Do I need boiler insurance?

 

 

Landlord boiler insurance

Do you need boiler insurance?  The short answer is of course not!  It's not a legal requirement and many landlords such as myself have managed with no or limited cover for years.  For a more in depth look at the whole topic of boiler insurance have a look at this investigation into landlord boiler insurance.

Landlord boiler insurance obsolescence 

More concerning for me and I suspect a lot of landlords is that of boiler obsolescence.  What do I mean by this?  Well it's not that the boiler has to be scrapped because it can't be repaired or no longer works properly.  No the problem is that the boiler as in my case can be fixed but the part is no longer available.  I have a property with a Baxi Solo Boiler and everything is fine apart from the plumber just cannot get the thermostat he needs to replace.  Have a look at the serial numbers and if you can find one or know somebody who supplies this part please let me know.  It will save me having to needlessly scrap a perfectly good boiler.

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Curse of the boiler breakdown

It's started.  We have just hit the middle of November and I've already had the first tenant sending me the dreaded email relating to a malfunctioning boiler.  This one related to a boiler that I'm sure I have had replaced in the last few years.  Ok time flies...it might be in the last 5 years.  I have documented before about my search for a replacement boiler so I do know it's less than 5 years old. To me that constitutes a pretty new boiler.

Leaking boiler problems

The bloomin boiler is leaking which is exactly why I had to replace the last one a Halsted.

Sometimes it can be no fun and a lonely business being a landlord.  You know what.  At this time of year I tempted to sell all my properties and rent.  Then I can join Generation Rent and just pick up the phone when I have problem with my boiler.  I've toyed before with landlord boiler insurance and have rejected it as an expensive complication to actually getting my boiler fixed.  Instead, I'll call up one of the number of plumbers I know....hope they are not going to rip me off and that they can fit me in.  Who says being a landlord is sexy?

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Landlord - boiler advice

This is advice from Alan one Property Hawk regular who straddles the world of being a landlord and heating engineer.  As Winter approaches we all know that the next challenge for landlords will be boiler related.  So this is in his own words some targeted advice:

I'm a landlord & a heating engineer
I am a Landlord and a retired Heating and Electrical Engineer. Last week, on Thursday I had a call from one of my tenants. He told me that he didn't have any hot water unless he had his heating turned on as well. As this didn't sound like a crisis, as he did have hot water of sorts, I agreed to go round and fix the problem on Monday of this week. Why am I so confident that I can fix the problem? Well for one thing I have years of experience and secondly I know the property has a Combi boiler. When someone has hot water but only when their heating is on I know this is the classic symptom of a failed diverter valve. In fact I was so confident that it would be this part, I ordered it straight away, so that I would have the new one by Monday.

Landlords - put off working on their boiler
Most Landlords are put off fixing any part of their heating or hot water system by their fear of gas. When you take into account all the components of a heating/ hot water system over 90% of the parts have nothing at all to do with gas. These non gas parts are perfectly capable of being diagnosed and replaced by competent Landlords. There is no requirement to employ a Gas Safe engineer if the part to be replaced is not a gas part. If you can change an alternator or fan belt on a car you are perfectly capable of replacing a diverter valve in a boiler.

Fixing the problem
On Monday I went around to the house. I checked that the problem was as the tenant had described and then I set about replacing the failed part. This involved turning off the electricity to the boiler, draining down just the boiler sealed water system and the mains cold water. Then undoing five pipe joints, carefully removing the diverter valve and the wiring at the top of the valve. Within half an hour the valve was replaced and the boiler back to full working order. Cost £49 for the valve replacement. Typical Plumber call out and repair price of £280, so a significant saving. I know I also spent some time with the tenant but this time was well spent as he now thinks the Landlord's service is wonderful.

Landlord heating DIY
How can you too take advantage of fixing your own heating and hot water problems at minimum cost? I recommend firstly, download the boiler manual, as supplied by the manufacturer if you don't already have it. There is a good site with free downloads at http://www.freeboilermanuals.com/ . This book will give you guidance on how to replace components in your boiler. The manual will also tell you clearly which parts are gas related and which parts are not. Secondly, take a look at my books at www.fixtheheating.com. These books are designed to help you diagnose the problems with the whole system and then point you at the failing component. There are also safety tips and if the part in question is gas related there are clear warning not to interfere with it.

If the books do not help you fix the problem, then there is also an online help and guidance service.


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Boiler problems - google it!

I've bored you at length in the past with my search for the perfect boiler.  Fear not ...I"m not about to subject you to any more of it.

I did eventually find what I thought was the perfect boiler.  As is the case with all these things there are minor maintenance issues.  One regular fact of life with looking after any boiler is that from time to time the pressure in the system may drop.  It's generally not a problem.  All you need to do is repressurise the system and you are off again.

I was recently contacted by one of my tenants with exactly this issue.  Having reminded myself about which boiler I had installed.  My reaction was to simply google the boilers name and some suitable term like repressurise the system.   Up popped a very helpful video by Gloworm on how to repressurise the Gloworm Ultracom 2.  Brilliant just what I needed.  I forwarded the details to my tenant and 'jobs a gooden' as they have managed to sort the problem out on their own.  This has saved me a considerable amount of time and money by not having to call a plumber out to sort out the problem.

I have found in the past that by simply googling your boiler problems can throw a lot of light on any of the difficulties you might be having with your boiler.  Next time you have a problem you might be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to fix your boiler yourself.  


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I've got a new boiler

OK - it's been a bit of a saga. But lets face it Rome wasn't built in a day and using yet another cliche. "Act in haste and repent in leisure." So let hope my patience in choosing pays off.

I've gone for a Glowworm Ultracom 2 24 cxi not the 24 hxi that Which recommended. It turns out that this model wasn't actually a combi boiler and therefore wouldn't have been much use for most landlords.

The score on the door for the new boiler with condensing flue kit and plug in timer was just shy of £820 inc VAT.

My plumber charged £200 for fitting and removing the old boiler. Altogether just over a grand. Not bad I thought. Lets see how reliable it proves to be. A parts and labour guarantee gives me a little comfort in the immediate term.

Landlord insurance - protect my property

Dirty boiler talk!

I know that landlords love nothing better than when I get down and dirty and start some serious boiler talk....

Well here it goes.

I've been toying with replacing one of my boilers for the last few years.  It's an aging Halstead put in over 15 years ago and now has a dodgy heat exchanger.


What to buy?

For years I have been suckered into thinking Worcester Bosch was the ultimate Teutonic solution to all my heating needs.  Could it be the inclusion of Bosch within the company name, a well respected and longstanding German brand that brought my loyalty.  All this belies the fact that Worcester Bosch is actually a British company with all the associated engineering frailties?

I was chatting to Scott my new 'bestist' plumber mate about Worcester Bosch.  Apparently, he was like me a fan but in recent years Worcester Bosch have gone the way of the car manufacturers treating boilers as cash cows for more lucrative maintenance contracts.  In so doing they are deliberately engineering their boilers to make them difficult or expensive for non Worcester Bosch engineers to work on them.  If you do get a Worcester Bosch engineer out they will very kindly charge you around £200 a pop! Nice...

Scott has pointed me in the direction of some alternatives.  The Ideal Logic with a 5 year parts and labour guarantee looks a good starting point.  Anybody with another suggestion?

Just for those landlords who like a bit of boiler porn.  Check out the picture of the 'bad boy' Ideal Logic above.  Rather sleek I think what do you reckon?



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New to renting? A few things to think about

The days of moving away from the family home into a place of your own are long gone in many cases. For most people, the first rung on the property ladder isn’t on the ladder at all – it’s a rental property. And if you believe the financial forecasts, it’s a trend that’s only likely to continue in the years to come. With more and more people forced to rent, it’s logical that the market will be flooded with rental properties. More flats, more houses, more choice.

With this in mind, it’s important to know what you’re doing when looking for the first home away from your parents. Whether is student digs or a more general rental property, it’s a good idea to come up with a checklist of things you need to do. Some, such as your monthly rent, will be obvious, while others, such as landlords insurance, may be new to you. Here’s a few points to get you started.

Cost things up

It’s really important to find a property that’s affordable – and working out this figure isn’t easy. One of the best tricks is to work backwards. First start with your monthly income, including any benefits or tax credits. Then deduct all the monthly costs you’re likely to encourage each month, including council tax, utility bills, groceries and money for socialising. Go through old bank statements to get an idea of your spending habits. At the end, you should be left with a maximum amount you can spend on rent. It’s always a good idea to go a little lower than this – perhaps 10 or 20 per cent – to ensure you’ve got cash left over for things that can crop up unexpectedly.

Scour the market

There’s loads of ways you can find that first home sweet home. Sites such as RightMove and FindaProperty are useful for finding properties marketed by lettings companies, while Gumtree is where many private landlords advertise their properties. Don’t forget to look in your local newspaper classified section and newsagents’ windows.

Check your landlords’ credentials

A reputable landlord will have things such as landlords home insurance and the gas safety certificates they’re required by law to produce – and will be happy to provide you with evidence. Just as landlords want to find good tenants, tenants in turn should be able to expect a high level of service from their landlord. So don’t be afraid to ask them to prove their credentials.

Homecall have gone bust

Homecall have apparently gone bust.

If you have any Homecall policy it would be worth reading this Lovemoney article explaining your rights both under FSA regulations and Visa charge back schemes.

Apparently the Homecall website shows no sign that the company is in difficulties but customers ringing for help are being told that they cannot make a claim as the company has gone into receivership.

Watch out and warn your friends.

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Boiler birthday blues

Can you believe it?  I wake up on my birthday to no bloomin heating.

Well happy birthday to me!

The irony.  All my tenants have old style boilers.  I have one of those super dooper condensing boilers that the government and eco warriors have been trying to get us to upgrade to.

When I enquired with a very helpful plumber that I had a Worcester Bosch juniour 2.4i that had suddenly and mysteriously stopped working.  His response was emphatic!  "Oh yes Sir it's too cold"  What?  "Yes its too cold for these type of boilers"

It appears that these new condensing boilers have an out pipe to take away the condensation.  It's been too cold for too long resulting in many of these outlet pipes freezing up and then causing the boilers to cut out and stop working.

Is this the landlord version of the wrong type of snow on the tracks I wonder?  So we have the worlds biggest producer of boiler producing a boiler that stops working when it gets too cold.  Brilliant!  Apparently, the plumbers tip is that you have to defrost the pipe by using hot water or some people have tried using a hairdryer.

I'm just hoping that when I get home that I have as one of my birthday presents .........an industrial size hair dryer!  Happy heating!!!

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Freezing pipes warning

It's cold out there!

Now's the time when landlords start having sleepless nights about frozen pipes and broken boilers.

It would be worth checking the state of boilers and checking the lagging of pipes at properties.

Any rental properties that landlords currently have sat empty would be worth putting the central heating on at a low constant temperature to avoid any burst pipes or frozen boilers.

Be warned!

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Boiler & Central Heating Comparison

Npowers new boiler insurance

Npower have launched a boiler servicing and insurance scheme which is the same price as British Gas boiler service and insurance, but with the benefit of a cashback offer. Npowers scheme will refund half the premiums if there is no call out during that year.

The Npower repair cover could save at least £63 on the equivalent British Gas cover.

Read more in this Guardian article

Handy BTU Calculator for Radiator Sizes

For landlords and property developers who want to work out the radiators required for a property I found this handy calculator for room BTUs.

What can I say a gift from me to you, have fun with your BTU calculations.

Have fun with refurbishment!

Discounted Rates on Landlord Insurance

Landlords boiler scrappage - am I tempted?

I had a nightmare over Xmas and New Year as one of my oldest boilers decided to pack up. Just what you need on Boxing Day a text from your tenant to say that they have no heating or hot water and Happy Xmas!

Therefore the boiler scrappage scheme might just have come at the right time.

Unlike my initial fears the scheme hasn't been farmed off to a few large and very expensive providers like British Gas and their corperate cronies. Providing a landlord can get a quote from an approved installer then they can access the scheme. It really does seem that this is a genuine £400 off the price of a boiler. It's suddeness has probably caught boiler companies off guard so they have not been able to inflate prices although I doubt that the demand for A grade boilers will mean that there will be very little discounting available to landlords to drive down prices.

My other concern was not having bought a boiler for a couple of years that A grade boilers would cost an arm and a leg. Not so according to my plumber. It's possible to pick one up for £800. My idea would be see if I can get one for between £700-800. Remember most plumbers often try to 'make' a little on the boiler so sourcing it youslef could save you £100 or so.

So despite my initial sceptisism the boiler scrappage may well be a flyer.

The question is wether there will be sufficient magic vouchers to go around to satisfy demand.

I'm getting my request in early just to make sure.

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Landlords boiler scrappage scheme launched

Landlords with old G rated boilers (ones with a permanent pilot light) are set to benefit from the government's boiler scrappage giving them £400 towards the cost of replacing their old boiler with a new A rated or most energy efficient boiler.

There are also benefits for a landlords tenants in the respect that moving to the new more efficient boiler will shave around about a quarter off the cost of their heating bill, around about £235 a year it is estimated. I don't suppose the tenants will pass on this in terms of higher rent!

How it works

A landlord will just need to get a quote from a Gas Safe registered plumber (what used to be CORGI) and then submit this and the following info to the Energy Saving Trust who are the body charged with administering the scheme:

i) Your full name.

ii) The address of the property you wish to claim the voucher for.

iii) The make and name of the boiler being scrapped.

iv) The company name , address and contact details of the installer carrying out the work.

v) The type of replacement boiler to be installed e.g. gas, biomass.

vi) Confirmation that you have received a quote or visit from the installer to carry out the work.

Once you have this information call their advice line on 0800 512 012 or email them through their website

Vouchers for the scheme will be issued from the 18th January.

One bit of bad news for landlords is that the scheme is only available to English landlords. The other thing to note is that landlords will have to pay for the installation costs upfront and then claim the money back.

Landlord insurance

Boiler scrappage scheme - will it be a boiler bonanza for landlords?

Landlords looking to upgrade their boiler in 2010 may have heard of the recent announcement by the government to bring in a boiler scrapage scheme, similar to the one introduced this year for cars.

There are estimated to be 4.2m band G boilers which fall into the least energy efficient category. The government in their pre-budget report has committed to providing a one of scrappage payment of £400 per boiler for households wishing to scrap this category of boiler. The sum of £85 million has been made available for up to 125,000 households to replace their old boilers.

The details of the boiler scrapage scheme have yet to be thrashed out and will not be available until April 2010.

Npower has also announced a boiler scrapage scheme offering £400 towards any new boiler installed by their partnering company Hometeam.

Could this be a boiler bonanza?

Some pundits have already been speculating that combining the two schemes could easily cover the purchase cost of a new boiler which can be bought for around £700.

However, before landlords get too excited about the prospect of a free boiler I would point out a few potential drawbacks:

Firstly, until the conditions of the scheme come out next year we don't know as yet whether landlords will be eligible. I can't see why they shouldn't be but there could be a condition that it only applies to owner occupants.

Secondly, there are only 125,000 grants available so if the scheme is popular you still might not get selected.

Thirdly, if you do try and use the NPower offer than using their appointed installer will inevitably mean that you are going to pay over the odds for the boiler and the installation. If British Gas are anything to go by this will work out far more than the £400 they have promised for the boiler scrappage.

Finally, with the likely rush on as a result of the new scheme the chances of any of use being able to get a plumber will like be trying to find a snow flake in July. So what will plumbers do? Yep put up their rates.

For landlords looking to upgrade their boilers in the new year than the scrappage scheme may be able to save them a few hundred quid, but maybe it won't be the boiler bonanza that some have suggested.

Should I get boiler insurance?

Landlord insurance

Old boiler problems & boiler insurance

I was talking to Miss Jones only the other day. She has just had the heating on for first time since the Spring. Firing up the system has shown a minor leak in the system.

Problems problems. This old boiler problem just reminds me of that on going debate on whether its worth getting boiler insurance or not.

It appears a game of chance. I've always been of the opinion that if you get a decent boiler such as the so called Rolls Royce of boilers; a Worcester Bosch you should be better off if you roll with punches. However, three faults on the same so called Rolls Royce of boiler a Worcester 2.4i has caused me to question the concept that Worcester are such an elite machine and also not bothering with boiler insurance.

I'm just hoping that my old boiler will continue to produce some hot water as well as hot air in the months to come.

"No Miss Jones, off course I wasn't talking about you."

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