Best home emergency cover in the UK 2024

There are a number of things that can go wrong at home. Having good home emergency cover insurance can give you and your family valuable peace of mind if your boiler breaks down, rats take up residence in your home, your pipes explode, or your electrics fail.

If you have a home emergency policy, you can call the company and have a tradesperson come fix the problem as soon as you make a claim. If you are a landlord, some of these home insurance policies can even deal with your tenants directly, so you don’t have to worry about their safety.

And while repairs are underway, home emergency cover can also provide you and your family with financial assistance, overnight or temporary accommodation, and replace your damaged furniture. There are many advantages to having an emergency cover provider, but it can feel overwhelming to compare all of them and find the one that best fits your needs.

We’re here to help. We have conducted hundreds of hours of in-depth research and looked into more than 20 home emergency cover brands. We analysed over 400 third-party customer reviews and gathered nearly 1,200 data points to help us identify the top home emergency cover brands in the industry. Let’s go through our findings in some more detail.

What are the best home emergency cover brands?

• Most flexible: PlusHeat
• Most trustworthy: Hometree
• Most affordable: 247 Home Rescue
• Most comprehensive: British Gas
• Best for landlords: Home Serve

Image credit: PlusHeat

• Price range: £12.99 – £25.99 a month
• Number of plans: 4
• Call-out fee options: £59 or £99

PlusHeat is a reliable home emergency cover brand that includes handyman services, home security, roofing, and pest control. One of the main advantages of this brand is that it provides benefits that are generally not part of a policy of this kind, such as electrics cover. It also offers a customisable plan at a very competitive price, making PlusHeat one of the most flexible home emergency cover companies out there.

PlusHeat works with four plans to help you protect your home: Standard, Premium and Platinum, plus a fourth Custom plan in which you can choose which coverage options to include or exclude.

The Standard plan includes boiler cover and controls, as well as services to thermostats, timers, programmers and clocks, and boiler installation. The Premium plan is a heating, plumbing, and electrics cover. The Platinum plan offers a more comprehensive cover, including internal and external drains, broken locks, roof damage, key replacement, and pest control.

Cost

PlusHeat plans vary depending on the call-out fee. The two options are £59 or £99, and prices differ if you have a mains gas or electric boiler (the plans are about 50% more expensive for electric boilers).

Our recommendation

PlusHeat has one significant advantage over its competitors: You can create your own customised home emergency cover policy, choosing services to include or exclude. For example, you can add central heating, plumbing, electrics, and drainage services to your policy (you just have to pay a little over £1 for each of these add ons). PlusHeat also offers gas fire and smart thermostat control services as extras.

PlusHeat has received a rating of “Excellent” in Trustpilot (4.3 / 5 stars). Customers have consistently said it’s very easy to make appointments and claims, and the brand offers great cover options for a reasonable price. Some customers got their issues resolved in as little as two hours. Overall, this company provides flexible, good-quality coverage and is an excellent option for many homeowners.

Image credit: 247 Home Rescue

• Price range: £4.49 – £20.49 a month
• Number of plans: 4
• Call-out fee options: £0, £45, £75 and £95

247 Home Rescue has good policies starting at £4.49, making it one of the most affordable home emergency care providers in the UK market.

The company offers four plans: Boiler Basic, Boiler Care, Heating Care, and Home Care. 247 Home Rescue’s boiler cover is a comprehensive protection plan that can reduce the likelihood of breakdowns in the future. The basic version of this plan refers to the cover of the boiler itself, and the second ‘Boiler Care’ option includes an annual service.

The ‘Heating Care’ cover also includes radiator service and repairs, while the ‘Home Care’ cover has all the benefits mentioned above plus additional non-heating related issues such as problems with plumbing, drainage, electrical emergencies, pest control, and home security.

Cost

247 Home Rescue plans vary depending on the call-out fee or excess. The available excess options are £0, £45, £75 or £95. You can also replace your boiler for £44.99 a month (the guarantee lasts 10 years and no deposit is required).

Our recommendation

247 Home Rescue is a popular home emergency cover option, particularly for those looking for better prices for their policy. Customers have rated the company “Excellent” in Trustpilot, giving it a 4.6 average – the highest of the five brands we are covering. Most of their users praise 247 Home Rescue’s polite, informative, and punctual engineers and are very happy with the quality of the coverage.

This home emergency cover is particularly good for landlords because it provides comprehensive cover and excellent service for an affordable price. The company also has one of the largest networks of approved gas engineers and experts, making it an ideal choice for homeowners and landlords across the country.

Image credit: Hometree

• Price range: £15 – £22 per month
• Number of plans: 3
• Call-out fee options: £0, £60 or £95

Hometree offers three excellent home emergency insurance plans: Boiler cover, heating cover, and a comprehensive home cover that includes the first two.

The boiler cover comes with an annual gas, flue and controls service that is carried out by an engineer. Hometree can also conduct various assessments such as ventilation and gas efficiency tests and visual checks of the supply line and issue a Landlord Gas Safety Record (LGSR) and CP12 certificates.

Hometree’s heating cover includes the standard boiler cover as well as checks for all radiators, pipes, cylinders, and gas supply lines.

Lastly, the home cover provides boiler and heating support and services and repairs for home electrics (fuse boxes, circuits, light fittings and sockets), drains and waste pipes, water supply pipes, and general plumbing.

Cost

Hometree plans vary slightly depending on the call-out fee and whether you have Homeowner or Landlord cover. The excess options are £0, £60 or £95. The final price can be as low as 56p a day.

Our recommendation

Hometree offers speedy solutions, and customers have reported that claims are easy to make. The company has a particularly comprehensive cover for boilers, making it an excellent choice for homeowners.

No matter how old your boiler is, Hometree will cover it (and if it can’t be fixed, Hometree will offer you a 15% discount on a new one). Another advantage of Hometree is that it promises not to increase its prices above inflation – as long as you don’t make a claim in 12 months.

Customers have consistently rated Hometree as “Excellent” on Trustpilot (4.5 stars out of 5). The company has a 24/7 UK-based helpline that has been praised by users as being friendly and effective. The engineers are also reportedly punctual, polite, and carry out repairs with great efficiency. Hometree’s Welcome Pack has also been praised because it explains the cover options and answers frequent questions in great detail.

Image credit: British Gas

• Price range: £17 – £26 a month
• Number of plans: 4
• Call-out fee options: £0 and £60

British Gas offers four home emergency cover plans. All of them include unlimited call-outs, all parts and labour costs, and a UK-based 24/7 emergency helpline. One of the main advantages of British Gas is that you can choose between angle-cover, multiple-cover, and breakdown-only home emergency cover.

Their simplest plan is HomeCare One, which includes an annual boiler service and repairs to your boiler and controls (with programmer and thermostat checks as well). HomeCare Two adds central heating support, including radiators and hot water cylinders.

In addition to boiler and heating services, HomeCare Three offers plumbing and drain repairs. And the fourth plan, HomeCare Four, contains home electrics as well. British Gas also provides Gas Safety Check and Certificates,  Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR), and additional appliance cover.

Cost

British Gas offers plans with £0 and £60 excess.  Cost ranges from £17.00 a month for the basic plan, to £26.00 a month for the most comprehensive option. There’s also breakdown cover for boiler and controls, and central heating.

Our recommendation

British Gas provides a good range of services for customers looking for effective home emergency cover, including breakdown protection mini-plans that start at just £2.50 a month. When you buy a HomeCare plan, the company also sends a British Gas approved engineer to check your boiler and give you advice on how to save energy.

British Gas is rated “Average” on Trustpilot (3.4/ 5 stars), and there have been some reports of users complaining to Citizens Advice about delays in claims. However, the company is one of the largest in the country and continues to improve its guidelines and standards, and most negative claims have been addressed by the company publically. In general, customers are satisfied with the boiler service and the overall quality of the work carried out.

Image: HomeServe

• Price range: £8 to £18 a month
• Number of plans: More than 10
• Call-out fee options: £60 or £100

Home Serve offers several affordable home emergency cover plans that are ideal for customers looking for smaller policies. Plans can cost as little as £1 a month, and repairs include a guarantee of 12 months for most-completed jobs.

Home Serve has cover plans for plumbing and drainage, boiler and heating, boiler replacement, electrical breakdown, and kitchen appliances. Its services protect you against a wide range of emergencies such as leaking pipes, blocked drains, gas supply lines, central heating, repairs for broken fuse boxes, and cover for DIY accidents. The company also offers landlord cover that will take care of tenants’ needs directly, so you don’t have to.

Cost

Home Serve plans start at £1 a month for their plumbing and drainage cover and electrical breakdown at £3 a month. The landlord monthly cover options are £1 (plumbing and drainage), £5 (electrics), £6 (plumbing and electrics), and £11 (boiler), with more combinations possible. There are two options for boiler excess: £60 and £100.

Our recommendation

Home Serve has some of the most flexible plans for home emergency care. You can combine services in several ways, which makes this brand a perfect choice for landlords. Home Serve also deals directly with all your tenants, which can help you save time and headaches.

Home Serve has been rated “Excellent” on Trustpilot and has a score of 4.3. Customers are particularly happy about the range of services, which includes smaller plans and countless add-ons. The company also offers video conference options for making claims and providing support, a service that none of its competitors offer. The prices, although restricted to smaller standalone cover plans, are highly competitive.

There are several things to consider when choosing the best home emergency cover plan for you and your family. At a minimum, you want to make sure that your house has continued access to heating, lighting, drainage, and water, but there are many other factors that can help you decide which brand is best for you. Below are some things we consider important when you’re looking for the perfect home emergency cover.

Coverage

An essential factor when picking a home emergency cover brand is the level of cover of the insurance providers. In particular, what’s included in a company’s offer. For example, many brands offer annual boiler services, boiler breakdown, flue and control, as well as central heating system support, support for burst pipes, mains electricity, drains, and plumbing services.

Some also include alternative accommodation, pest control, contents insurance, and appliance repair. The offers are quite varied, so it’s important to make sure your cover includes all the benefits you will require.

Pricing

Most home emergency cover companies offer different plans – in very different price ranges. For example, you can get boiler cover or heating cover as separate services or combine them in a more comprehensive home cover.

Prices for standalone plans tend to be low on their own, although some providers that group different insurance options offer significant discounts when summed up. If price is a concern, several of the brands we have covered offer solid home emergency cover for an affordable price.

Call-out fees

A call-out fee is the excess you pay once per fault. Most companies offer different call-out fee options, adjusting the plan prices according to them. The higher the fee, the lower the monthly or annual price. For example, if you have a £0 call-out charge, you will probably have to pay a little more for your monthly plan than a person willing to pay £60 for a visit. Most home emergency cover companies, however, offer unlimited call-outs.

Additional services

Many home insurance cover companies offer additional services such as pest infestation cover or repairs if there is sudden damage to your roof. Some also include checks for your home appliances and the resolution of minor issues like dripping taps or faulty electrical sockets. It’s always best to check the small print to see what is included or not in your policy and whether you’re interested in any additional services or add-ons the company provides.

What’s not covered

Researching what’s included with home emergency cover is essential – but so is knowing what services aren’t part of the plans – what the exclusions are.

For example, if your boiler hasn’t been serviced in a while or is too old, some policies might not cover repairs on it. The company might instead offer you a new boiler you can pay in installations and that is covered. Many companies also block claims during the first 14 (or more) days after taking out a policy. If your property has been unoccupied for a period of time (usually 30 days or more), you might also need to look into a more specific policy such as unoccupied property insurance.

Helpline

To get your home emergency dealt with, you first need to make a phone claim. Good home emergency cover brands have 24/7 helplines that can help answer your questions and plan an expert’s visit regardless of the time of the year.

When we reviewed these five companies, we paid particular attention to the availability and the quality of the service (based on comments in real-world reviews), so we can assure you that these brands all offer excellent helpline services.

No-claim bonuses

Many companies like Hometree offer discounts on their plans if you don’t make a claim over a certain period of time. A no-claim bonus can provide discounts of up to 25% after the first year. Although the number falls to around 15% after the second, it can then rise to up to 50% after year five. The best emergency is the one you don’t have, so having no claims can bring you benefits in the long term.

Peace of mind

Home emergency cover plans are designed to help you protect against the unexpected. Ideally, you would never have to use your policy. But accidents happen, and it’s always better to be prepared. If you have good home emergency cover, a specialist will deal with the needed repairs, and the company will provide you with a place to sleep while things get resolved. Since you can’t avoid the risk, it’s best to have the best coverage so you know you’ll be safe if something does happen.

Saving money

Unexpected issues with your pumping, heating, or boiler can be costly. It’s worth considering which policies suit your circumstances better, but you probably don’t want to be left unprotected after a power cut or a broken boiler. You could spend more on emergency repairs than you would if you had home emergency cover. Additionally, these plans tend to give you many other benefits.

Advantages for landlords

If you are a landlord, you are responsible for keeping your tenants safe and dealing with all home emergencies. Many home emergency cover providers offer plans that are specifically designed with landlords in mind. These can help you recoup the cost of call-outs and the fees for after-hours or emergency situations. If a tenant’s boiler breaks down on Christmas Day, you would be able to get it sorted immediately.

Conclusion

We’ve hand-picked five excellent choices that will help you deal with almost all possible home emergencies. And we hope this article can guide you through finding the best home emergency cover that works best for you.

So, which one to choose?

If you’re a landlord, an excellent home emergency cover you should consider is Home Serve. This company can deal with tenants directly and provides numerous policies that can be combined to create flexible coverage for all your home emergency needs.

247 Home Rescue is a great choice if you’re looking for affordable plans with numerous excess options. Of the five UK brands we reviewed, 247 Home Rescue has the best ratings: An impressive 4.6 average on Trustpilot.

A flexible alternative is PlusHeat, where you can create a more personalised plan for your home emergency cover and has been rated 4.3 stars on Trustpilot. This brand is a good option if you want to customise your coverage and have more control over what’s included in it.

Hometree has been praised for the quality of its services, its friendly helpline, and punctual and efficient engineers. Although they only have three plans, they have long proven their value. With 4.5 stars on Trustpilot, they are also an excellent home emergency cover provider.

Lastly, British Gas is an established option with a number of comprehensive plans that will cover most of your home emergency needs. They offer a good range of products, including mini-options for just £2.50 a month – but its ratings are average. Just 3.4 stars on Trustpilot.

Methodology

To help you choose the right cover for you, we conducted in-depth research for hundreds of hours, looking into over 20 home emergency cover brands. We compared services and customer ratings to help us identify the top home emergency cover brands in the industry. The main factors we considered were plan options, coverage details, pricing, years of experience, reputation, and additional benefits such as roof leaks.