Phone script for boiler breakdown calls in winter

Why a winter call script pays for itself

On the first cold weekend of autumn, a heating firm’s phone can go from quiet to non-stop. Every caller is anxious and many describe the same symptoms in different words. Without a script, the person answering either spends ten minutes on each call or books visits blind and turns up without the right parts.

A good script does four things in order: keeps people safe, works out how urgent the job is, gathers what the engineer needs and leaves the customer knowing exactly what happens next. It works whether the call is taken by the engineer, an office manager or a family member covering the phone.

Safety questions come first

Before asking about the boiler, check for danger. The NHS lists gas boilers, gas cookers, gas or paraffin heaters and wood, gas and coal fires among appliances that can produce carbon monoxide if they are not installed properly, are faulty or are poorly maintained^[1]. Only 62% of dwellings in England had a carbon monoxide alarm in 2024^[2], so you cannot assume the caller would be warned.

1. Can you smell gas anywhere in the property? If yes: stop the call, tell them to turn off the gas at the meter if they can do so safely, open windows, avoid switches and flames, leave the property and ring the National Gas Helpline on 0800 111 999.
2. Has a carbon monoxide alarm gone off, or does anyone feel dizzy, sick or have a headache that eases when they go outside? If yes: tell them to get fresh air, turn the appliance off if safe and call the helpline, and seek medical help for anyone unwell.
3. Is water leaking from the boiler onto anything electrical? If yes: ask them to turn off the boiler at the fused spur if it is dry and safe to reach, and the water at the stopcock.

The call, step by step

1. 01

   Greet and reassure

   Example: Hartley Heating, this is Jo. Sorry to hear the heating has gone, let me ask a few quick questions so we can get the right engineer to you.

2. 02

   Run the safety questions

   Gas smell, carbon monoxide signs, water near electrics. Do not skip them for regular customers.

3. 03

   Ask who is in the home

   Is anyone at home elderly, a baby or young child, disabled, pregnant or unwell? Is there any other heating you can use?

4. 04

   Identify the system

   Combi, system or regular boiler; make and model if they can read it; age if known; whether it has had an annual service.

5. 05

   Describe the fault

   No heating, no hot water, or neither? Any fault code or flashing light? Any noises, leaks or smells? When did it start?

6. 06

   Try the safe checks

   Pressure gauge, thermostat batteries, timer settings, prepayment credit, and in a freeze, the condensate pipe. See the table below.

7. 07

   Book and set expectations

   Give a time window you can keep and explain any call-out charge clearly before booking.

8. 08

   Give interim advice

   How to stay warm safely until you arrive, and what to do if things change.

9. 09

   Confirm by text

   Name, address, time window, engineer’s name and the number to ring if anything changes.

Know the systems you are likely to meet

Most calls will be about a condensing combination boiler. By 2024, 63% of homes in England had one and a further 19% had another type of condensing boiler, against 2% and 1% in 2001^[3]. Knowing that most systems are modern condensing boilers helps you predict the common winter faults, including frozen condensate pipes and low pressure on sealed systems.

Safe checks the customer can do on the phone

Never ask a customer to remove the boiler casing, reset it repeatedly or bleed gas valves. If a reset is offered by the manufacturer on the display, one attempt is reasonable; if the fault returns, book the visit.

Vulnerable occupants move up the list

Cold homes are a real risk, not an inconvenience. In 2024, 13% of households in England reported being unable to keep warm during winter, and 63% said they had cut back on heating because of rising energy prices^[4]. Many of the people ringing you in January are already living in a cold house before the boiler fails.

• Ask the vulnerability question on every no-heat call, not just when the caller sounds worried.
• Agree in advance which households jump the queue: babies, people over 75, anyone with a serious health condition or disability, and anyone without any other form of heating.
• Record the reason in the job notes so the engineer knows when they arrive.
• If you cannot attend quickly, say so honestly and suggest other options, such as an emergency heater loan scheme if you run one, or a contact at their landlord or energy supplier.

Interim advice to give before the visit

• Heat one room and keep the door closed; electric heaters are fine if they are in good condition and kept clear of furniture and curtains.
• Never use a gas cooker, an outdoor heater or a barbecue to heat a room.
• Layer clothing and use hot water bottles carefully, not boiling water.
• Keep moving around and have hot drinks, particularly for older people.
• If they have an electric shower or immersion heater, they may still have hot water.
• Ring back straight away if anyone becomes unwell, or if they smell gas or the carbon monoxide alarm sounds.

Tenant and landlord calls

When a tenant calls, ask for the landlord’s or agent’s details and whether they have authority to book. Landlords must have all gas appliances and flues in a rented property checked every year^[5], so ask when the last gas safety check was done and whether the landlord holds the record. A missing check is something to raise with the landlord, not the tenant. Our guide to repair calls from letting agents covers order numbers and spending limits.

What the engineer needs on the job sheet

The call is only half the job. The rest is passing on what was learned so the engineer arrives ready. A good job sheet for a no-heat visit fits on a phone screen and covers:

• Name, address, postcode, best contact number and any access notes such as a key safe or a dog.
• Who is at home and any vulnerability, with the reason the job was prioritised.
• Boiler make, model and approximate age, plus any fault code or flashing light the caller read out.
• What the customer has already tried, such as resetting or topping up pressure, and what happened.
• Whether it is a rented home, with the landlord or agent’s details and any order number.
• Any charge agreed on the phone, so there are no surprises at the door.

If several calls describe the same fault on the same model, note it. Patterns like that help you stock the van with the right parts before the cold snap rather than during it.

Example call

Example. Caller: The boiler keeps showing a fault and there is no hot water. Office: Can you smell gas at all? No. Any carbon monoxide alarm going off? No alarm, but we do not have one. Office: Is anyone at home elderly, very young or unwell? My dad, he is 84. Office: Is the little white pipe outside the boiler frozen? It looks iced up. The office talks the caller through pouring warm water along it, the boiler restarts, and the job becomes a booked service visit next week with advice to fit a carbon monoxide alarm. The engineer’s day stays free for the urgent calls.

After the call, the office adds a reminder to the customer’s record for their annual service; our guide to an annual service reminder system explains how. For a matching approach in other trades, see the electrician triage script and the roof leak call guide.