Help - re - homeserve

sai_uk

Hi, I would really appreciate it if anyone could give me some advice re - homeserve (water supply pipe cover). i have been without hot water and heating since tuesday. tuesday morning my mum woke up to the noise of dripping which was coming from the boiler. luckily we caught it before it was really bad. we proceeded to put a bucket under the boiler to catch the drips and had to empty it every hour. We phoned homeserve (by the way it as introduced to us by scottish water) and they advised that someone would come out on wednesday, we advised them that we needed someone out today as the boiler is leaking and we have to keep emptying the bucket every single hour. they sent someone to drain our whole water and heating system. they said that they would send someone out on thursday to look at the boiler properly and figure out what the problem is, which they did. the guy who came said that a part was needed (i do not know what part as i wasnt there - my mum was) anyway he said that as soon as the part was available he would call us.

it is now saturday moprning and we are still without hot water and heating, our house is freezing and it is such an inconvenience. we have the gas heater on all day along with two fan heaters and a halogen heater.

we phoned homeserve on friday and asked when someone would be coming out. they advised next thursday (19th Feb). they said the part hasnt come in yet and even if it does then no one is available to fit it until thursday as that is the next available slot.

i personally thik this is ridiculous, being without heating and hot water for over a week. i mentioned this to them and they said all they could do as a goodwill gesture was offer us £30 for the cost of the fan heaters. i just think that because i have taken insurance out with homeserve they should provide a faster service. what can i do?

as regards the part - i am sure that it is possible to get next day delivery of the part or even 2 days but longer than that is just stupid.

please someone advise me what i can do - i really think that they are not fulfilling their contract in which they aim to provide an excellent service.

sorry if my post is long winded. i would really appreciate advice from anyone.

thank you all for reading my post.

deanos

Are there any timescales written in the insurance you have with them ?

ladymarmalade222

Hi,

I used to work for a major contactor on behalf of Homeserve.

There used to be a clause in the policy where if you hadn't had a visit within 2 hours for an emergency (if my memory is correct), the fact you had water leaking and causing damage to your property would be classed as an emergency, you were refunded the full annual amount for your policy.
They carried out a full drain down which is the correct procedure to prevent further damage but was this carried out within 2 hours of your call?
It is totally unacceptable for you to be left without a working boiler in this climate so I would ring Homeserve and keep ringing them everyday until it is resolved.
From experience the contractors will not be in a rush to chase the part.
You should have been left with alternative heat source provided for by Homeserve if they could not fix your boiler.
If you do not get anywhere with regards to the refund of your policy amount, I would complain and ask to be compensated for the amount of time your have been left without your boiler, believe if you complain enough Homeserve will back down.
Does anybody within your household have an illness or medical condition which requires them to keep warm? If so mention this to homeserve and state you will be taking it further.

Hope this helps, unfortunately Homeserve are quick enough to sell the policies to you but do not respond to fitting parts required quite so quickly.

Any more info, just PM me.

xx

LJW_2

Hi I wonder if LadyMarmalade222 has any advice for my friend!

She to asked Homeserve to come and check a leaking kitchen tap. She waited in all day and nobody arrived, she rang to complain and they sent somebody out. He asked her to sign a form stating that he can break anthing in the house! She took this literally and thought he meant anything! He probably meant around where he was working. He then forced the tap, at this my friend asked him to stop, he didn't and then broke the tap. He then stated she had signed the form so nothing she could do. She then got upset and shouted at him, he then went towards her shouting and pointing his wrench at her in a threatening way, he was inches away from her. She then got very scared and told him to leave the house. He did and she rang the police who just gave her a crime number as he hadn't hurt her. She rang Homeserve but was fobbed off. She was insisted and kept ring them back. Two more men arrived and whilst there rang the office and said the taps were 20years old. This wasn't true as she had a new kitchen 3 years ago. She has now been advised that she doesn't need to put a complaint in as they will deal with it. I think differently. What do you think??

DJBenson

sai_uk wrote: »

Hi, I would really appreciate it if anyone could give me some advice re - homeserve (water supply pipe cover). i have been without hot water and heating since tuesday. tuesday morning my mum woke up to the noise of dripping which was coming from the boiler. luckily we caught it before it was really bad. we proceeded to put a bucket under the boiler to catch the drips and had to empty it every hour. We phoned homeserve (by the way it as introduced to us by scottish water) and they advised that someone would come out on wednesday, we advised them that we needed someone out today as the boiler is leaking and we have to keep emptying the bucket every single hour. they sent someone to drain our whole water and heating system. they said that they would send someone out on thursday to look at the boiler properly and figure out what the problem is, which they did. the guy who came said that a part was needed (i do not know what part as i wasnt there - my mum was) anyway he said that as soon as the part was available he would call us.

it is now saturday moprning and we are still without hot water and heating, our house is freezing and it is such an inconvenience. we have the gas heater on all day along with two fan heaters and a halogen heater.

we phoned homeserve on friday and asked when someone would be coming out. they advised next thursday (19th Feb). they said the part hasnt come in yet and even if it does then no one is available to fit it until thursday as that is the next available slot.

i personally thik this is ridiculous, being without heating and hot water for over a week. i mentioned this to them and they said all they could do as a goodwill gesture was offer us £30 for the cost of the fan heaters. i just think that because i have taken insurance out with homeserve they should provide a faster service. what can i do?

as regards the part - i am sure that it is possible to get next day delivery of the part or even 2 days but longer than that is just stupid.

please someone advise me what i can do - i really think that they are not fulfilling their contract in which they aim to provide an excellent service.

sorry if my post is long winded. i would really appreciate advice from anyone.

thank you all for reading my post.

I am very confused by your post. If you only have water supply pipe cover, no work should have been carried out after the rising main - the supply pipe policy covers the underground pipework from the water companies stop tap to your internal rising main (wherever that may be).

Do you have another policy with them (Plumbing & Drainage)? That would cover the internal pipe work in your property - but would still not cover parts internal to the boiler - that is covered by either a gas boiler or central heating policy. This is down to the fact that leaks within a boiler require the attendance of a CORGI certified engineer.

Is/was the leak coming from within the boiler or the pipework leading upto the boiler?

As has been said, a drain-down was performed to ensure no further damage was caused to the property, whether or not this was done within the two hour timescales would indeed dictate the right to get your policy premiums refunded (little comfort but good to know).

The £30 heating contribution is included in some policies where a customer has had to have their main source of heating disconnected.

Unfortunately, the terms and conditions do state they are not liable for delays caused by the sourcing of parts. Although it is not your job - if you can find out what the part is, you may be able to source it yourself which could speed things up.

I certainly would not like to be left without heating for any period of time given the current weather conditions, so I would call them, ask what is causing the delay, ask them what the part is and ask them to chase whilst you are on the phone. There is an internal procedure meant to stop parts delays going over 3 days, this has either not been initiated or has failed so get them to excalate your parts chase.

DJBenson

LJW wrote: »

Hi I wonder if LadyMarmalade222 has any advice for my friend!

She to asked Homeserve to come and check a leaking kitchen tap. She waited in all day and nobody arrived, she rang to complain and they sent somebody out. He asked her to sign a form stating that he can break anthing in the house! She took this literally and thought he meant anything! He probably meant around where he was working. He then forced the tap, at this my friend asked him to stop, he didn't and then broke the tap. He then stated she had signed the form so nothing she could do. She then got upset and shouted at him, he then went towards her shouting and pointing his wrench at her in a threatening way, he was inches away from her. She then got very scared and told him to leave the house. He did and she rang the police who just gave her a crime number as he hadn't hurt her. She rang Homeserve but was fobbed off. She was insisted and kept ring them back. Two more men arrived and whilst there rang the office and said the taps were 20years old. This wasn't true as she had a new kitchen 3 years ago. She has now been advised that she doesn't need to put a complaint in as they will deal with it. I think differently. What do you think??

Well, without stating the obvious, this is not acceptable, call them and escalate the complaint, but a letter in writing with full details, your crime reference number and the name of the person/company that attended (if you know).