Domestic & General - missold insurance

sunil1234

Hi all,

Wonder if i could get some advice.

We moved into a flat at the start of this year. AS normal i always take out insurance on appliances and heating systems.

The flat has a Gledhill Economy 7 hot water storage system and wall storage heaters- no gas as the property is above commercial premises.

I called DomeGen and explained that i wanted the highest plan cover for my economy 7 system. The lady went off and said they had a plan that would cover this. The quote arrived (around £90 iirc) and i set up the DD and off we went.

Last week, the system started playing up and the water doesnt heat properly. We called DomGen who arranged for Glowarm to come out and have a look under the plan.

The engineer comes when my partner is at home and has a look but says he cant do the diagnostics on it without the manual. We were never given the manual by the previous owners. So when i get home, i google it and download it from the website.

My partner then calls back and tells we have the manual so can they come back. They then say that we should check with DomGen if we are covered as our system is "unvented".

So the next day i call DomGen Customer Services who transfer me to the Claims department. They turn round and say "unvented systems" are not covered. I explain that this was never bought to my attention or mentioned in my plan document. They then say i have been missold the policy and it should be cancelled and my premiums refunded. The guy then says he will arrange for a resolution manager to call me (still waiting as this was only yesterday) to see if they can make a contribution to the repair given the misseling.

I then go back to work and call around a few gledhill specialists who tell me the system is "Open vented" not "Unvented".

So i call DomGen back and they go off to check if am now covered. They guy calls me back and now says that this policy is not intended for what i was told it was and its only for "little water heaters like those above sinks and showers"!

I am waiting for the resolutions manager to call me back but any advice on where i stand and what my rights are?

I cannot believe Domestic & General do not office a policy that covers economy 7 hot water heating systems in new build flats!

Many thanks

Sunil

sunil1234

no one then?

DVardysShadow

sunil1234 wrote: »

no one then?

I don't think that many people would insure appliances in the way that you do. Certainly, reading your experience makes the prospect unattractive.

sunil1234

DVardysShadow wrote: »

I don't think that many people would insure appliances in the way that you do. Certainly, reading your experience makes the prospect unattractive.

really, so not many people you think take out boiler insurance etc?

Venkman_2

sunil1234 wrote: »

Hi all,

Wonder if i could get some advice.

We moved into a flat at the start of this year. AS normal i always take out insurance on appliances and heating systems.

The flat has a Gledhill Economy 7 hot water storage system and wall storage heaters- no gas as the property is above commercial premises.

I called DomeGen and explained that i wanted the highest plan cover for my economy 7 system. The lady went off and said they had a plan that would cover this. The quote arrived (around £90 iirc) and i set up the DD and off we went.

Last week, the system started playing up and the water doesnt heat properly. We called DomGen who arranged for Glowarm to come out and have a look under the plan.

The engineer comes when my partner is at home and has a look but says he cant do the diagnostics on it without the manual. We were never given the manual by the previous owners. So when i get home, i google it and download it from the website.

My partner then calls back and tells we have the manual so can they come back. They then say that we should check with DomGen if we are covered as our system is "unvented".

So the next day i call DomGen Customer Services who transfer me to the Claims department. They turn round and say "unvented systems" are not covered. I explain that this was never bought to my attention or mentioned in my plan document. They then say i have been missold the policy and it should be cancelled and my premiums refunded. The guy then says he will arrange for a resolution manager to call me (still waiting as this was only yesterday) to see if they can make a contribution to the repair given the misseling.

I then go back to work and call around a few gledhill specialists who tell me the system is "Open vented" not "Unvented".

So i call DomGen back and they go off to check if am now covered. They guy calls me back and now says that this policy is not intended for what i was told it was and its only for "little water heaters like those above sinks and showers"!

I am waiting for the resolutions manager to call me back but any advice on where i stand and what my rights are?

I cannot believe Domestic & General do not office a policy that covers economy 7 hot water heating systems in new build flats!

Many thanks

Sunil

I know you said you wanted the highest plan they did but did you actually check what it covered rather than just assuming it did everything?

I know they will only deal with cylinders that are open-vented and not vented from experience

I deal with insurance companies from all areas on a day to day basis. I know they only sell plans to small domestic systems and anything that is classed as commercial (I dont know if yours is so cant comment on that) they will not insure you. If you told them for example:

I want a policy that covers my boiler and my system, they will normally ask the manufactuer of the boiler, for example Worcester I believe do domestic and commercial boilers. If you told them you had a Worcester boiler but didnt tell them the make then they would only assume its a domestic boiler so will sell you the protection accordingly.

That is why they have probably told you the boiler isnt coverered as its probably a small commercial boiler which they dont cover

Again im not 100% on this but thats abot normal

Venkman

sunil1234

Venkman wrote: »

I know you said you wanted the highest plan they did but did you actually check what it covered rather than just assuming it did everything?

I know they will only deal with cylinders that are open-vented and not vented from experience

I deal with insurance companies from all areas on a day to day basis. I know they only sell plans to small domestic systems and anything that is classed as commercial (I dont know if yours is so cant comment on that) they will not insure you. If you told them for example:

I want a policy that covers my boiler and my system, they will normally ask the manufactuer of the boiler, for example Worcester I believe do domestic and commercial boilers. If you told them you had a Worcester boiler but didnt tell them the make then they would only assume its a domestic boiler so will sell you the protection accordingly.

That is why they have probably told you the boiler isnt coverered as its probably a small commercial boiler which they dont cover

Again im not 100% on this but thats abot normal

Venkman

Hi, thanks for replying informatively.

When i got the policy in the post it said "all makes water heaters" so i presumed it was covered given my conversations with them and reading the exclusions on the back. As they dont have an option for economy 7 systems on the website, thats why i called them and explained what i wanted and what the equipment was. The lady even went off to confirm.

It is a small domestic system (1 bed flat) and open vented.

Regards