✔ 85% of HomeServe customers have rated the company ‘Excellent’ or ‘Great’
✔ People with home emergency cover typically spend £758 less on boiler repairs
✔ 52% of UK adults have experienced a home emergency
HomeServe is one of the biggest names in home emergency cover, helping people repair and replace faulty boilers and more. So it’s likely to be one of the companies you consider when you’re buying a policy. For more information about replacing your old machine, check out the cost of a new boiler.
52% of UK adults have experienced a home emergency, and they can cost you thousands of pounds if you haven’t prepared by getting cover (More Than case study, 2019).
There’s no reason to take that chance. Instead, you can get a trusted insurance provider to contact when things go wrong.
You can also save money by buying an effective new boiler. Just fill in this quick form to get free quotes from trusted specialists who can find you a model worth insuring.
What is HomeServe?
HomeServe provides home emergency insurance and services for your household amenities, including water, heating, and electrics.
This includes help with boiler installations, as well as professional call-outs for all kinds of services, repairs, and replacements. Whether you need boiler cover or a carbon monoxide detector installed, HomeServe is there for you.
People with home emergency insurance typically spend £758 less on boiler repairs and replacements than people without cover, according to a study by Compare The Market.
The British company has been helping homes run smoothly for more than 25 years, and its helpline is open every minute of the day, all year round. There’s also live online chat available every day of the week.
Maybe this is why HomeServe has more than 1.8 million customers in the UK.
HomeServe costs
How much does HomeServe cost? That’s really up to you. In the same way that you decide which TV or car to buy, you can decide which insurance policy to get – or that you’d rather pay for individual repairs and replacements. It’s your call.
Repairs and services
Whether you need to install your new boiler, fix your sink, or repair your toilet, your first thought is getting the problem sorted, and soon. Butut hot on the heels of that desperate desire comes the thought: “Oh no, how much will this all cost?”
Even if you don’t buy cover from HomeServe, the company’s got you covered.
If you need a plumber, that’ll cost you a flat rate of £99. From repairing and replacing pipes to fixing a toilet or connecting up a washing machine or dishwasher, the cost is the same, which makes things nice and easy during a stressful time.
If you need your boiler serviced, a HomeServe heating engineer will charge £84, although you’ll need to supply any new parts. Be warned, though: HomeServe doesn’t deal with Ferroli, Gledhill, Keston, Promax, or Powermax boilers.
Prices get slightly more complex with other services, but they’re all more than reasonable. Here’s a table of everything else HomeServe provides, with the associated costs.
| Service | Cost |
| An electrical safety certification for up to 4 bedrooms | £320 |
| Install main earth bonding | £295 |
| Gas boiler repair | £279 |
| Repair/replace heating controller | £159 |
| Repair/replace extractor fan | £159 |
| Install supplementary earth bonding | £139 |
| Replace/repair electric immersion heater | £129 |
| Fixing/replacing plug socket (must be provided) | £120 |
| Find and fix wiring fault | £120 |
| Install ceiling fan | £120 |
| Repair/replace garden light/junction box/indoor lighting/light switch | £120 |
| CO Detector installation | £120 |
| Repair/replace trip switch | £109 |
| Replace/repair fuse | £99 |
Insurance
The other big part of HomeServe’s offerings is insurance. When you’re suddenly deprived of your precious hot water, or your toilet suffers a breakdown, you need help – and you need it to cost as little as possible.
So if you don’t want to have to pay the one-off fees listed above, you can pay annually instead, and save in the long run.
Firstly, there’s your starter option. This plan covers all your basic plumbing needs for a cheap price – especially in the first year, when you’ll pay just £1 per month.
And what’s more, a HomeServe representative let our secret shopper know that “you can cancel at any time, for any reason.” The best time to cancel, though, is during the cancellation period, which lasts for 28 days after you’ve taken out or renewed the policy.
If you cancel your policy during this time, and you haven’t made a claim, you’ll get a full refund.
Plumbing & Drainage Plus
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| House: £12 for the first year, then £120 per year Flat: £12 for the first year, then £111 per year | £30 | – Plumbing & Drainage – Water Supply Pipe |
Or maybe all that concerns you is whether your electrics bite the dust. In which case, HomeServe has you covered, with a flat price for both houses and flats.
Electrical Emergency & Breakdown Cover
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| £36 for the first year, then £84 per year | £30 | – Electrics |
Another specific option you can choose is to cover just your gas boiler. Considering the number of boilers which break down every year, this would be understandable.
18% of households have to deal with a boiler breaking down at least once per year, costing each home hundreds of pounds at a time, according to a uSwitch survey.
Gas Boiler Breakdown Cover
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| £96 for the first year, then £198 per year | £100 | – Gas Boiler repairs – Gas Supply Pipe – Boiler Service |
But maybe the boiler’s not enough for you. Maybe you want to be covered across the entirety of your central heating needs – and for an extra £47 for the first year, that dream could be your reality.
Gas Central Heating Cover
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| £143 for the first year, then £252 per year | £100 | – Gas Boiler repairs – Gas Supply Pipe – Boiler Service – Gas Central Heating |
Or you could opt for a more comprehensive plan, covering yourself for central heating and plumbing malfunctions in one policy.
Plumbing & Heating
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| House: £187 for the first year, then £348 per year Flat: £204 for the first year, then £348 per year | £60 | – Plumbing & Drainage – Water Supply Pipe – Gas Boiler repairs – Boiler Service – Gas Central Heating – Gas Supply Pipe |
But hey, maybe you want to cover electrics too. That’ll just be an extra £33 for the first year, which seems a fair price for not having to worry about fixing your fuse box.
Plumbing, Heating & Electrics
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| House: £220 for the first year, then £390 per year Flat: £240 for the first year, then £390 per year | £60 | – Plumbing & Drainage – Water Supply Pipe – Gas Boiler repairs – Boiler Service – Gas Central Heating – Gas Supply Pipe – Electrics |
All of the above plans pale in comparison with HomeServe’s biggest, boldest, most inclusive policy.
For just £33 more than the Plumbing, Heating & Electrics plan, you can have everything we’ve already mentioned, plus security, roofing, and pest infestations will all be covered.
HomeServe Cover 8
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| House: £253 for the first year, then £456 per year Flat: £276 for the first year, then £456 per year | £60 | – Plumbing & Drainage – Water Supply Pipe – Gas Boiler repairs – Boiler Service – Gas Central Heating – Gas Supply Pipe – Electrics – Security & Roofing – Pest Infestations ( wasp and hornet nests only) |
HomeServe also offers landlord cover, so you can take care of your tenants without having to answer their calls when something breaks.
Instead, they can just call HomeServe, and you can relax, safe in the knowledge that your tenants will receive all the help they need.
Your first option is the Plumbing & Drainage Plus plan, which is identical to the version above with the same name – except that when it comes to cost, landlords will be charged the same amount regardless of whether they own a house or a flat.
Landlord’s Plumbing & Drainage Plus / Plumbing Cover
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| House: £12 for the first year, then £120 per year Flat: £12 for the first year, then £120 per year | £30 | – Plumbing & Drainage – Water Supply Pipe |
Here’s another version which is more expensive for landlords than it is for other owners (apart from the excess, which is £40 cheaper).
You also get less for your money, meaning it’s more cost-effective to shell out for a more comprehensive plan.
Landlord’s Gas Boiler Cover
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| £150 for the first year, then £254.40 per year | £60 | – Gas Boiler repairs |
Again, the Landlord’s Gas Central Heating Cover is more expensive than its non-landlord counterpart, but it does include a gas safety inspection, which is not to be sniffed at.
Landlord’s Gas Central Heating Cover
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| £264 for the first year, then £345 per year | £60 | – Gas Boiler repairs – Gas Safety Inspection (CP12) – Boiler Service – Gas Central Heating |
Now this is comprehensive coverage. Everything from your tenants’ boiler to their plumbing, electrics, and security is insured with the Landlord’s Combined Cover with Gas Central Heating, leaving you to relax and let the rent money roll in.
Landlord’s Combined Cover with Gas Central Heating
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| £300 for the first year, then £336 per year | £60 | – Gas Boiler repairs – Gas Supply Pipe – Gas Central Heating – Plumbing & Drainage – Water Supply Pipe – Electrics – Security & Roofing |
And if you fancy tacking on a boiler service and gas safety inspection, HomeServe is happy to. It’ll cost the same for the first year, but be around £90 more expensive during subsequent years.
Landlord’s Combined Cover with Gas Central Heating, CP12 & Service
| Cost | Excess | Covers |
| £300 for the first year, then £426.48 per year | £60 | – Gas Boiler repairs – Gas Supply Pipe – Gas Central Heating – Plumbing & Drainage – Water Supply Pipe – Electrics – Security & Roofing – Boiler Service – Gas Safety Inspection (CP12) |
It’s important to note that the right new boiler can also bring you peace of mind as a landlord, as you’ll know your energy bills will stay nice and low. If that sounds appealing, just fill in your details, and you’ll get bespoke quotes from local experts.
Leakbot (£149)
As well as specialist engineers and insurance policies, HomeServe also offers new technology to make your home run more smoothly.
HomeServe Labs has created the Leakbot, which detects leaks and sends you a notification to your mobile device in advance of the leak becoming traumatically big.
You can also use the Leakbot app to book a plumber who’s been approved by HomeServe, so your minor leak doesn’t become a major problem.
If you’re eligible for Leakbot, you’ll be able to shed the eternal worry that one day your pipes will burst and doom your belongings to a watery fate.
HomeServe services
So, to sum up everything we’ve just gone through, here’s a list of the services provided by HomeServe which we’ve explored:
- Insurance
- Professional call-outs
- Leakbot
There is another service we haven’t explored, though.
HomeServe can also help get your new boiler installed, firstly by connecting you with a registered Gas Safe engineer to get it done, and then by acting as a credit broker.
That means HomeServe can sort out a finance agreement with you to help you pay off the boiler’s costs over a longer period of time.
And considering a new boiler’s cost can reach thousands of pounds, this service is extremely helpful.
HomeServe vs 24/7 Home Rescue vs PlusHeat vs British Gas
It’s great to be as clued up as possible about HomeServe, but the real test comes when you put it up against the other big players in the home insurance field.
So let’s find out how its deals fare against the competition, by looking at how much you’d expect to pay for household appliances cover during your first year with each company.
| Plan | HomeServe | 24/7 Home Rescue | PlusHeat | British Gas |
| Basic | £96 (£100 excess) | £89.64 (£95 excess) | £70.80 (£95 excess) | £156 (£60 excess) |
| Medium | £143 (£100 excess) | £113.64 (£95 excess) | £82.80 (£95 excess) | £192 (£60 excess) |
| Comprehensive | £253 (£60 excess) | £149.64 (£95 excess) | £106.80 (£95 excess) | £270 (£60 excess) |
As you can see, HomeServe offers extremely competitive rates, with a basic plan that’s 63% cheaper than British Gas’s.
However, HomeServe’s prices are a little steeper than those provided by 24/7 Home Rescue and PlusHeat, so it’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth a couple more pounds per month to get the premium service HomeServe offers.
It’s also worth mentioning that PlusHeat and British Gas’s comprehensive plans aren’t quite as comprehensive as those of HomeServe and 24/7 Home Rescue, as they don’t include pet control or home security.
HomeServe reviews
Prices are important. But when disaster strikes at home, you want high quality engineers, and a brand you can trust.
People seem to believe in HomeServe – on review site Reevoo, 94% of more than 500 customers have said they would buy from HomeServe again.
And HomeServe’s reputation is only growing: just one of the past 25 reviews about the company on Reevoo has been negative.
HomeServe can also boast a 4.4 score on Trustpilot, where around 38,000 people have left reviews. That’s more positivity than a climactic pep talk in a kids’ sports film!
Indeed, a huge 85% of customers have rated the company ‘Excellent’ or ‘Great’, showing the level of service you can expect.
Summary
HomeServe is a name you can trust, with affordable prices, excellent customer reviews, and 25 years experience of fixing people’s issues at home.
If your sink gets horribly clogged, if a loose wire endangers your pets and children, or if it’s the height of summer and you desperately need a ceiling fan installed, you’ll be able to relax, knowing it just takes a phone call for HomeServe to come over and solve your problem.
And if you’d like to get a boiler worth protecting, you can fill in this form to receive quotes from the very best boiler experts.
