house after your boiler blew it up because you fitted it wrong.
Taking Care Of Your Home
Why not take out insurance against that happening then? While you're at it you may as well take out insurance on your boiler, after all you can get pretty much everything else insured.
British Gas offer their own version of boiler insurance called
Britsh Gas Homecare. It's boiler insurance that offers more than you would expect though:
Unlimited call-outs to your house if you have any problems.
Annual boiler service.
Free parts and labour included for repairs.
So it does a bit more than just insure your boiler and it starts at around £10 a month. That's not exactly an unreasonable fee to charge to offer you peace of mind about not having to worry that you may have to get in a cold bath.
Like all types of insurance, they're good because they make breakages suddenly not matter. The same applies to boilers, and expensive breakages like what a boiler would be suddenly make insurance even more useful. To absolutely guarantee that your warmth will be maintained all through the Winter,
British Gas Homecare is probably the best way to go. If not then try and install yourself a new boiler, but you can't say you weren't warned.