If you need a boiler installing, whether yours has broken down, or you don’t have one at all, there are some tips here that can help make sure you don’t get fleeced when selecting a tradesman or company for the job!
Gas Safe Registered
An initial check you can undertake yourself relatively quickly, and which can give you a good idea of whether you’re dealing with a trustworthy candidate for boiler related work is that of the Gas Safe Register.
You may recognise this by its former name, CORGI. CORGI was replaced by the gas safe register in april 2009. By law, all gas engineers must be on the gas safe register, so if you don’t find a boiler replacement candidate on the gas safe register website, you might want to continue your search.
Online Reviews
Increasingly, there is a trend for builders to exploit the ever growing market of those requiring work who go online to find a reputable company or trader to do their work. It is likely that this trend will continue, and in doing so gives the user/buyer more power, giving them a wider choice, increased clarity of the relative merits of each potential candidate.
As with most modern e-commerce, online reviews play a large role in distinguishing legitimately good products and services, from those who talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk!
Word of Mouth
Personal recommendations can still play a pivotal role in deciding boiler installations from a trustworthy tradesman, despite the increase in online recommendations.
That’s right, the proof is in the pudding. So if an acquaintance offers a legitimately unbiased recommendation for work like that which you require yourself, it can be a more reliable source than online. As well as that, the tradesman in question is more likely to be local, and may not in fact be listed online themselves.
Service Care Plans
Before deciding that you definitely need to get a boiler service care plan (or breakdown insurance/boiler cover), it is important to check one or two things:
If you are residing in a rented property, it will most likely be your landlords responsibility, and you needn’t take out any sort of boiler cover.
In some circumstances, your home insurance may already include some sort of boiler cover. It is therefore best to contact your insurer both to make sure you don’t take out two sets of boiler cover, and to see if there is an improved price for taking out both home insurance and boiler cover.
Different plans will offer different services, perks and differ in cost. It is usually the case that there is a cheaper alternative available to the cover that you energy provider is likely to encourage you to take out.
As with most things, the way to save is to compare and contrast. Comparison websites can be a good place to start, but don’t leave out contacting smaller local firms and sole-traders to see if they offer similar services more cheaply.
The most important thing, after you have made sure your choice is reputable, is ensuring that you know it’s the best price you could find, and offers the right services for you, for example if you need central heating cover included, 24 hour cover, or whether something like home emergency cover might be the more viable option for your needs.
0800 Repair Gas Services are an experienced company offering a variety of services, from boiler installations to gas safety, repair and maintenance services.
