The phrase callout fee turns up everywhere on home-services websites, but very few of them explain what it actually is. Here's the plain version, how it compares across UK providers, and why we cap ours at £139.
What a callout fee actually is
A callout fee is a flat amount you pay each time an engineer visits, on top of (or instead of) your monthly plan fee. It covers the engineer's time getting to you, diagnosing the fault, and writing up the visit. Once they're on-site, parts and labour for any covered repair are included — the callout fee doesn't change based on how long the job takes.
On insurance products (British Gas HomeCare, CORGI HomePlan, OVO) the same thing is called an excess because the contract is legally an insurance policy. On service plans (HomeAssure, some specialist trades) it's called a callout fee because the contract is a service agreement, not insurance. Functionally they behave the same way.
What's normal in the UK
| Provider | Standard fee | Cheaper monthly option |
|---|---|---|
| British Gas HomeCare | £60 | £99 |
| OVO Energy Boiler Cover | £30 | £60 |
| Hometree | £60 | None — fixed |
| CORGI HomePlan | £60 | None — fixed |
| HomeAssure Boiler Care | £60 (standard) | £99 or £139 |
The pattern across the market: pick a higher callout fee, pay a lower monthly. The reason is risk-sharing — if you're willing to take more of the cost on the day, the provider charges you less when nothing's going wrong. Most months, nothing's going wrong.
Why HomeAssure caps the fee
We offer four bands — £0, £60, £99, and £139 — and the £139 cap is deliberate. Here's the logic:
- Above £139, the maths stops working for the customer. If a typical boiler repair costs the engineer £150–£250 in labour and parts, and you pay a £200 callout, you're essentially paying full price for the repair plus a monthly subscription. The plan adds no value.
- Below £0 isn't a thing, but we offer £0 explicitly because some customers want true peace of mind — no decision to make when the boiler fails, no charge on the day.
We don't offer a "£200 callout for £8/month" because we wouldn't take it if we were the customer.
How to pick the right band
A simple decision framework that works for most people:
| Your situation | Pick |
|---|---|
| Boiler over 12 years old, or you've had two breakdowns in the past three years | £0 — frequency is high enough that callouts add up fast |
| Boiler 6–12 years old, occasional minor issue | £60 — the market default, balanced |
| Newer boiler (under 6 years), well-maintained | £99 or £139 — premium drops, breakdown risk is genuinely low |
| Annual Boiler Service only (no repair cover) | n/a — no callout fees because there are no callouts |
Whichever band you pick at sign-up is locked for that subscription — we don't move you to a higher excess at renewal the way some competitors do.
The honest answer to "is it worth it?"
If you call an engineer zero times in a year, you're financially better off without a plan. The plan only beats pay-as-you-go if you'd have used it. Most UK households need an engineer once every two-to-three years for an unplanned issue, plus once a year for the service. At those frequencies, a £15.99/month plan with a £60 callout is roughly break-even — and you trade money for the certainty that an engineer shows up when you need one.
The other reason people stay on plans even when the maths is borderline is the not having to decide. When the heating fails at 11pm in January, "shall I shop around for a Gas Safe engineer" isn't a question you want to be asking. You just call us.
That's what we're selling. The maths is the maths.