Posted on 25 January 2021
Posted on 25 January 2021
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.
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:
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.
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.
Posted on 4 January 2021
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.
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.
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.
| Enhanced | Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency Cover | ||
| Non-emergency (maintenance) cover | ✗ | |
| Cover Limit (per year) | £3,000 | Unlimited |
| Total failure of your boiler/central heating | ||
| Total failure of your plumbing/drainage | ||
| Repair of boiler/central heating | ✗ | |
| Replacement of leaking pipes | ✗ | |
| Repairing dripping taps | ✗ | |
| Radiators/intermittent faults* | ✗ | |
| Thermostats/temperature timings | ✗ |
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.
Posted on 7 December 2020
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.
We’ve put together some tips below to help you get your home ready to face the winter – and the ongoing lockdown.
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
Posted on 23 November 2020
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.
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.
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:
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:
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.
Posted on 9 November 2020
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.
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.
You can read our article, ‘How To Thaw A Frozen Condensate Pipe‘ for more detailed instructions.
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.
Posted on 26 October 2020
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.
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.
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.
Posted on 12 October 2020
Unblocktober is a month-long campaign running throughout October, aiming to help you improve the health of your plumbing, drains and your sewers as well as helping to save the environment.
According to Unblocktober.org, 48% of the British public have flushed wet wipes and another 48% pour fats, grease and oil down their drains.
As well as being bad for the maintenance of your plumbing and drainage system, it’s also bad for the environment and up to 8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the ocean each year.
Information from water.org.uk states that there are around 300,000 blockages every year, which costs around £100 million to resolve and results in thousands of properties suffering flooding and expensive bills.
Wet wipes cause around 93% of blockages that occur in the UK each year and less than 1% of all blockages are caused by items designed to be flushed, such as toilet paper.
It’s important to make sure you’re only flushing items designed to be flushed; most packaging should now state whether it can be flushed or not. Most insurance policies – our Plumbing and Drainage policy included – will not cover you for blockages caused by flushing items that shouldn’t be.
You can read our separate blog post for more hints and tips for looking after your plumbing and drainage system.
Keep an eye out for the signs that you’ve got a blocked drain to avoid a potentially costly flood.
The Association of British Insurers estimates that around £1.8 million is paid out every day for ‘escape of water’ claims which include burst pipes and blocked drains. Making sure you have cover in place before problems develop is critical.
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.
To find out more about how our plumbing and drainage insurance can help you solve your problems along with our other types of home emergency cover, including boiler and central heating and appliance 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.
Posted on 30 September 2020
Do you know the difference between a warranty and insurance when it comes to your white goods?
If you’re coming to the end of your kitchen appliance warranty, it’s worth considering your options before you take out an extended warranty or an appliance insurance policy.
Your appliance warranty is generally offered by the manufacturer of the product. This typically lasts around 12 months and guarantees that if your kitchen appliance breaks down within this timeframe, that the manufacturer will either repair the problem or replace the item.
While most new appliances will come with the manufacturer’s warranty, the most common problems tend to occur outside of the warranty period. In this instance, you’ll either need to replace the appliance or pay the manufacturer to repair your item. This can be expensive and leave you out of pocket.
Some domestic appliance manufacturers will offer an extended warranty to their initial 12-month warranty period. This is usually dependant on you registering your product online within a specified period after you bought your item. This type of extended appliance warranty may not cover as much as an appliance insurance policy would cover. There are also some third-party companies who will offer an extended warranty on your white goods.
You may also find that some extended warranties are described as warranty cover plans or maintenance plans. In this case, they may provide similar cover at first glance, but they’re not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and will often contain onerous restrictions. This means you’ll have limited protection if the provider fails to fulfil its obligations to you.
Once your warranty has expired, you may think your kitchen appliances fall under your home contents insurance. In this case, however, they’ll typically only be covered in the event your white goods are damaged or stolen; it’s unlikely they’ll be covered for mechanical breakdown.
Appliance insurance aims to bridge the gap between home insurance and your warranty once it’s ended.
Home appliance insurance with Home Emergency Assist can cover up to 10 kitchen appliances under one policy. This ensures you won’t have to go without your fridge/freezer, washing machine or oven for long periods of time while they’re being fixed or until you can buy a new one. You also get a multi-product discount for more than one item being insured.
It can also help you avoid unexpected costs, as your appliance will be repaired or replaced as part of the cover.
Our appliance insurance policy offers £2,500 cover limit, including mechanical or electrical break down, accidental damage and your call out, parts and labour costs. You’ll also have access to an online claim form, available 24/7 365 days a year so you can report your issue as soon as it happens.
We’re also an appointed representative of Insure Group, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA to put your mind at ease.
To find out more about how our home appliances cover can help you solve your problems along with our other types of home emergency 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.
Posted on 22 September 2020
Although we’re currently enjoying warm weather in some places around the UK, it won’t be long until the weather turns and we’re having to switch our heating back on. 1 October marks the start of Boiler Switch On Month, when we start to think about the colder months ahead.
If you’ve had your boiler switched off for the summer months, you might find when you come to switch it back on that your system could have developed faults or in the worst-case scenario, not work at all.
Home Emergency Cover can help protect your home against the event that your boiler and central heating stop working and ensure you’re not left with no heating during the colder weather or a large repair bill.
We’ve put together some tips for restarting your boiler this year, ready for the winter months.
You should have been aiming to turn your boiler on once or twice a month during the summer months to stop any build-up of corrosion or dust. Doing this also flags any potential problems before you come to switch it back on permanently. If you’ve not been doing this, don’t worry – there’s still time to fire your boiler up a few times over the next couple of weeks before the weather turns colder.
Faults can occur over long periods of inactivity, such as the summer months.
Pilot Light Not Igniting: if your pilot light keeps going out, you should first check that there aren’t any issues with your gas supply. Use our guide to find out how to get your pilot light switched back on.
Low Boiler Pressure: boilers can lose pressure over time and a boiler without enough pressure won’t work. Yours should be at around 1 bar; any less and you may find issues with your system. Read our guide to topping up your boiler pressure.
Build-up Of Limescale: getting your boiler descaled can prevent potential leaks and even pipes rupturing and helps to prolong its life. Find out how a Gas Safe Registered engineer would descale your boiler.
We know it’s tempting to turn the heat up as soon as you start feeling the cold, however doing this can mean you set the temperature too high, wasting both money and energy. Try instead to turn your heating up one degree at a time. For most households, a temperature of around 18-21°C is ideal, however the elderly or unwell may need the temperature a little higher.
Because you won’t have been using your central heating over the summer months, you’re unlikely to notice if your radiators have stopped working effectively. If you notice that your radiators have cold patches, or aren’t warming up at all, you may need to bleed them to remove any trapped air. You can read our handy step-by-step guide for bleeding your radiators.
If you’re not able to get your boiler up and running correctly after winter, you should contact a Gas Safe registered engineer.
If you have Boiler and Central Heating Cover or Complete Home Emergency Insurance with Home Emergency Assist, we’ll course and send a Gas Safe registered engineer to you in the event you have no heating to get you back up and running as quickly as possible.
To find out more about how we’re here to solve your emergency breakdowns with our boiler and central heating cover including service and other types of home emergency cover, including plumbing and drainage 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.
Posted on 14 September 2020
As it’s Gas Safety Week, we thought we’d share our top tips for gas safety in the home.
Badly fitted and poorly serviced appliances can cause gas leaks, fires and even carbon monoxide poisoning, so it’s important you know how to keep you and your family safe. According to information from the Gas Safe Register, 1 in 9 homes contain boilers that are unsafe and 1 in 11 cookers inspected are hazardous too.
All our boiler engineers are Gas Safe registered and will carry their Gas Safe ID cards when they’re working. This contains important information about the engineer: who they are, their license number and the work they’re qualified to carry out.
When one of our engineers comes to your property, they may show you their ID card or have it on display. If that’s not the case, however, you can ask to see it as they should be happy for you to check.
There’s information on both the front and back of the card, so it’s important to check both sides. On the front of the card will be:
Even if all the details on the front of the card are correct, you should still check the back of the card. Not all Gas Safe engineers can work with all types of gas appliance or carry out all gas work.
On the back of the card will be a full list of qualifications that your engineer holds. These list the name of the work they’re qualified to undertake along with the expiry date.
You should check the engineer has the qualification needed for the work required. E.g. if they’ve come to service your boiler, it should list ‘Gas Boiler’. Also make sure the qualification hasn’t expired.
To find out more about our boiler with central heating cover and how our other types of cover are here to solve your home emergencies, including plumbing and drains and home appliance cover, contact our friendly team on 0330 09 48 301. You can also request a call back to discuss your requirements or get a free quote online in minutes!