Best boiler cover

Boiler cover pretty much does what it says on the tin – it's an insurance policy you buy to cover the cost of getting your boiler working again if it breaks. But there are several different levels of cover to choose from:

• Boiler-only cover. This is the starting level of cover, and usually the cheapest. It typically covers only the boiler and its controls. The majority of central heating claims are down to a broken boiler, but if the problem is outside the 'white box', this sort of cover won't help.
  
  
• Boiler and central heating cover. The same as above, plus cover if, for example, pipes, radiators or central-heating pumps break.
  
  
• Boiler, heating, plumbing, drains and home electrics cover. This would be classed as high-end cover, and so tends to be more expensive. Here you'd be covered for all central-heating repairs, plus burst pipes, blocked drains and electrical repairs. It's slightly different to the home emergency cover below, as this policy would also cover repairs that aren't considered an emergency.
  
  
• Home emergency. Broadly, this tends to cover your boiler and central heating, plus also provides help for floods, pest infestation and more. As the name suggests, it tends to cover emergencies – usually if your health's at risk, your home's uninhabitable or at risk from further damage if the problem's not fixed. For example, this could be if you've a burst pipe and can't turn off the water supply, or your boiler's broken and it's zero degrees outside.

Whichever level of cover you opt for, always double-check what you're getting and closely inspect the terms to make sure the policy suits you, and you're not under or over-covered. It's also important to note that almost all plans include an initial no-claims period (designed to stop people signing up to plans on the day their boiler breaks), which varies from 14 to 30 days.