The weather’s warming up, it’s getting lighter and you’re not using your boiler and central heating so often. It’s the perfect time to do some home maintenance to stop problems before they develop.

We’ve put together a handy guide with 5 tips for maintaining some essential parts of your home.

1. Check your boiler

Your boiler has been working hard over winter keeping you and your home warm and even if it seems to have been running smoothly, it’s a good time to make sure there aren’t any problems developing to help avoid potentially costly repair bills later in the year.

• Look for leaks: over the winter months, the cold weather can cause pipes to freeze and expand which can cause them to split over time. Check the seals around the boiler are still in place and that the fittings are still tightly connected.
• Listen for hissing: if your system is making strange noises, it may be caused by boiler kettling. This happens as a result of the build-up of limescale and hard water inside your boiler’s heat exchange.
• Low boiler pressure: always keep an eye on your boiler’s water pressure to ensure everything’s operating smoothly. When the pressure is below 1, your central heating system won’t operate as it should.

Making sure you have Boiler & Central Heating Cover in place before your system develops these problems is crucial, so you know you’ll be covered in the event of an emergency.

2. Bleed your radiators

If the top of your radiator is cold but the bottom is warm, this indicates that trapped air needs releasing to improve flow. Bleeding your radiators ensures that they can reach maximum heat when you next need them.

Follow our handy step-by-step ‘How Do I Bleed My Radiators‘ guide.

3. Test your alarms

The change of season is the ideal time to test your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. It’s really important to make sure they’re regularly maintained to ensure they work as effectively as possible. You should test your smoke detector at least once a month, making sure that the batteries are still working.

4. Protect your plumbing

Look after your plumbing and drainage system by ensuring you’re not pouring oil and fats from cooking down your kitchen sink or flushing items that shouldn’t be.

If you suspect a blockage, clean your drains and pipes regularly. You can do this with half a cup of baking soda, followed by a cup of white vinegar and very hot (but not boiling) water; this will help remove blockages quickly without corroding your pipes like some drain chemicals can.

You can also take out Plumbing & Drainage Cover before any problems develop to ensure you’re covered in the event of an emergency.

5. Clean your kitchen appliances

Cleaning your appliances is important to prolonging their lifespan and keeping them working at their best.

For added peace of mind, you can cover up to 10 of your most important kitchen appliances, including your oven, fridge and freezer, washing machine and dishwasher, on one plan to ensure you’re fully protected if your appliance breaks down.

You can read our handy guides for cleaning your dishwasher and cleaning your washing machine for more tips.

To find out more about our Complete Home Emergency plans, boiler and central heating insurance or other types of home care cover plans, such as plumbing and drainage insurance and home appliances cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.

If you’ve ever had your external locks, doors or windows fail or lost your only available key, you know how stressful it can be knowing your home is insecure. You’ll also have to spend time and money finding a locksmith to change your locks and replace your keys.

A recent survey by Moneysupermarket found that nearly 37% of UK homeowners have lost at least one set of keys within their lifetime. This can impact your home’s security and even invalidate your home insurance in some cases. Most home insurers won’t pay out unless there’s forced entry to your property.

Benefits of Home Security insurance

Making sure you have cover in place to protect you against losing your keys and securing your locks can give you the peace of mind that if the worst were to happen, you’ll be able to get back into or protect your property quickly. It also prevents expensive call-out charges, especially if you were to call for a locksmith in the middle of the night or at the weekend.

What does Home Security insurance cover you for?

When you buy Complete Home Emergency Cover with us, you’ll get the benefit of Home Security insurance. There are two parts to the cover:

• You’ll be covered in the event that you experience damage to or failure of any of your external locks, doors or windows that means your main living areas are unsafe and easily accessible to intruders
• If you lose the only available key to your home, one of our trusted, approved engineers will gain access to your property and ensure it’s left secure for you. This means you’re not left waiting for a locksmith to rescue you

Tips to keep your keys safe

On average, we spend 10 minutes a day searching for items we’ve misplaced, keys being the second most common thing we lose. We’ve put together some tips for keeping your keys safe:

• Avoid leaving spare keys in hidden places (such as under your doormat). It’s not as safe as you think
• Separate your keys out rather than having them all on one bunch
• Leave a spare with a family member or a trusted neighbour
• Keep your keys out of sight when you’re at home and don’t leave them near doors/windows

Home Emergency Assist is an appointed representative of Insure Group Limited, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), giving you additional peace of mind.

To find out more about our Complete Home Emergency plans, boiler and central heating insurance or other types of home care cover plans, such as plumbing and drainage insurance and home appliances cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.

If you already have Boiler and Central Heating Cover (or a Complete Home Emergency package) with another provider, you may be wondering how easy it is to switch to another company.

Switching Boiler Cover can save you a lot of money (especially if you’ve been with another provider for a long time) so it’s worth shopping around to see what deals are available.

Taking out cover with Home Emergency Assist couldn’t be easier – we even have a form for you to complete to make switching your Home Emergency Cover to us even more simple! There are some things to consider however, which we’ve listed below.

Check your existing contract

Make sure you read the terms and conditions of your existing Boiler Cover policy to see how long it lasts and whether there is a cancellation fee. Boiler and Central Heating insurance plans tend to last for 12 months, after which point you’re free to change providers. However, if you want to switch before your existing policy has ended, you may end up paying a fee or having to wait until you’re out of contract to shop around.

Check for a waiting period

Most insurance providers won’t carry out an inspection on your boiler when you switch to them. However, they will generally have a set waiting period before which you won’t be able to make a claim. This is to ensure the boiler you’re insuring doesn’t have any existing faults, which you wouldn’t be covered for.

Make sure you consider this when you’re looking to switch your cover as there will be a period of time you’re not insured for should anything go wrong with your boiler and/or central heating system.

Compare cover

As with all insurance, there are different levels and types of cover available, so it’s worth thinking about the types of things you want to be covered for (and to what level) and focus on these when you make your decision.

You’ll also need to check whether you’re buying a service contract or an insurance policy. Unlike an insurance policy, service contracts are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and so you’ll have limited protection should the company fail to fulfil its agreement.

Home Emergency Assist is an appointed representative of Insure Group Limited, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, giving you extra peace of mind.

Switching your Home Emergency Cover to us couldn’t be simpler. Call us on 0333 0032 999 and we can set up your Home Emergency Insurance straight away. We’ll also provide you with a change of insurer form for you to send to your existing provider, making it easy to cancel your existing arrangement and move over to us.

To find out more about our Complete Home Emergency plans, boiler and central heating insurance or other types of home care cover plans, such as plumbing and drainage insurance and home appliances cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.

There are few things worse than your boiler breaking down, a burst pipe or your washing machine refusing to turn on.

If you suffer from any of the above, you’ll either need to arrange a repair or replace the faulty parts yourself. Both can be costly and leave you out of pocket, as well as with the inconvenience of going without heating, hot water or a much-needed appliance.

You can also currently save 50% on all Home Emergency and Appliance insurance policies in our February Sale. The offer has now been extended to 28 February 2021, so don’t miss out!

Benefits of Home Emergency Cover

Research from MoneySuperMarket* suggests that boiler repairs can cost around £400 but could be more depending on the type and age of your boiler along with the cause of the fault.

With Complete Home Emergency Cover from Home Emergency Assist, you can be assured that you’ll have access to a nationwide network of UK approved, fully qualified engineers. Our claims line is open 24/7, 365 days a year, meaning we’re here for you should the worst happen.

If you upgrade to our Complete Premium package, we’ll repair faults in addition to complete breakdowns of your boiler, heating, plumbing and drainage systems as well as covering you for things such as:

• Gas Supply Pipe
• Electrics
• Pest Removal
• Home Security
• Roofing

Benefits of Kitchen Appliance Cover

By taking out Home Appliance insurance, we’ll cover up to 10 of your selected appliances on one plan should they suffer from mechanical or electrical breakdown or accidental damage. You can report any problems online 24/7 and a trained engineer will be sent out as quickly as possible at a time convenient for you to repair your appliance.

If we’re not able to repair your appliance, and it’s under 5 years old it will be replaced (where the appliance is over 5 years of age but less than 10 years of age and is beyond economical repair, we’ll make a contribution towards the cost of replacement. The contribution will depend on the age of the appliance),, meaning you don’t have to do without your vital appliance (such as fridge/freezer, oven or washing machine) for long periods of time.

Unlike some Home Emergency or Appliance Covers, you also have the additional peace of mind that Home Emergency Assist is an appointed representative of Insure Group Limited, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

To find out more about our Complete Home Emergency plans, boiler and central heating insurance or other types of home care cover plans, such as plumbing and drainage insurance and home appliances cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.

*The true cost of fixing a boiler – MoneySuperMarket

As we’re still in winter and the weather is turning, there’s a chance that you’ll find yourself with a damaged roof. Your roof is vital to keeping your home watertight and protected against the elements.

Damage to your roof could mean missing, broken or loose roof tiles which will cause water damage to your property and could be extremely costly to repair.

Having cover in place before a problem develops is crucial, so you know you’ll be covered in the event of an emergency and with most roofing problems being caused by adverse weather conditions, like heavy rain, hail or even snow, now is an important time to make sure you have insurance in place.

How to find roof damage

A leaking roof isn’t always caused by missing tiles, so there’s not always a visible hole. It could also be down to broken or loose roofing. Finding the source of the problem is easy if water is pouring through your roof, but some leaks are more difficult to spot.

A professional roofer with access to electronic testing equipment may be needed in this case to locate the cause of the leak.

Some of the signs of a leaking roof are:

• A puddle-shaped stain on your ceiling; a small stain doesn’t necessarily mean a small roof leak, so check any signs of water on your ceiling thoroughly
• Moisture dripping on your ceilings or walls
• Mould appearing on the walls of your home
• Water spots where your roof meets your walls, on the outside of your property

How to stop the water leak

If you can safely get into your attic to check the state of your roof, you can try and stop the water coming into your home from doing further damage. Find a container or bucket to put under the areas of the roof that are leaking. If you’re experiencing heavy rain, you may need to empty this frequently.

It’s likely, however, to stop the water leak completely and make your roof watertight, that you’ll need a professional roofer.

If you take out a Complete Home Emergency Cover plan with Home Emergency Assist, you’re covered in the event of an emergency where broken, missing or loose roof tiles cause internal water damage to your home.

How to limit roof damage

Good maintenance is key to protecting your home against the risk of roof damage, water leaks and an expensive repair bill. Get into the habit of checking your roof for missing, broken or loose tiles regularly. It’s worth the effort if you can prevent a potential problem from developing.

To find out more about our Complete Home Emergency plans, boiler and central heating insurance or other types of home care cover plans, such as plumbing and drainage insurance and home appliances cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.

Home Emergency cover can widely vary, depending on how much you pay and the level of cover you need. However, it generally provides you with protection for important services in your home such as your heating, plumbing and hot water.

Our Home Emergency insurance is flexible to meet your needs, with different packages and cover levels available depending on your requirements. Our Complete Cover package can cover you for your boiler, central heating, plumbing and drainage as well as your utilities (your gas supply pipe and electrics), securities (lost keys and broken windows) and pest removal.

We also offer two levels of Home Emergency cover: Enhanced and Premium. The right plan for you depends on the level of cover you need, the situations you want to protect yourself against and your budget.

Enhanced

This is our most cost-effective level of cover and is the best option if you’re only looking for help in emergency situations such as the complete loss of hot water and heating, if your only toilet has broken or you have a burst pipe causing internal damage to your home.

With Enhanced Home Emergency Insurance, you’ll have a cover limit of £3,000 for the year and you’ll have access to a UK-wide network of qualified engineers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in the event of an emergency.

Premium

If you’re looking for complete peace of mind, then Premium Home Emergency Cover is for you. Not only will you be covered for emergency situations such as complete loss of heating and hot water, but we’ll take the stress away from those inconvenient problems around the house, such as dripping taps, leaking pipes or repairing intermittent faults.

With Premium Home Emergency Insurance, you’ll have an unlimited cover limit for the year and access to our UK-wide network of qualified engineers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in the event of an emergency. You’ll also be able to book an appointment for an engineer to fix any of your non-emergency problems too.

What’s the difference?

With a 30-day price match and an ‘Excellent’ rating on Trustpilot, we’re sure you’ll love our Home Emergency Cover.

To find out more about our Complete Home Emergency plans, boiler and central heating insurance or other types of home care cover plans, such as plumbing and drainage insurance and home appliances cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.

*intermittent faults where this cannot be identified at the time of the engineers attendance will not be covered.

With winter well and truly here and with millions of us still in lockdown, it’s more important than ever to maintain your boiler and central heating, pipes and drains and vital kitchen appliances.

It could be difficult for you to arrange your own tradesman in the event of a breakdown and there may be a potential for issues with sourcing any parts required due to the disrupted supply chains.

Having Home Emergency Cover and Appliance Insurance in place before a problem develops is crucial, so you know you’ll be covered in the event of an emergency. With most boiler breakdowns occurring in December and January of each year, according to research by boilerguide.co.uk* (12.01% and 15.56% respectively) and your appliances under more strain than normal, now’s an important time to make sure you’ve got insurance in place.

Preparing your home for winter

We’ve put together some tips below to help you get your home ready to face the winter – and the ongoing lockdown.

• Prevent your pipes from freezing by wrapping any vulnerable pipes with thermal insulation or lagging (available from most DIY stores)
• Find out where your stopcock is so if your pipes do burst, you can quickly shut off your water quickly and prevent flooding
• Bleed your radiators to make sure they’re working at their full capacity
• Keep your appliances well maintained (you can read our guides for cleaning your washing machine and dishwasher for more information)
• Take out Complete Home Emergency Cover with us; it’ll cover your boiler, heating, plumbing and drainage as well as protecting your gas supply pipe, electrics and more
• Protect your kitchen white goods with Appliance Cover; you can cover up to 10 of your most important appliances against accidental damage or mechanical/electrical breakdown

Taking out Home Emergency Insurance and Appliance Cover with Home Emergency Assist will give you the peace of mind that you’re covered by a reliable network of engineers should you suffer a home emergency or appliance breakdown.

To find out more about our Complete Home Emergency plans, boiler and central heating insurance or other types of home care cover plans, such as plumbing and drainage insurance and home appliances cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.

*https://www.boilerguide.co.uk/articles/uk-boiler-breakdown-study

Over half of all accidental house fires are caused by electricity and nine out of ten electrical fires are caused by faulty or misused electrical products.

Electrical Safety First works closely with the government each year to promote electrical fire safety within your home and to ensure you follow the simple steps to avoid suffering a devastating fire.

Kitchen Appliances

According to the latest Home Office Fire Statistics*, around 288 house fires are started every week by home appliances. Ovens and cookers are the biggest cause of domestic appliance fires; more than 8,000 fires were attributed to cookers or ovens last year alone.

There’s also been an increase in the number of fires started by washing machines and tumble dryers, causing a combined total of 1,292 fires in 2019.

It’s important to maintain your kitchen appliances to ensure they’re running as expected and to not let a minor fault turn into something potentially more dangerous. You can learn more about caring for your washing machine and cleaning your dishwasher with our handy guides.

Taking out appliance insurance with Home Emergency Assist can help to protect your vital kitchen appliances against accidental damage and mechanical/electrical breakdown against faults that may cause a fire to break out.

Faulty Electrics

According to the latest information from the gov.uk website, faulty electrics are responsible for around 4,000 fires in the home each year.

There are measures you can take to prevent this yourself:

• Make sure that you always buy your appliances and electrical goods from a reputable seller
• Don’t plug to many items into one socket as this can start a fire
• Turn your appliances off at the plug when you’re not using them; as well as saving you up to £86 a year in energy costs, it can significantly reduce the chance of a fire starting

Keep an eye out for the below signs that your home may have electrical problems, and always seek help from a registered electrician if you suspect your electrics are faulty:

• Your electrics trip regularly; it could be that you have too many appliances plugged into a single circuit or a short somewhere in the wiring
• Buzzing or discoloured light switches or outlets; these should never be hot to the touch or make buzzing noises
• Getting a slight shock from your switches or outlets; this could be a problem with the switch, the outlet itself or the device plugged in
• Sparking; if your circuit breaker or fuse box is sparking, call an electrician urgently
• Flickering or dimming lights; this can be a sign of faulty wiring or an overloaded circuit. Consult a qualified electrician to check your wiring

If you take out Enhanced Complete Home Emergency Cover with Home Emergency Assist, we’ll help if you suffer the failure of at least one complete electrical circuit within your home.

If you upgrade to our Premium plan, we’ll assist you to repair or replace any system after your supply meter which causes your main electrical wiring system to stop working.

To find out more about our Complete Home Emergency plans, boiler and central heating insurance or other types of home care cover plans, such as plumbing and drainage insurance and home appliances cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.

Frozen pipes can burst in cold weather, leaving you to source a reputable plumber, bringing stress and potentially costly repair bills in the run up to the festive season.

Having Home Emergency Cover in place before a problem occurs is vital, so you know you’ll be covered in the event of an emergency and ensure that you have access to fully qualified tradespeople, should you need to claim.

We’ve put together some tips for helping to avoid your plumbing from freezing below.

How to prevent your pipes freezing

During cold weather conditions, it’s worth ensuring that your water pipes are properly insulated, especially if they’re exposed.

You can get insulating – or lagging material – from most DIY stores to help protect your water tanks and plumbing, paying attention to pipes in unheated areas like loft spaces and garages. Water.org.uk recommends ensuring that there are no gaps in your lagging at bends, valves and fittings.

Make sure any dripping taps are fixed; even a small trickle could result in a frozen pipe and make sure you know where your internal stopcock is so you can turn it off in the event of your plumbing freezing or bursting.

If you’re staying with your family over the festive period, leave your thermostat set on low to help prevent your pipes from freezing or turn off your water supply if you’re able to and if you can, get a neighbour or friend to check your property regularly.

What to do if your water pipes freeze

• Turn your water supply off at the stopcock
• Make sure the pipe hasn’t burst
• Slowly thaw the pipe with hot water bottles or a towel soaked in hot water

You can read our article, ‘How To Thaw A Frozen Condensate Pipe‘ for more detailed instructions.

What to do if a pipe bursts

• Turn your water supply off at the stopcock
• Soak up escaping water with thick towels
• Call a qualified tradesperson

If you have a frozen or burst pipe outside the bounds of your property, your local water company will be able to help.

By taking out Plumbing and Drainage Cover with Home Emergency Assist, you can make sure you’re not caught out by costly repair bills in the event of a plumbing or drainage emergency or left trying to locate an emergency plumber.

To find out more about how our home emergency insurance could be here to solve your home emergencies and our various types of cover, including plumbing and drainage insurance and boiler and central heating, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.

With so many different types of Home Emergency cover on the market, it can be difficult to know what you’re looking for.

Although level of cover can vary depending on the company, the main difference is whether you’re buying a maintenance (or service) contract or an insurance policy.

Maintenance Contract

A maintenance contract is an agreement between you and the service provider that it will cover the cost of a repair if something goes wrong.

As this is not an insurance contract, any repairs or replacements are carried out at the sole discretion of the service provider. This means they’ll use their judgement to decide whether or not they will complete the repair or replacement as part of your package with them.

Unlike an insurance policy, service contracts are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and so you’ll have limited protection if the maintenance contract provider fails to fulfil its obligations or even ceases trading. Complaints are dealt with internally and if no resolution is found, you may not be able to refer the matter to an outside agency.

Insurance Policy

An insurance policy is a contract you take out with an insurer to protect you against specific risks under agreed terms.

Insurance companies are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which set out standards to ensure you’re provided with clear, honest information about the protect before you choose to purchase it. There are also specific rules set out for these firms to follow when assessing complaints and should your complaint not be resolved, you have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service, who will help to settle any dispute fairly and impartially.

For this reason, a home emergency insurance policy is generally a safer option, but it’s worth checking that any insurer you buy from is correctly regulated. You can usually find this information in the footer of an insurance company’s website or on their policy documents and will confirm that they’re authorised and regulated by the FCA along with a registration number. You can look these up on the Financial Services Register for additional peace of mind.

To find out more about how our home emergency insurance could be here to solve your home emergencies and our various types of cover, including boiler and central heating and plumbing and drainage insurance, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can even request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a quote online.