The recent harsh winter has taken its toll on Britain’s homes with almost five million households (18%)* saying that their boiler has broken down at least once in the past year. That’s according to new research from Everest Energy, the business arm that helps home-owners generate their own energy and heat their property more efficiently.
Fortunately just over a quarter (27%) of households did not have to pay for the repairs because they had insurance while a further third (32%) avoided paying anything by fixing it themselves or getting their landlord to sort it out.
However, 37% of households did have to pay out, with the average total repair bill standing at £256. This means that UK households have burned through at least £447 million on repairing boilers in the past year alone.
In addition, Everest Energy research reveals that 180,000 households have spent over £500 repairing their boiler in the past year and 65,000 have seen bills run to over £1,000.
Just under half a million (466,000) households have had to cope with their boiler breaking down more than four times in the past 12 months and an unlucky few homes (90,000) have seen their boiler go on the blink ten times or more.
The high number of breakdowns could be down to the age of the average boiler. One in ten (9%) homes are housing a boiler that is over 15 years old, and perhaps more worrying is that a quarter (22%) of households don’t know how old their boiler is.
Roy Frost, Managing Director of Everest Energy, comments: “The cold weather means that people crank up the heating and this puts additional demand on their boiler. Older boilers in particular can struggle to cope so it’s worth checking how old your boiler is and considering replacing it if it’s over ten years old.
“Since 2005 all boilers have had to be ‘A’ rated, however the quality varies a lot so when looking to get a new one it’s worth spending a bit extra for a more reliable unit, which is likely to pay off the next time a cold snap hits.
“At Everest Energy we make it our policy to only supply top quality boilers to make sure that our customers have peace of mind during the winter months in particular.”
Region Proportion of households that have had a boiler failure in the last year
| North East | 19% |
| North West | 21% |
| Yorks & Humber | 19% |
| East Midlands | 15% |
| West Midlands | 19% |
| East of England | 17% |
| London | 21% |
| South East | 18% |
| South West | 15% |
| Wales | 15% |
| Scotland | 20% |
| Northern Ireland | 14% |
Source: Everest Energy