Right, this sort of question is one of those tricky little conundrums that really depends on various factors and your personal situation.

And like most insurance situations, you have to weigh up what suits you in terms of the risks involved.

Let’s take the boiler. Nowadays they are quite complicated pieces of kit and whereas one might last 15 years without a hitch, another one might break down on regular intervals. And who’s to stay why. Take cars for example. We’ve all known cars that go on for mile after mile without so much as a kind word. Yet we’ve known others that breakdown if it’s raining.

So, if you own a modern, latest specification boiler with a nice guarantee, then maybe you are safe at least for the first year. But do read the small print on the guarantee as, let’s be honest, a number of companies have a way of getting out of any commitment if they can.

But once out of the guarantee period, you are then starting to run the risk of what happens if a major failure occurs? Modern new boilers can cost anywhere from £250 to £3,000, depending on the size of your property. So, if you have an expensive boiler, then you might want it covered. Mind you, even if you don’t have an expensive boiler, the cost of replacement could still be, in relevant terms, a fortune, given your own personal budget. What effectively an insurance plan does, is to spread the cost of a new boiler over a number of months, if you assume the worse and think that your boiler will inevitably breakdown. And, that’s assuming it requires a complete replacement, rather than just parts.

So lets say you take out a monthly policy of between £10 and £15 a month, which will cost you between £120 and £180 a year; it’s cheap if you’re boiler breaks down. But let’s say it doesn’t break down for five years, then the total cost would have been £600 to £900, maybe twice as much as a new boiler for an average house. But, who can say? It’s your judgement and your risk.

But, if there’s one strong argument for getting insurance, it’s that you have someone else paying your boiler attention. Boilers should be serviced once a year, otherwise you not only run the risk of having an inefficient boiler which is costing you more money than it should, but you are risking your own and your families’ lives. A faulty boiler can kill; it’s that simple. Carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty boilers kills around 30 people in the U.K. every year.

Now, to get your boiler serviced, you have to remember to book and arrange a Corgi-registered engineer to do the job. Boiler servicing is, by law, a job for a professional. DIY servicing certainly is not allowed and should not be tried, nor can some odd-job man do it for you.

So, a boiler service can set you back at least £95, so if you think that an insurance plan can start from £120 (and includes a yearly service), then it would make sense to pay that bit extra, spread over monthly payments anyway. And apart from the economic argument, you also have someone who will remind you about your service and arrange to do it. Which saves the hassle of you remembering your annual service and having to negotiate a service price.

Right, you pays your money and takes your choice, but on balance, a good boiler insurance seems sensible not only for your wallet, but also for your health.

Guest Article by Neil Camp