• Tldr; version - only you can decide if the plan is worth it for you. Just pause to consider actual cost and opportunity cost, rather than get it because you're scared of the perceived risk of a big bill.

    Plans only work for the company offering it if they earn more from fees paid than they pay out in making repairs or replacements. Just the same as insurance. Statistically you're better off putting that money into a bank account each month and just using it towards repairs or replacement when needed.

    Of course many people don't have the discipline needed to do that. It's also very possible that you'll be one of the lucky ones that has something go wrong very shortly after you start on the plan (I feel very lucky to have had something similar with insuring my bikes a few years back 2 months before they all got nicked in the same robbery). Of course as humans we focus on the risk of an expensive repair or replacement and feel that much more acutely than the actual cost of payment each month. Companies know this psychology and capitalize on it.

    I do get my gas boiler serviced annually, though. It's currently a 15 year old glow worm that we fairly recently inherited from previous homeowner with no service history. I was pretty convinced it would blow in a month. It is still running fine somehow, and I've just budgeted for needing to buy a new boiler any day. If it somehow does continue to run for another couple of years I'll be thrilled. Even now I'm not tempted by a plan, as it'll just eat away at my replacement boiler fund every month it doesn't go wrong.

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