Hi folks, just wanted to find out which covers are worth looking at to cover emergency repairs for the above mentioned items. Any and all feedback and suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.
I have used British gas landlords home care 4. Covers loads of stuff. Free gas safety check, but £60 if they get called out. I give tenants number to contact BG directly so I don’t get calls at 3am to say boiler broken. Tenants are aware the call out charge will be passed on if the call is not emergency, I have given them a description of what warrants an emergency call out and what doesn’t. They then have to email me with what’s happened etc so I can choose if BG or another tradesperson attend. Cost is 26 ish per month and saves me having to have a managing agent. Direct line also do a similar service I think.
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I have Domestic & General appliance insurance on the white goods where possible. Just makes life easier and the tenants can call them to arrange repairs or replacements. My experience with heating system contracts hasn’t been good, but if someone can recommend a good outfit I’d be interested as finding a heating engineer for a winter call out is nearly impossible.
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Thanks so much for the recommendation @James47 , you are the second person who has suggested and recommended British Gas to me in various conversations I’ve had. And a true saving without the hassles of managing agent fees. I appreciate your time in responding.
Thanks for the recommendation @Tony, is this different to the insurances that come with the appliances on purchase or is this separate to this in order to cover any appliances that need to be repaired or replaced? We have always replaced by buying outright after attempting to repair but it’s a nightmare to keep hunting for contractors that will repair especially as I was living out of the country for the last 10 years and have now returned. Now I want to manage this myself without having the cost and expense of doing this. Your feedback is welcomed!
I also live out of the country and manage properties myself, so I have to get faults fixed from a distance.
When an appliance fails I use AO.com to replace it. They agree a delivery time/date with the tenant, install it, take away the packaging and the old appliance. Obviously they charge for this, but their prices are pretty fair I think. Certainly cheaper than getting a engineer out to do it and an engineer won’t take away the old unit. So far, tenants have been happy with them and importantly, me.
AO have an arrangement with D&G. Shortly after delivery they call me to sell me the insurance deal. It differs from extended warranty as it claims to be indefinite. So whenever the appliance eventually fails, D&G will pay for repair or replacement. D&G have also taken on appliances I bought 2 years previously from AO on which I didn’t take the insurance. Note I haven’t ever had to make a claim on the insurance though. I think D&G will take most things providing you know the make, model and age.
Most white goods cost between £5-£9 per month to insure. It works out that if (say) a washing machine fails after 8-10 years (which seems to be normal), I’ve paid for it at least twice in the monthly payments, but it saves me having to get a repair man out.
The alternative would be just to take a punt and buy a new appliance every time one goes wrong.
If I lived locally, I wouldn’t bother, but as I don’t, this arrangement works for me.
Hi Corinna I can definitely say do not use 24/7. I had horrendous experiences with them on both my properties. Read their small print , they will not do anything for you if the boiler is over 10 years old except an expensive manufacturer repair only guaranteed for one year and you could organise that yourself without paying 24/7’s monthly fees. Their response times and attitude were awful except when I cancelled my contract, then someone phoned me within 24 hours to try and get me to sign up again. The plumber they sent to do a service could not even get the front of the boiler!!! etc etc. I spent two weeks trying to get a gas service report only to find one had not been done at all. After I dispensed with their services, my local boiler service and gas check company did everything, including providing both me and the tenants with the gas safety check report after a single phone call from me for a lot less than 24/7 were charging for a full year of payments. 24/7 were truly the worst company I have ever had dealings with except for their signing up process. They are all hype and charge with no action.
@Jennifer5 oh my hat, that is definitely shocking service. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. That’s one to cross off my list. I would rather go with someone who will do it and then pay a monthly fee for the assurance that the tennant can call at any time if there is a problem.
I also now need to organise an EPC and will have to research that separately. Hope yours is all sorted now though and you’re back on a winning wicket 