Landlord Maintenance, Emergency & Boiler Insurance Guide

There’s a common misconception that being a landlord is a passive way of generating money. That is categorically false!

I have lost count of the amount of times I’ve had to deal with maintenance issues that required an active response.

Of course, it’s Sod’s law that breakdowns occur at the worst possible time. I’ve frequently had to address a maintenance issue while on holiday, or towards the latter end of the year when the weather takes a turn for the worst, and everything naturally starts to crumble… for everyone!

So with that in mind, in comes Maintenance & Emergency Insurance– a landlord insurance policy designed to ease the pain for landlords in these very situations. So appealing is the idea of not having to deal with emergency maintenance issues (e.g. leaking pipes, boiler breakdowns), or at least lesson the pain, that they’ve become an increasingly popular appliance in a landlord’s toolbox.

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What is landlord Maintenance & Emergency Insurance?

While all Maintenance & Emergency insurance plans differ depending on provider and policy, they generally do the following:

• Provide a 24-hour helpline for your tenants to call in the case of a covered emergency (e.g. gas, electricity, water, leaks, security of doors and windows etc)
• Quick response time to assist with emergencies by qualified contractors
• Covers up to a certain amount of costs for each incident
• Most policies don’t charge for callout or labour, but may charge for parts if necessary

Bear in mind, these policies won’t cover general maintenance of your property- you’re not buying a handyman service e.g. someone won’t pop over to paint your withering frontdoor. These policies are for emergencies and breakdowns e.g. boiler repairs and pipe leaks! So it’s important to check what is covered before buying any policy!

How much does Landlord Maintenance & Emergency Insurance cost?

Prices can vary depending on the level of service you require, but a ballpark figure is £20 – £25 per month. However, it really, really, really does vary and depend. However, to give you some idea, I’ve digged out current rares for some popular suppliers:

Where can I get Landlord Maintenance & Emergency Insurance? Where’s the best place?

As mentioned above, 24/7 Home Rescue offer a bunch of solutions, and they seem to be a reputable service. At the time of writing this blog post, they have a TrustScore of 4.5/5 on TrustPilot. Make of that what you will.

Other than that, I suggest going with the usual comparison websites, like CompareTheMarket.com – they’ll give you the biggest selection of products. You can start your search for Landlord Emergency Cover from this link.

Do Landlords need Maintenance & Emergency Insurance?

No, it’s not a legal requirement or anything like that. It’s 100% optional, and there to provide convenience.

However, many landlords do save money with a policy like this in the long-run, and beyond that, there is definitely value in the stress it can spare.

For example, when a tenant reports an issue, I don’t automatically send someone out to look at the problem, usually. That’s surefire way of needlessly spending a lot on unnecessary ‘call out’ fees.

I’ve learnt from experience that it’s not wise to assume that every reported maintenance issue is legitimate and requires professional assistance to resolve. What I’m really saying is: tenants often report ridiculous maintenance issues that can be resolved with a spanner (i.e. tightening a bolt to stop a leak). The reality is, you don’t want to pay someone on a ad-hoc basis for diagnosing those non-issues. That’s where maintenance & emergency insurance policies can save a small fortune, especially those that come with the benefit of ‘unlimited callouts’ (which many of them do).

Another point to consider: if you’re a proud owner of a modern property with new/reliable products (which often are already covered by their own warranties and guarantees), insurance may not make sense. But if you’re frequently shelling out on maintenance fees, or if you simply the reassurance of knowing you won’t have to go through the agonising pain of having to tracking down a local plumber/electrician to quickly resolve a problem (e.g. a burst pipe or broken boiler)… this could be the solution for you.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that if you don’t get use out of the insurance, you don’t have to renew it.

Landlord Boiler Cover

Needless to say, prevention is always better than cure. So it’s always best to get a quality boiler for rental properties from the offset. I can tell you from years of experience as landlord that cheap is certainly not cheerful when it comes to boilers. A quality and reliable boiler is a wise investment and will pay dividends!

I can tell you the following about boilers…

• They’re freaking expensive to maintain and/or replace. Over the years I’ve thrown more money at boiler maintenance than I wish to remind myself. If I do the maths I’d probably projectile vomit all over my keyboard.
• They’re an absolute nightmare when they breakdown, because it usually means the tenant has no access to hot water or heat. A broken boiler is highly disruptive to every day living, and if landlords don’t act fast to resolve the issue, it usually results in bad relations with the tenant (understandably so).
• A boiler is probably the last appliance I would want to breakdown, particularly during winter, because finding a reliable engineer during peak season can be soul-destroying.

A workhorse boiler by a reputable brand should keep maintenance to a minimum, as long as it’s used properly and serviced regularly. Generally speaking, they come with 5-10 year warranties, so a separate boiler cover plan isn’t necessary.

However, if your boiler isn’t currently covered, subscribing to a Maintenance & Emergency Insurance policy that comes with boiler cover (most of them do) or a specialist boiler care plan, can be invaluable. Of course, whether it makes sense for you will depend on your circumstances. You can base your decision on a couple of thought processes…

• Do you have an old boiler which frequently breaks down, or inevitability seems like it’s about to? Replacing the boiler might be the safest and cheapest option (in the long-run), but depending on your circumstances, boiler cover might be a good option also.
• If you have a brand new boiler which comes with a decent manufacture warranty, you may not need to be overly fussed about boiler cover, but you may benefit from other aspects of a maintenance policy.
• If you want the peace of mind of knowing that you have emergency cover, whether it be for a old or new boiler, or whether you’re on holiday or at home, then a policy with boiler cover seems like the ideal solution. The reality is, one of the biggest selling points of emergency cover is the stress and hassle it can alleviate.

I’ve already recommended a Maintenance & Emergency Insurance supplier, which includes boiler breakdown cover. However, if you’re just looking for just a Landlord Boiler Care Plan, the following have a decent reputation.

Why it’s important to deal with maintenance issues efficiently in rentals

Many landlords have this terrible misconception that delaying or completely avoiding emergency maintenance issues, particularly when it involves gas, water and electricity, is a money-saving tactic. It’s not. In fact, it’s the complete opposite, hence the utter misconception.

While human decency and morals should be enough to encourage every landlord to take hold of their obligations by providing their tenant with a safe and clean environment, it’s sadly not always enough. So here are a few other reasons…

• Increases tenant turnover
  Provide a poor service and tenants are more likely to end the tenancy, which creates a high tenant turnover.

  In reality, it’s usually cheaper to resolve maintenance issues quickly as opposed to forcing a displeased tenant to leave, and then spending money on finding new tenants and swallowing the cost of void periods.

• Problems can manifest
  Generally, problems don’t get better with time. For example, a broken boiler is not like a glass of red wine, it won’t get better with age; it’s not going to progressively start improving it’s heating efficiency. On the contrary, it’s more likely to deteriorate day-by-day until it has nothing left to offer.

  It’s usually always cheaper to attend to gas and electrical issues before they manifest into serious problems. In fact, that’s usually the case with any type of problem.

• Legal obligation
  It’s amazing (and scary) how many landlords either fail to remember or simply don’t care, that it’s their legal obligation to keep their property in proper working order, that includes water, heating, gas and electricity.

  Needless to say, failing to comply can lead to financial penalties and even imprisonment.

• Tenant safety
  Perhaps the most important reason on the list.

  By failing to meet your legal obligations to repair and maintain your property, particularly in emergencies, you could be putting your tenant at risk. The consequences of that could be fatal… and unbelievably expensive!

• Creates bad relationship with tenant
  There’s nothing worse than a sour tenant/landlord relationship, it makes everything infinitely more difficult.

  One sure-fire way of creating tension between you and your tenant is by failing to maintain and repair. And believe me, a disgruntled tenant can do a lot more damage to your pocket than you could ever do to theirs.

Do you need anymore convincing? No? Good.