Boiler Repair Prices
It's every homeowner's worst nightmare - you wake up on a freezing cold January morning to find no heating, no hot water and some little warning lights flashing ominously on the boiler.
We want our boilers fixed immediately, and to be warm again, but in the back of our minds is always a worry that a boiler fix is going to be expensive.
Fixed price boiler repair prices
Many of the large energy companies know that we worry about boiler repair prices and many are now offering a fixed price service, which includes parts and labour.
The advantage of this scheme is that you are quoted a repair price before the workman turns up at your house and the cost will not escalate beyond the agreed price.
All parts and the workman’s time is included in the price, even if they need to make a return visit at a later time.
However, there are some exclusions to the types of boilers covered, and in remote areas of the UK you will pay more than the advertised rate for fixed price repairs which is generally around £80.
Pay monthly for repair work
The other popular way of spreading the cost of having your boiler repaired is to pay a monthly insurance premium which then covers you against boiler breakdown, as well as other household emergencies such as burst pipes.
These policies cost around £6 per month, and are sold by many of the big energy companies such as British Gas or nPower, and through insurers like Direct Line.
Shop around to see who is offering the best deal, and check that your particular make and model of boiler is included in the scheme.
Paying the premium monthly works out about the same as paying for a one off fixed repair per year, but allows you to spread the cost.
Some of the policies also include an annual service of your boiler, which will keep it working efficiently and make it less likely to go wrong in the first place.
Emergency boiler repairs prices
Of course the price of your boiler repair depends on what has gone wrong with it. If the boiler is very old and inefficient, the engineer may just decide it is beyond economical repair, and your only option may be to replace it completely at a price of over £1000.
One of the most common reasons why a boiler goes wrong is a fault with the heat exchanger, and replacing this can cost £325, and should the printed circuit board fail, the cost of a new one is around £220.
There have also been many surveys showing that unscrupulous heating engineers often bump up the costs of their boiler repairs by spending too long over repairs, or by doing work which is not necessary.
The advantage of paying for an emergency repair is that you may be able to get someone who you trust and have used before into your home to do the work immediately, rather than waiting for a contractor from one of the large insurance or fixed price repair companies to turn up.
