Vaillant boiler cover and repair costs

First: is your Vaillant still under guarantee?

Every cost below turns on that one question, so settle it before you read a single price. Vaillant calls it a guarantee rather than a warranty, and the length depends on the model. Two clauses in Vaillant's domestic boiler guarantee terms decide most cases. Clause 5 says the guarantee "must be registered within 30 days of installing the appliance", and that failing to do so means "the guarantee reverting to 12 months from date of installation". Clause 7 says the boiler "must be serviced annually by a Vaillant or other registered Gas Safe Registered engineer in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions".

Our Vaillant boiler warranty check guide, linked at the foot of this page, covers finding the 28 digit serial number, the three ways Vaillant lets you check, and what keeps the guarantee valid. If the boiler is still under guarantee, Vaillant lists a separate number for in-guarantee repairs on its boiler care page, and none of the options below apply to you. The rest of this page is for owners whose guarantee has run out.

The short version

• Under guarantee, Vaillant handles the repair itself. Our Vaillant boiler warranty check guide covers checking and registering.
• Out of guarantee, Vaillant says it offers "a choice of two repair options - a repair and care plan or a one-off repair option". Both are priced on Vaillant's boiler care page, so read the current figure there.
• The Fixed Price Repair is a one-off payment. Vaillant says all parts are included "excluding the Heat Exchanger and Expansion Vessel", and if the boiler cannot be repaired it charges only for the fixed engineer time.
• For a working boiler, Vaillant's Gold and Platinum maintenance and support plans are provided by Domestic & General Services Limited and are "only suitable for domestic boilers under 15-years-old that are in good working order and out of guarantee".
• An independent cover plan is a different product again: modular, capped at a stated limit, and not tied to the boiler brand.

Out of guarantee: what a Vaillant Fixed Price Repair involves

Vaillant describes the Fixed Price Repair as "a one-off package designed for broken boilers that aren't within their manufacturer's guarantee", paid at the point of booking and booked through the myVaillant Web portal. The price is published on Vaillant's boiler care page. Vaillant can change it, so take the current figure from that page before you budget.

The small print matters more than the headline. Vaillant says "All parts are included, excluding the Heat Exchanger and Expansion Vessel", so a failure in either of those two parts sits outside the fixed price. It also says "All of our repairs also include a gas safety check". On work that is done, "All parts fitted are guaranteed for 12 months, and all labour is covered for 90 days." If the boiler cannot be repaired, Vaillant says it will "only charge you for the fixed engineer time", and where a repair is uneconomical it will advise on a replacement.

Read what the boiler is showing before you book anything. A fault code tells you, and whoever you book, a great deal about the likely job. Our Vaillant fault code guide, linked at the foot of this page, will place a code for you first. Keep to the safe checks: the thermostat and timer, the pressure gauge, and one reset if the manual allows it. Never remove the boiler casing.

Whoever you use, the engineer has to be qualified for gas. The Health and Safety Executive is explicit: "Anyone employed to work on gas appliances in domestic premises must be a Gas Safe registered engineer and competent in that area of gas work." Check the engineer's card against the Gas Safe Register before work starts. Vaillant adds that you are welcome to use a third-party Gas Safe engineer, but that "they have not been approved by us, and Vaillant cannot accept any responsibility for their workmanship".

If you ever smell gas, do not turn on lights or electrical equipment, open the doors and windows, leave the property and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 straight away.

The table below sets out what Vaillant itself publishes, and deliberately does not pin Vaillant's prices to this page. Vaillant changes them, and a stale figure repeated here would mislead you. Every term comes from Vaillant's boiler care page, linked at the foot of this page, which carries the live prices. What moves those prices is the same short list every time: whether the boiler is broken now or still working, whether an annual service is included, whether the central heating system is covered as well as the boiler, the plan length, and the charge when a repair cannot be done.

Vaillant's own published options, side by side

So which route makes sense?

If the boiler is young, registered and serviced, do nothing except keep the service going. Vaillant says an annual service by a Gas Safe registered engineer is how you "maintain your guarantee after the first year", and losing a guarantee because a service was skipped is an expensive mistake that costs nothing to avoid.

If it is out of guarantee and healthy, and you would rather absorb an occasional bill than a monthly one, paying per repair is defensible. Vaillant's Fixed Price Repair is the number to hold against any monthly figure you are offered. Take it off Vaillant's boiler care page on the day you decide, remember the heat exchanger and expansion vessel sit outside it, and multiply any monthly plan by twelve before you compare the two.

If it is out of guarantee and a four-figure surprise would hurt, a plan is the point, and the question becomes which one. Manufacturer plans are tied to the appliance brand and, in Vaillant's case, to boilers under 15 years old. Independent cover plans are usually modular. Our compare boiler cover guide, linked at the foot of this page, sets out what to check on any of them.

Where a Smart Plan cover plan fits

For completeness, our own product described honestly. Smart Plan is a service plan, not insurance, from UK Boiler Company Ltd, trading since 2014. It is modular, so the boiler and central heating module can be taken on its own. That module funds parts and labour up to £500 in a 12-month cover period where the boiler is under 7 years old, or up to £200 where it is over 7, and anything above the limit is yours. A £95 call-out fee, paid in advance, applies during your first 30 days, for faults the plan does not cover, no-access visits and early annual service requests, and cover itself is live from day one. Where our engineer identifies an existing defect on your equipment, we quote for that work separately rather than covering it. Using a module starts a 12-month agreement period, the 14-day cooling-off period ends the moment a service is carried out, and leaving early after that costs the remaining months or 75% of the outstanding balance. Our boiler and central heating cover page, linked at the foot of this page, has the module detail.

Vaillant cover and repair FAQs

Vaillant out of guarantee? Tell us what it is doing.

Send us the model, roughly how old it is and what the boiler is showing, and we will tell you honestly whether this is a one-off repair or a cover job. Cover is live from day one, and using a module starts a 12-month agreement period. A £95 call-out fee, paid in advance, applies in your first 30 days. Cover-plan call-outs are booked Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00, and we aim to get an engineer out to you within two working days. A service plan, not insurance.

Helpful links

• Vaillant boiler warranty check: how to check your guarantee
• Vaillant boiler fault codes explained
• Compare boiler cover: what to check before you buy
• Boiler & central heating cover
• Tell us about your Vaillant
• Vaillant boiler care: repairs and servicing prices (official site)
• Vaillant domestic boiler guarantee terms (official site)
• HSE gas safety advice for home owners
• Check an engineer on the Gas Safe Register