Landlord home emergency cover, set up as a service plan

What is landlord home emergency cover?

Landlord home emergency cover, or landlord emergency cover, is a plan that arranges covered repairs to the boiler, plumbing, drains and electrics in a home you let. With Smart Plan you hold the agreement, you choose the modules for each property, and each module has its own cover limit per 12-month period, with parts and labour included.

It suits landlords because the repair duties in a let home sit with you. GOV.UK's private renting guidance says the landlord is always responsible for repairs to sinks, baths and other sanitary fittings including pipes and drains, heating and hot water, gas appliances, pipes, flues and ventilation, and electrical wiring, as well as the structure and exterior. A plan does not take that duty away. It puts a monthly figure against repair bills for the boiler, plumbing, drains and electrics you choose to cover, up to the limits below. Flues, ventilation and the structure of the building are outside the plan, and anything above a limit is still yours to pay.

What does landlord home emergency cover include?

Pick only the modules each property needs. Plumbing and drainage are separate modules, so landlord plumbing and drainage cover means picking both. Each module covers the repairs set out in our terms and conditions, and only the modules listed on your cover sheet apply:

• Boiler: breakdown repairs to one gas or LPG boiler in the property (terms 2.1(a)), carried out through a national network of thousands of Gas Safe registered engineers. The central heating system is covered only under the Boiler & Central Heating Cover product, and that product also includes an annual boiler service, subject to the terms.
• Plumbing: repairs to leaking pipes and joints, leaking overflow and hot and cold supply pipes, a non-flushing toilet where it is the only toilet in the property, the hot and cold inlet flexible pipes on a washing machine or dishwasher, unblocking a waste or rainwater drain, and an external soil vent pipe (terms 4.1(b)).
• Drainage: unblocking internal and external drains by jet flushing, unblocking toilets and sinks, and restoring the flow in waste pipes and drains by rodding or jetting (terms 3.1(b)).
• Electrical: repair or replacement of the fuse box, light fittings, switches, sockets and isolation switches, hard-wired smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and doorbells, extractor fans up to 150mm in diameter, and the immersion heater timer switch (terms 5.1(b)).
• Appliances (optional): repairs to appliances you own and list on your cover sheet, up to £225 per appliance (terms 8.1(a)).
• Pest (optional): removal or treatment of rats or mice, or of a wasps' or hornets' nest, in the main building of the property (terms 6.1(b)).
• Home security (optional): emergency access when there is no other way into the property, repairing a lock where the key has snapped or been lost and no other key is available, boarding up a broken window or door, and making a garage door safe where the garage opens straight into the home without another lockable door (terms 7.1(b)).

Cover limits for each module

Each limit is the most we commit to for repairs or replacement on that module in a single 12-month period, counted from the date your plan starts. The boiler limit depends on the age of the boiler, so check it for each property you let.

When a boiler is beyond economic repair

If a boiler's heat exchanger or main circuit board (PCB) fails, the terms treat the boiler as beyond economic repair, or BER (terms 2.1(c)). We then make a contribution payment: the lower of the boiler's retail value including installation, or the cover limit less the value of work we have already done in that 12-month period (terms 9.5). So on a boiler over 7 years old, that contribution can be no more than £200.

Talk it through before you decide

Not sure which modules each property needs? Leave your name and number and we call you back to go through each property and set up the plan. Nothing is set up and no payment is taken online. We aim to call you back within one working day, Monday to Friday, 08:00-18:00.

How does it work in a let property?

You hold the agreement, so you are the person we deal with. When something breaks at the property, you request a call-out and tell us who will be there to let the engineer in.

Someone must be at the property to give access. It is your responsibility to make sure the engineer can reach the equipment, and engineers will not move belongings out of the way unless that was agreed before the visit, so ask your tenant to clear access to the boiler, sink or fuse box (terms 9.12). If nobody is in at the agreed date and time, a £95 no-access fee applies and has to be paid before any other services go ahead (terms 9.13).

Covered boiler work goes to a national network of thousands of Gas Safe registered engineers. Plumbing, drainage, electrical and the other modules go to a national network of thousands of vetted engineers and tradespeople. Call-outs run Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00, unless it is an emergency breakdown (terms 9.17). We aim to get an engineer out to you within two working days.

If you or your tenant smell gas, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 straight away. Only a Gas Safe registered engineer should ever work on a boiler or gas appliance.

A leak on the mains water supply, between the meter and the communal supply, is the water supplier's responsibility, so your tenant or you should contact the water supplier for that one.

Home security cover is for when there is no other way in. If you or your letting agent hold a spare key, a lockout is unlikely to qualify, because the terms cover emergency access only where no other form of access is available, and exclude replacing keys where another set is available (terms 7.1(b)(i) and 7.2(b)).

If an engineer finds a defect at a visit and it is not put right, that part of the equipment is treated as an exclusion from then on (terms 9.11). If the use of a property changes, for example a home you lived in becomes a let, tell us: the terms ask you to keep your contact details, your address and the use of the property up to date (terms 9.9).

One plan per property and one boiler per plan

Each property you let gets its own plan, so you can give a newer flat boiler cover only and give an older house boiler, plumbing, drainage and electrical. A flat with electric heating and no gas boiler has nothing for the boiler module to cover, so plumbing, drainage and electrical may be all it needs.

The boiler module covers one boiler. If a property has a second boiler, it needs an additional agreement for that boiler. Commercial boilers are not covered: the terms define one as a boiler with an output of 50kW or more, or one fed by gas pipework 35mm or more in diameter.

On the call back we take the details of each property and set up a plan for each one. For a portfolio, have the postcode, the boiler's age and the modules you want for each property to hand.

Is landlord home emergency cover worth it?

It depends on the property, so weigh these three points for each one before you decide.

How old is the boiler?

The boiler limit is £500 for a boiler under 7 years old and £200 for a boiler over 7 years old, per 12-month period. On an older boiler, a large repair can go past that limit, and the rest is yours to pay. Check the boiler's age before you choose the boiler module for a property.

The first 30 days

A £95 call-out fee applies to any call-out in the first 30 days of a new plan (see fees below). Faults that were already there before the plan began are not covered. Cover set up before something breaks gives the most value; cover set up after a fault does not pay for that fault.

Picking the right modules

You pay only for the modules each property needs. A property with a newer boiler and recent plumbing might need far less than an older house with original pipework. On the call back we can go through each property with you and set up only the modules it needs.

Does it include the CP12 gas safety record or the EICR?

Neither is one of the plan's inclusions, so your legal safety checks as a landlord stay with you. Book them separately and keep the records.

Gas safety: the annual check and the CP12

HSE says landlords must have the gas appliances and flues they provide checked for safety every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer, keep a record of each check, and give existing tenants a copy within 28 days of the check and new tenants a copy before they move in. Our CP12 guide covers the check, the record and what happens if an appliance fails.

A plan that includes an annual boiler service is still not a gas safety check. HSE advises landlords not to assume that an annual service inspection includes the points a safety check requires.

Electrical safety: the EICR

In England, the GOV.UK guidance says landlords must have the electrical installation inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every 5 years, and give an existing tenant a copy of the report within 28 days of the inspection. Our EICR guide explains what the report covers and what happens when it finds a fault. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules, so check the guidance for where your property is.

What landlord home emergency cover does not include

Your plan does not include:

• Your annual gas safety check or your electrical inspection (EICR): no module lists either among its inclusions.
• Shared or communal equipment, such as a boiler or facility shared with other flats in the building (terms 10.18).
• Anything that is not part of the main building, such as an outbuilding, annex, shed or pool house, or a garage that does not open straight into the home (terms 10.16 and 7.2(a)).
• Equipment you do not own, including your tenant's own appliances (terms 10.17).
• Commercial boilers, oil boilers, air source and ground source heat pumps, and the repair or replacement of radiators.
• Faults or defects that were already there before your plan began.
• A leak on the mains water supply between the meter and the communal supply, which your water supplier deals with.
• Damage caused by sludge, scale, rust or corrosion, or where the cause is freezing.
• Electrical cover where the property has permanent wiring above a 240 volt supply.
• Making good decorations or floors after a repair, and alternative accommodation while work is done.
• Costs above a module's cover limit, and anything else listed as an exclusion in our terms and conditions.

Fees, call-out hours and the agreement period

The £95 call-out fee

Any call-out in the first 30 days of a new plan carries a £95 call-out fee, paid in advance, plus payment in advance for any additional works (terms 9.1). The same £95 fee applies when the fault turns out to fall under an exclusion (terms 9.2), and booking the annual boiler service inside the first 30 days also carries the £95 fee. For drainage, plumbing, electrical, pest and security, the terms say a call-out fee is required before we attend, so check the terms for each module you pick.

Monthly rolling, with a 12-month agreement period once you use it

The plan is monthly rolling, so it renews each month. Once you request a service, a 12-month agreement period begins, and leaving during that period means paying the remaining monthly payments, or 75 per cent of the outstanding balance in one payment (terms 9.3, 9.4 and 11.4). You have a 14-day cooling-off period from the start, which ends if a service is carried out in that time.

The annual boiler service

If your plan includes the annual boiler service and you pay monthly, the service can be carried out after 6 months of payments. If you pay annually, you can book it once the first 30 days have passed.

How to cancel

To cancel, tell us by email at accounts@smart-plan.com, by letter to Smart Plan, 2nd Floor, Melrose House, 42 Dingwall Road, Croydon, CR0 2NE, or by phone on 0333 772 6247 (terms 11.3). Cancelling any other way does not end the agreement, and the agreement period terms above still apply.

A service plan, not insurance

Smart Plan is a trading style of UK Boiler Company Ltd (company number 09078640), and the plan is a service plan, not insurance (terms 12.3). You pay for the plan each month, and when a covered fault happens you ask us for a repair: we send an engineer and cover parts and labour up to that module's limit.

If you are comparing it with a landlord product that bundles home emergency cover with cover for the building, check what each one does. This plan repairs the equipment you choose for each property. It does not pay for making good after a repair, alternative accommodation, or anything else outside the repair itself.

Get a call back to set up cover for one property or several

Leave your name and number and we call you to set up a plan for each property you let. Nothing is set up and no payment is taken online. We aim to call you back within one working day, Monday to Friday, 08:00-18:00. Prefer to call? Ring 0333 772 6247. A monthly rolling service plan from UK Boiler Company Ltd, not insurance: a 12-month agreement period begins once you use a service, and a £95 call-out fee applies in the cases set out above, including any call-out in the first 30 days.

Landlord home emergency cover questions, answered

Related guides and official guidance

• Landlord boiler cover and the CP12
• CP12 gas safety certificate: cost and rules
• EICR: the landlord electrical safety report explained
• Plumbing cover
• Electrical cover
• Get a call back to set up landlord cover
• HSE: gas safety advice for landlords
• GOV.UK: electrical safety standards in the private and social rented sectors
• GOV.UK: private renting, repairs
• Plumbing and drainage cover