Boiler cover for landlords: is it worth it, and which is best?

In England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, boiler cover is optional: the legal duty is to keep space heating and hot-water installations working, not to buy an insurance product. The practical question is whether cover buys speed, cash-flow certainty and contractor access at a price that beats self-insuring.

Is landlord boiler cover worth it?

Awaab's Law's 24-hour boiler-fix duty (SI 2025/1042) applies to social housing in England only — it does not exist for private landlords, whatever other boiler-cover pages imply. For private landlords, boiler cover is worth it only if the monthly premium buys faster repairs, a usable out-of-hours route or predictable cash flow that you would not otherwise have; the legal duty is still to keep heating and hot water in repair in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and none of those nations requires buying cover. England and Wales require installations for space heating and heating water to be kept in repair and proper working order; Wales’ Renting Homes regime treats space heating and heating water as service installations; Scotland requires necessary work within a reasonable time once the landlord knows about it; Northern Ireland also covers space-heating and hot-water installations. The strongest money argument against cover is Which?’s survey finding that boiler cover was worth it for only 1% of customers at most, while the landlord argument for cover is avoiding one cold-property emergency becoming a tenant, council and contractor-management problem at once.

Does landlord insurance already cover boiler repair?

Landlord insurance does not automatically cover boiler repair: it depends on the policy schedule, because some policies exclude mechanical breakdown while others sell home emergency or boiler cover as standard or as a paid extra. Aviva’s landlord wording says its policy will not cover wear and tear, ageing or breakdowns, and British Gas says standard home insurance generally will not pay to fix a boiler that fails from old age or a mechanical fault. A home-emergency add-on is not the same thing as full landlord boiler cover either, because MoneySavingExpert says this kind of cover is usually for temporary repairs only. The check is therefore not whether landlord insurance covers boiler repair in the abstract, but whether your buildings, contents or landlord policy names boiler breakdown, central heating, call-outs, parts, labour, replacement and tenant-occupied property. If the schedule is silent, assume ordinary landlord buildings insurance is not a boiler-maintenance plan.

Which boiler cover is best for a landlord?

The best boiler cover for a landlord is the policy that covers the let property you actually own, states the excess and exclusions clearly, and includes the response route you need; no law ranks HomeServe, British Gas, Octopus, Admiral or any other provider. HomeServe’s landlord gas-boiler product is explicitly landlord-only, quotes a £28.80 monthly expected second-year price for customers who have not claimed, and may leave the landlord paying installation costs if a boiler over 7 years old is beyond repair. British Gas landlord HomeCare’s obvious differentiator is that all cover comes with a Gas Safety Certificate, but that bundled certificate or service should not be confused with the legal gas-safety duty: HSE says an annual service and a safety check are not the same thing. MoneySavingExpert’s boiler-cover guide names low-cost direct options starting under £4 a month, but those are homeowner comparisons rather than a landlord best-buy table. No Octopus-specific boiler-cover terms or prices could be verified from the cited schedules, so landlords should compare current written policy documents rather than relying on the brand name.

What excess do you pay on a boiler cover claim?

Boiler-cover excess is set by the policy, not by UK statute: current named schedules show £0, £60, £99 or £100 depending on provider and option. HomeServe’s landlord gas-boiler cover is sold with a £60 excess per claim and is also available with a £100 excess; British Gas says its HomeCare excess options tend to be £0, £60 and £99, and a £60 excess is payable for every completed new repair if that option is chosen. Row.co.uk’s landlord boiler IPID states a minimum compulsory £60 excess on all claims made within the first 90 days of cover. That means an Admiral home emergency cover excess, or any other insurer’s figure, has to be read from that policy schedule rather than inferred from the market. An excess is not a cap on repair cost, and it is not necessarily charged only where the work costs more than the excess; British Gas says the selected excess is paid for every completed new repair.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.11 — “(c)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.92 — “In this Part, ‘service installation’ means an installation for the supply of water, gas or electricity, for sanitation, for space heating or for heating water.” Source
• Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 s.14 — “The landlord complies with the duty imposed by subsection (1)(b) only if any work which requires to be carried out for the purposes of complying with that duty is completed within a reasonable time of the landlord being notified by the tenant, or otherwise becoming aware, that the work is required.” Source
• Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 art.7 — “(ii)the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating or heating water,” Source
• HSE, Landlords: A guide to landlords’ duties — “You should not assume that an annual service inspection meets the safety check requirement, or that a safety check will, on its own, be sufficient to provide effective maintenance.” Source
• Which? boiler-cover analysis — “Our analysis of survey responses shows that boiler cover is only worth it for 1% of customers - at most.” Source
• The Awaab’s Law Regulations 2025 reg.1 — “These Regulations apply to lessors of social homes in England (whenever the lease was granted).” Source
• AvivaPlus landlord policy wording — “Please remember – in the same way that your car insurance doesn’t pay to repair your car if it rusts, this policy won’t cover wear and tear, ageing or breakdowns.” Source
• British Gas, HomeCare vs home insurance — “For example, if your boiler stops working due to old age or a mechanical fault, standard home insurance generally won’t pay to fix it.” Source
• Aviva, home emergency cover — “Home emergency cover is an optional add-on to your standard home insurance policy.” Source
• MoneySavingExpert, home insurance add-ons — “Crucially, this cover is usually for temporary repairs only.” Source
• MoneySavingExpert, boiler insurance — “Some home contents policies include a home emergency or boiler cover option, either as standard or a paid-for extra.” Source
• HomeServe landlord boiler cover — “If you choose to continue into your second year, the expected price for customers who haven’t made a claim is £28.80 a month* (£345.60 for the year).” Source
• HomeServe landlord boiler cover — “This insurance is only for landlords.” Source
• HomeServe landlord boiler cover — “If the boiler is more than 7 years old, we'll arrange a replacement, but you'll need to pay for the installation costs (including parts, labour and VAT).” Source
• British Gas landlord cover — “All cover comes with a Gas Safety Certificate.” Source
• MoneySavingExpert, boiler insurance — “Prices start from under £4/mth, but can top £30/mth for the most comprehensive cover, but both give you the choice to select different levels of cover and excess.” Source
• Insurance Act 2015 explanatory notes — “Thus if the insurer would have included an exemption clause or imposed an excess, the claim would be treated as if the contract included that exemption clause or excess.” Source
• Insurance Act 2015 s.23 — “This Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, except for—” Source
• FCA ICOBS 6.1 — “A firm must ensure that a customer is given appropriate information about a policy in good time and in a comprehensible form so that the customer can make an informed decision about the arrangements proposed.” Source
• HomeServe landlord gas boiler cover — “Avoid costly repairs with HomeServe’s Gas Boiler cover, where you simply pay the first £60 excess per claim.” Source
• HomeServe landlord gas boiler cover — “This insurance is also available with a £100 excess for £20 a month” Source
• British Gas boiler and heating cover — “Our excess options tend to be £0, £60 and £99.” Source
• British Gas HomeCare excess help — “If you have opted for a £60 excess, then you will need to pay £60 for every completed new repair.” Source
• Row.co.uk landlord boiler IPID — “There is a minimum compulsory excess of £60 on all claims made within the first 90 days of cover.” Source