Is Landlord Home Emergency Cover Worth It?
A plain-numbers look at what a plan costs each year, against what happens the year you don't have one.
What "Worth It" Actually Means
Most landlords only ask this question once — usually right after an emergency bill lands. By then the comparison isn't much use.
A 2025 Direct Line survey of UK landlords found that 62% had called an emergency contractor in the past 12 months, at an average cost of £621, with 72% of those call-outs falling outside normal working hours.
So "worth it" isn't really about whether something will break. Most years, for most landlords, something does. It's about who pays when it happens, and how fast it gets sorted.
Why the Clock Matters More Than It Used To
Landlords have always had a duty under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to keep heating, hot water and sanitation in working order.
Since October 2025, Awaab's Law adds a hard deadline on top of that: landlords must investigate a reported heating failure within 24 hours and begin fixing it within that window.
Without a plan already in place, that first day gets spent finding an available emergency engineer, not fixing anything. With one, the same phone call starts the repair instead.
How Many Claims Before It Pays for Itself?
Using typical UK repair costs, a Gold plan doesn't need much use at all to come out ahead of paying for repairs yourself.
| Claims in a year | Cost without cover | Cost with Gold |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | £0 | £115 |
| 1 (a single call-out or repair) | £150–£500 | £115 |
| 2 | £300–£1,000+ | £115 |
Gold covers up to three claims a year at £1,000 each; Platinum covers six at £500 each. See exact plan pricing →
A January Boiler Failure
Boiler failures cluster in winter — one UK study found 15.6% happen in January alone, more than any other month.
Without cover: the landlord sources an emergency engineer from scratch, on the day, with the Awaab's Law clock already running. The call-out and repair together commonly land between £150 and £500.
With an emergency plan: the claims line already has an approved engineer network, so the same call starts a same-day repair instead of a search. Parts, labour and VAT are covered up to the plan's limit.
A Year With Cover vs a Year Without
| Scenario | Without Cover | With an Emergency Plan |
|---|---|---|
| One boiler breakdown in winter | £150–£500 out of pocket | Covered to the plan limit |
| Two claims in the same year | Both bills paid in full | Both within Gold's 3-claim allowance |
| Awaab's Law 24-hour deadline | Spent finding a contractor | Spent starting the repair |
| Annual cost, zero claims | £0 | £115 (Gold) / £125 (Platinum) |
| Annual cost, one bad call-out | £150–£600+ | Same premium, already covered |
Common Questions
One out-of-hours call-out can already cost more than a year's premium, so the plan only needs to be used once to have paid for itself.
Same principle as any insurance: the value is in not carrying the risk yourself, not in guaranteed use.
Yes. That's specifically the gap buildings insurance leaves open, since most buildings policies treat wear and tear as excluded maintenance rather than damage.
It adds a real deadline. From October 2025, landlords must start remedying a reported heating failure within 24 hours, which makes having an approved contractor already on call worth more than it used to be.
Gold suits landlords who want a higher £1,000 per-claim limit across fewer issues. Platinum suits more frequent, lower-cost problems and adds electrical faults, which Gold doesn't include.
Compare Gold and Platinum Cover
Gold from £115/yr, Platinum from £125/yr. Cover the gap buildings insurance leaves open.