How to switch central heating cover
- Megan
- 16th Jun 2022
16th June 2022
If you’ve stumbled across this article you’re likely either a new homeowner looking to take out central heating cover or a homeowner with an existing policy wondering how easy it is to switch. Luckily for you, we’ve got the answers to your questions and more!
What is central heating cover?
For those that don’t know, central heating cover is a type of insurance that covers more than just your boiler. It provides protection for your boiler and its controls, your pipework, hot water cylinder and any radiators in your home. Basically, anything that is connected to your boiler.
Central heating cover will usually include engineer call outs, parts and labour. It protects you from unpredicted financial hits so you aren’t left out of pocket if something goes wrong with your central heating.
Do you need central heating and boiler cover?
We’ll start by saying that it’s sensible to have some sort of insurance for your boiler. Whether you need a comprehensive central heating care plan all depends on your situation and budget.
If you have a relatively new boiler, you may be able to get away with simple boiler breakdown insurance. It’s a little bit cheaper but it will only cover your boiler and its controls.
On the other hand, if your boiler heats both your home and your water, it’s wiser to take out gas central heating cover to make sure you’re covered against unexpected problems.
Are you renting a property?
If you’re renting a property it is not your responsibility to take out a central heating care plan. It’s up to your landlord to either take out an insurance policy or cover the cost of engineer call outs and any repair work required.
Are you already covered?
If you are a homeowner, it’s worth checking that any existing home insurance policies you have don’t already include central heating cover – you don’t want to be paying for the same thing twice!
Switching central heating cover
Switching and upgrading from boiler breakdown cover to central heating cover is easy. You may want to consider switching if your current insurance provider isn’t meeting your needs or the price of the central heating cover is being hiked up on renewal, despite not making a claim.
All you need to do to start the switching process is ring up your provider or contact them online and tell them you’d like to end the contract. You can also cancel any direct debits you have, providing your payments are up to date.
Just be sure to read through your existing contract to check the date your policy ends and is up for renewal. Often, if you end a policy early, you will be required to pay a fee. If this is the case, you can either pay the cancellation fee to end the contract early and take your custom elsewhere or wait until you’re out of contract to switch providers.
Once you’ve given notice to your current provider, simply contact a new provider and they’ll organise your new central heating cover. You can do this over the phone or online. It usually only takes a matter of minutes.
Important Information
Some providers offer insured plans to look after your Boiler and Heating and other home services like plumbing, drains and electrics, whereas other providers offer non-insured plans. An insured plan will be underwritten by an insurer and also regulated by the [Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)](https://www.fca.org.uk/). Non-insured plans are not backed by an insurer and are not regulated by the FCA. Often non-insured or maintenance plans include an annual service of the equipment covered, whereas these may or may not be included in insured plans.
