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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Free advice to Landlords with Heating Problems.

More expert advice on a landlord heating problems from Alan our resident heating expert:

I am a Landlord and a retired Heating and Electrical Engineer. I always noticed a sharp increase in customer calls at this time of year. People began to turn on their heating systems and sometimes they didn't work.The customers with the problems were always the same. They had turned their heating off in the spring and heated their hot water with their immersion heater during the summer.

There is a widely held misconception that heating hot water with an immersion heater is the most cost effective way of doing it. We are lucky now because our gas and electricity bills tell us how many Kilowatts of energy we have used. In the past, when gas use was measured in Therms, it was very difficult to compare different energy prices. Now on our bill we can see that gas and electricity are priced in Kilowatts and typically gas is around 5 pence and electricity is around 13 pence. This shows us that electricity is over two and a half times more expensive than gas for the same energy amount. Even if we had massive losses on the piping between the boiler and the hot water cylinder it would always be cheaper to heat the hot water with gas.

It is also not fully understood that the heating coil in the hot water cylinder can heat at a typical rate of 10 Kilowatts per hour whereas the immersion heater will only heat at 3 Kilowatts per hour. This means that the gas will only need to be heating the water for a third of the time required by the immersion heater.

Alan's recommendation
So my recommendation here is firstly to make sure that your heating systems have separate controls over the heating and hot water timings. Also a well insulated hot water cylinder is essential. Then set the hot water timer to come on early in the morning for just an hour. You can always increase the time if need. Then have the timer set for another period an hour before the hot water is needed in the evening.

So, to come back to my first point about heating systems failing around November. Because the heating has been off during the summer, often the heating pump hasn't been used since the spring and rust or heating residue may well have caused the pump to be seized. A typical call-out and repair of a pump would cost around £310 which is another important reason to heat the hot water with gas and use the pump all year.

You can take further advantage of my experience as a heating engineer and to find out how to free off a seized pump by going to my site www.fixtheheating.com. Here you will find a new service, Free Advice to Landlords with heating problems.

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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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