If your washing machine has recently broken down, you might be looking into getting it repaired.
The average cost of a washing machine repair in the UK is between £65 – £100. The cost to repair a washing machine depends on the problem and what brand and model the machine is.
Some faults can far exceed £100 because of the cost of the parts or the labour charge. These faults are usually related to bearing failure or control board problems.
We will be going through some of the common problems that you might be having with your washing machine and a rough estimate of what it should cost to have your washer repaired.
How much it costs to repair a washing machine
The cost of repairing a washing machine is totally dependent on the make and model of the machine.
You will often find that appliance repairers will have a set hourly rate and then charge for spare parts on top.
The cost of spare parts varies greatly depending on the brand of the machine and which part needs to be replaced.
Let’s look at some common parts that you would need repairing on a washing machine.
Door seal replaced
Getting the door seal replaced on your washing machine by a professional should cost between £75 – £150 depending on the model of the machine.
For example, Beko washing machine door seals cost around £15 – £25 whereas some Bosch washer dryer door seals can exceed £100 for the seal alone.
You should do some research into how much the part costs before you go ahead with a repair to make sure that you’re not paying over the odds.
Pump replacement
The pump on a washing machine is usually one of the cheaper parts to replace. Most manufacturers supply washing machine pumps for around £10 – £30.
This means that you should be paying roughly £60 – £100 to have the pump replaced on your washing machine by a repairer.
Obviously, the difference in price is based on the hourly rate and the exact cost of the replacement pump.
Some washing machines like Hotpoint or Hoover have pumps that are nearly universal across all of their machines. These pumps are manufactured by Askoll, and they are available for around £6. This makes them much cheaper to repair.
Motor carbon brushes
When the drum in your washing machine stops turning or spinning, it might be because the carbon brushes need to be replaced.
This type of repair should cost between £60 – £90 depending on the machine. Bosch washing machines have some of the most economical carbon brushes to repair and they are available to repairers for roughly £5.
If your machine is really old, then you might struggle to get the carbon brushes, or they might be significantly more expensive. This is the case for some really old Bosch and Hotpoint machines.
Door lock replacement
A washing machine door lock repair can cost between £50 – £80 depending on the price of the door lock.
Replacing the door lock on a washing machine is fairly straightforward and only takes an appliance repairer around 20 – 30 minutes depending on the model.
Diagnosing the fault can often take a little longer depending on what the symptoms of the fault are.
Bearing replacement or drum repair
If your machine needs the bearings to be replaced or the drum repaired, it’s one of the most expensive and difficult repairs to have done.
Unfortunately, because of the amount of time it takes to carry out the repair, you will often find repairers quoting what seems to be astronomical prices.
You have to understand that it takes a good repairer at least 2 hours to carry out a bearing replacement and some other parts often need to be replaced at the same time.
You will pay between £150 – £350 for a drum repair because of the labour and parts cost. We actually discussed whether or not it’s worth having the bearings replaced in your washing machine recently.
Common faults you can fix at home
Before you go ahead and ring an appliance repairer, it’s worth checking if it’s something simple you can fix at home.
Spare parts for most appliances are available online to be delivered to your door and you can often save a lot of money by doing some research and carrying out the repair yourself.
Some common faults you can fix yourself:
- Washing machine not draining: This is often caused by a blockage in the machine, and you can often drain the washer and unblock the pump yourself.
- Machine not filling with water: Take a look at our handy guide on what to do if your washing machine is not filling up. Most of the causes are related to the plumbing and take 5 minutes to fix.
- Drum paddle has broken: These can often be bought online for under £10 and on some machines are really easy to fit. We have some information on washing machine drum paddles that you might want to check out.
- Smelly washing machine: Nobody likes to smell sewage when they walk into their kitchen, but it’s not always something worth paying a repairer to sort out. Take a look at our checklist of what to do if your washing machine smells bad.
It’s also worth looking up all the error codes that you might find on the display of the machine. Some of them indicate really simple faults and most of them are often caused by overloading the drum during a wash cycle.
Should you repair or replace your washing machine?
Whether to repair or not to repair, that is the question. Well, it depends on what is exactly wrong with your washing machine.
As a simple rule of thumb, you should not repair a washing machine if the repair cost outweighs the cost of a new washing machine.
You should get a quote from a few different appliance repairers for your machine and ask them to give you a ballpark figure of how much it’s going to cost to get it repaired.
You can then do some research into a new washing machine that is of a similar standard to the one you have and then decide if it’s worth repairing.
You also have to consider the delivery, installation and removal of your old washer costs when pricing up a new machine.
There are also a few things to look out for when buying a new washing machine such as future repairability and if it has all the features you need.
Repairs like bearings failure and electronic circuit board replacement often deem the machine to be beyond economical repair (BER) and will leave you with no choice but to replace the appliance.
