Does home insurance in Spain cover a broken boiler?

Does home insurance in Spain cover a broken boiler or heating? What’s paid, what isn’t and the checks you’re legally required to do

The first cold morning of the year arrives, you switch the heating on and nothing happens. Or the electric water heater (termo) starts making noises, or the heat pump only blows cold air. If you’ve recently moved to Spain, you may expect your home insurance to step in, as some boiler cover does back home. In Spain, it usually works differently.

Quick answer: Spanish home insurance does not normally pay for a boiler that breaks down through wear and tear or an internal fault. It can pay when the damage has an external, insured cause: a power surge, lightning, a fire or an explosion. If a heating pipe bursts, it covers the water damage to floors and walls, but not the repair of the boiler or radiator itself. The insurer’s home assistance line can send a technician, but you pay for repairing a breakdown that isn’t covered.

In this guide:

1. Breakdown or accident: why the cause matters

2. What Spanish home insurance covers, and what it doesn’t

3. Your boiler counts as “contents”

4. Compulsory servicing in Spain

5. If you rent

6. What to do when the heating fails

7. FAQs

Breakdown or accident: why the cause matters

A breakdown (avería) is a fault in the appliance itself: a circuit board that burns out, a pump that seizes or a valve that wears out. Spanish home policies are built around sudden, accidental damage with an external cause, not normal wear. So the same broken boiler can be covered or not depending on what broke it.

What Spanish home insurance covers, and what it doesn’t

Here is how it works with Allianz Hogar, the home policy we arrange:

• Water damage (daños por agua): covers leaks from accidental bursts in your home’s water and private heating pipes. It does not cover repairing boilers, water heaters, tanks, radiators or air-conditioning units. With the Completo and Superior levels, it also pays to find and repair a burst pipe even if it hasn’t damaged anything else.

• Electrical damage (fenómenos eléctricos): covers short circuits from an external source, power surges and lightning induction. It excludes internal short circuits and deterioration through age, which is exactly what tends to happen in an old boiler. It’s included in Completo and Superior, not in Estándar.

• Fire and explosion: included at all three levels. Two caveats: heat damage from being near or touching a heater isn’t covered unless there’s an actual fire, and nor is an appliance that burns or breaks through self-combustion, overheating or water overpressure. If you use a wood burner or fireplace, see our guide to fireplace and stove fires.

• Accidental damage (todo riesgo accidental): included in Superior and optional otherwise. It covers sudden, unforeseen damage that doesn’t fit another cover, such as accidentally knocking something. It excludes wear and the appliance’s own defects, so it isn’t breakdown cover, and an excess applies as set in your contract.

• Home assistance: you can call for a plumber, electrician or appliance technician. The insurer pays the first call-out. It only pays for the repair if the cause is insured; otherwise you pay, with a three-month guarantee on the work. Completo and Superior also include a handyman service that will bleed your radiators, with materials paid by you.

What if the water comes from the boiler or water heater itself? Where it leaks from is what matters. If the leak is in the appliance or in a visible connection (the flexible hoses, valves or exposed pipes under the termo), it generally isn’t covered as water damage: the policy covers leaks from pipework, not from the appliances connected to it. If the water comes from the concealed pipe inside the wall that feeds the water heater or heating, it is covered: the water damage, finding the leak and repairing the broken section, because it’s a pipe you couldn’t see. So it’s worth checking visible connections now and then and replacing them when worn. If in doubt, tell us: the loss adjuster (perito) will assess the source.

Bottom line: there’s no mechanical breakdown cover for boilers in Allianz Hogar. If that’s what you want, look at a maintenance contract with breakdown repairs, which is a service agreement rather than home insurance.

Your boiler counts as “contents”

Many people assume the boiler is part of the building. In Allianz Hogar, the boiler, radiators and taps count as contents (contenido, or mobiliario in the policy wording), while built-in pipes are part of the building (continente).

This matters if you insure buildings only, which is common with mortgage-linked policies or homes you let out. An insured event damaging the boiler could then fall outside your cover. Contents are insured at replacement value: if an insured event means the appliance has to be replaced, you’re paid what a similar new one costs, with the final payment depending on proof of purchase within two years. Our Spanish insurance terms glossary explains continente, contenido and other key words.

Compulsory servicing in Spain

Policies exclude damage caused by lack of maintenance, and in Spain servicing heating equipment is also a legal duty under the Thermal Installations in Buildings Regulation (RITE):

• Wall-mounted gas boilers up to 70 kW in homes: serviced every 2 years.

• Gas water heaters up to 24.4 kW: every 5 years.

• Air conditioning and heat pumps up to 12 kW: every 4 years.

• Servicing must be done by an authorised maintenance company (empresa mantenedora habilitada). The owner or user is responsible for making sure it happens.

• Separately, the gas installation is inspected every 5 years. With mains gas, the distribution company notifies you. With bottled butane or propane, you have to book it yourself with an authorised gas installer.

In the Murcia region, many homes don’t have a gas boiler at all: they use a heat pump (often split air-conditioning units) for heating and an electric termo for hot water. The rules are the same. Keep every service invoice, because if you ever make a claim, they’re your best evidence that the equipment was looked after.

If you rent

If the boiler breaks in a rented home, the repair is normally the landlord’s responsibility. The Urban Leases Act (LAU) requires landlords to carry out the repairs needed to keep the property habitable, unless you caused the damage. Minor repairs from ordinary use, like bleeding a radiator, fall to the tenant.

Tell your landlord in writing as soon as possible. For urgent repairs, you can arrange them after notifying the landlord and claim the cost back. We explain it in who pays for repairs in a rented home. As a tenant, your own policy protects your belongings and your liability: see tenant home insurance.

What to do when the heating fails

1. If you smell gas, turn off the gas tap, open windows, don’t touch light switches or appliances, and call your gas distributor’s emergency number.

2. If there’s water, turn off the stopcock and call your insurer’s assistance line. Emergency plumbing for burst pipes causing damage includes call-out, parts and up to 3 hours’ labour.

3. If there was a power cut or surge, note the date and time and ask the electricity company for an incident number. You’ll need it, plus your latest electricity bill, to claim for electrical damage.

4. Take photos of the appliance, its model plate and any damage. Keep any parts the technician replaces.

5. Ask the technician for a written report stating the cause. “Wear and tear” and “power surge” lead to very different outcomes.

6. Report the claim within seven days.

FAQs

Does home insurance in Spain pay for a new boiler?

Only if the old one was damaged by an insured event such as a power surge, lightning, fire or explosion. Not if it’s old or has simply broken down.

Is my electric water heater (termo) covered?

Not for wear-related breakdowns. If a power surge destroyed it, it may be covered, provided your policy level includes electrical damage.

Is boiler servicing compulsory in Spain?

Yes. Wall-mounted gas boilers up to 70 kW in homes must be serviced every 2 years, and gas installations are inspected every 5 years. Skipping maintenance can also affect a claim.

Does insurance cover a leaking radiator?

It covers the water damage to your home or your neighbour’s. Not the repair of the radiator or boiler itself.

How we can help

Every policy is different, and a heating claim often involves several covers at once. At AMB Seguros we’ll explain what yours includes, in English, and whether it’s worth adding electrical damage, accidental damage or more contents cover. Visit our office in central Murcia or talk to us by WhatsApp or video call. You can compare the options on our home insurance page.

Want to know if your policy would cover your boiler?

Get in touch and we’ll review it with no obligation.

Sources

• Royal Decree 1027/2007, Thermal Installations in Buildings Regulation (RITE), arts. 25 and 26 and IT 3.3, BOE (in Spanish).

• Royal Decree 919/2006, technical regulation on gas distribution and use, ITC-ICG 07, BOE (in Spanish).

• Law 29/1994 on Urban Leases, art. 21, BOE (in Spanish).

• Law 50/1980 on Insurance Contracts, BOE (in Spanish).

• Allianz Hogar: general terms and conditions and cover brochure, Allianz Seguros.