British Gas Boiler and Heating Cover for Homeowners (2024 REVIEW)

British Gas home boiler cover (marketed as HomeCare) is a range of boiler cover packages aimed at helping homeowners protect their vital home systems. British Gas home boiler cover offers some of the most extensive, and least affordable, home care plans on the UK market.

British Gas offer the following two home boiler cover plans.

• HomeCare Essential: The HomeCare Essential plan protects the entire heating system, including the boiler and radiators.
• HomCare Complete: The Complete plan covers all of the home’s essential systems, including electric vehicle chargers.

The HomeCare plans from British Gas range in price between £20 and £69 per month, depending on your location, the extent of coverage, the callout fee, your boiler brand, age, and quantity of radiators. This price range makes British Gas HomeCare relatively expensive compared to care plans from competing companies. However, the premium pricing buys you many items that other care service providers exclude, such as unlimited calluts and no caps on repair value.

British Gas HomeCare plans come with a list of exclusions, most of which are standard in the industry. The exclusions comprise items such as limescale damage, design faults, and unauthorised repairs.

British Gas HomeCare is worth it if you don’t mind splurging a bit to ensure peace of mind. HomeCare is not ideal if you’re seeking limited, boiler-only coverage at a budget price. However, there are excellent alternatives to British Gas (such as WarmZilla and YourRepair) that do offer far more affordable home boiler cover with more flexibility in coverage options.

Our review below explores Britsh Gas HomeCare in greater detail and outlines its inclusions, exclusions, prices, and alternatives.

What are the British Gas HomeCare packages?

Below are the two British Gas homecare packages.

• HomeCare Essential: The British Gas HomeCare Essential package includes repairs to a gas boiler, its controls, hot water cylinder, and radiators. The Essential plan costs between £33-38 per month with £0 excess and £20-25 per month with £60 excess.
• HomeCare Complete: The British Gas HomeCare Complete package bundles in repairs to a gas boiler, its controls, hot water cylinder, radiators, plumbing, electrics, and electrical vehicle charger. The monthly cost of the Complete plan is £49-69 with £0 excess and £28-36 with £60 excess.

Both of the HomeCare plans above include annual boiler service, accidental damage, and up to £1,000 for access and making good after repairs.

British Gas include two key items in the HomeCare plans that go above and beyond the industry standard for boiler cover. Firstly, British Gas promise to replace your boiler if they’re unable to repair it and its under 10 years old. Such a replacement guarantee is unusual for the industry, where most boiler care companies replace boilers on a case-by-case basis. Secondly, British Gas HomeCare plans have no restrictions on repair callouts. You’re able to request as many callouts as needed, and there’s no cap on the value of repairs. In contrast, most boiler cover providers place a cap on the value of repairs, and some limit the number of callouts.

What affects the cost of British Gas home boiler cover?

Below are the five factors that affect the cost of British Gas home boiler cover.

• Boiler manufacturer: Some boiler manufacturers are slightly cheaper to get cover for than others. For example, British Gas HomeCare costs roughly £2-4 less for Worcester Bosch and Vaillant boilers than it does for equivalent models from Ideal, Alpha, or even Veissman. This price differents indicates that British Gas is slightly more confident in the reliability of Vaillant and Worcester boilers than of their counterparts from other brands.
• Boiler type: British Gas charge slightly more to cover combi boilers than their system or regular peers.
• Boiler age: Cover for newer boilers (1-7 years) costs several pound less per month than it does for older boilers (7+ years).
• Quantity of radiators: The boiler cover premiums increase with the quantity of radiators, since both of British Gas’s home cover plans include the entire heating system.
• Your postcode: British Gas charge slightly more for boiler cover in the capital region than they do elsewhere in the UK.

What does British Gas home boiler cover exclude?

The following are the seven items that British Gas home boiler cover excludes.

• Sludge and limescale damage: British Gas HomeCare policies do not include damage stemming from sludge or limescale buildup in the boiler or heating system. British Gas do not clear out limescale or sludge as part of covered repairs.
• Showers: Showers, shower parts, shower pumps, sanitary ware, and sealant are ineligible for repairs under British Gas HomeCare plans.
• Shared drains: British Gas HomeCare only protects the private drains that do not convey sewage from properties other than yours. Shared drains are excluded from coverage, even if they run through your property.
• Faults caused by unauthorised repairs: Faults caused by unauthorised repairs are excluded from coverage.
• Design fautls: Issues connected to flaws in the design of a covered system are not eligible for emergency repairs.
• Electrical appliances: British Gas HomeCare policies protect a home’s electrical wiring, but exclude repairs to electrical appliances.
• Cooker hoods and some extractor fans: Cooker hoods and extractor fans greater than 15 cm in diameter are not eligible for repairs under British Gas’s HomeCare plans.

Is British Gas HomeCare worth it?

British Gas HomeCare is worth it in two circumstances. Firstly, HomeCare is worth it if you require comprehensive coverage. British Gas HomeCare plans are some of the most extensive on the market, with no options for basic coverage. Secondly, HomeCare is a worthy investment if you don’t mind paying more for peace of mind. British Gas HomeCare plans are not as affordable as similar policies from competing boiler cover providers. That said, the peace of mind British Gas offer with their cover policies justifies the higher price. For example, British Gas HomeCare plans have no restrictions on callouts and no limits on repair value, and the company is committed to replacing boilers it’s unable to repair.

However, British Gas HomeCare may not be worth it for you in the following three situations. Firstly, you may not want to pay a premium for British Gas HomeCare if you have a relatively new boiler that’s under warranty whilst other home systems are protected by home insurance. Newer boilers are unlikely to need extensive or frequent repairs, and the cost of boiler cover is typically higher than cost of repairs in any given year. Secondly, British Gas HomeCare may be an unjustifiable monthly expense if you only need to have the boiler and controls covered, as even the most basic HomeCare plan protects the entire heating system. Thirdly, getting British Gas HomeCare may not be worth it if your heating system is plagued with limescale or sludge. Sludge and limescale are a common cause of boiler problems, and most cover companies (including British Gas) deem sludge and limescale-related issues ineligible for repairs. Getting HomeCare for a boiler that suffers from debris buildup means you pay for a policy that does not guarantee repairs caused by the buildup.

What are the best alternatives to British Gas HomeCare?

Below are the two alternatives to British Gas HomeCare.

• WarmZilla: WarmZilla’s home boiler cover comes with a choice of four plans, which range from the basic boiler and controls cover, to a comprehensive policy that protects the home’s most vital systems. WarmZilla’s home cover is an appropriate alternative to British Gas HomeCare if you’re looking for less extensive, more affordable coverage.
• YourRepair: YourRepair’s home boiler cover offers an assortment of flexible coverage, premium, and excess options. YourRepair is a suitable alternative to British Gas HomeCare if you’re looking for more flexibility with choosing your premiums and callout fees.