Home Emergency Cover

john432

I have buildings & contents with Direct Line the plus policy, which as standard gives £500 limit to a emergency cover.

I have had and now reviewed Homeserve emergency cover. The key thing is that homeserve cover the "water supply pipe" where DL do not provide cover. Homeserve will cover plumbing, drains, electrics etc. Homeserve claim limits are much higher, than the £500 DL cover.

When setting up homeserve I was asked " Do you have cover elsewhere?". I said NO.

So, was I correct to say no. NB. DL is home insurance with their added home emergency as standard, not their "response 24" which is their equilivent of homeserve.

Am I ok to have homeserve which in theory better emergency cover.

Thanks.

john432

Anyone, got advice on above please.

john432

Again any advise please.

Loughton_Monkey

john432 wrote: »

Again any advise please.

As far as I know, you have answered correctly. Any overlapping of cover will be very small. Homeserve, as I understand it, is much more to do with your boiler, blocked drains, and general plumbing problems.

Mind you (and this is just my opinion) I wouldn't touch anything like that cover anyway. Like warranty insurance, the expense/commission on these things are so high usually, that the actual 'value' to the Insured Person is extremely low.

Just put the same amount as the premium away in a savings account each year, and if/when your boiler breaks down, just send for a plumber, pay him, and take the money out of the savings account. Over a few years, you'll be quids in, because I think DL will pay for most things that I would class as 'drastic'.

mwbrown

Hi

Both ourselves and my dad had homeserve cover for plumbing and drains.... we had to call them out regarding a leaking toilet for my dad and they sent a 3rd party contractor out who "didnt appear to have a clue!" he just put some sticky mastic type tape around the pan connector at the back of the toilet to stop the leak..... which then started to leak later the same day.... after they came back 4 times and just put more sticky mastic type tape on the pan connector it still leaked....

The last guy then found a leak on the actual soil pipe and contacted homeserve to get authorisation to replace the soil stack.... after about 30 mins, the guy came in and said "sorry, they wont authorise the replacement pipe, due to it not being a "standard" soil stack!"....

The soil stack is a "standard when it was installed! 3" soil stack" and they "claimed" that it should have been 4" (which is now the norm).... the guy then left my dad with a leaking toilet.....

Totally displeased with the service, i complained on his behalf and got basically nowhere with Homeserve, so advised my dad to cancel the policy at renewal and tell them where they can stick the policy... (I replaced the soil stack in a couple of hours and it took me probably 40 mins to get all the gunk of the "homeserve approved plumbers used to try and bodge fix the leak!).

I then had a water leak under the bathroom floor on our central heatiing pipes.... I again called homeserve and they sent out the same people that they used for my dads toilet problem, they guy came and said wheres the leak, i said somewhere under the bathroom floor... he advised that he cant take the floor up (which is fair enough, but if they had told me this on calling the emergency number i would have had it ready for them to replace the joint that had gone!)..... anyway they come, fix the joint (leaving the old knacked joint under the floor!!!) and leave after bleeding all our rads to get any air out.

I notice a few days later that we need to keep topping the boiler up (which we hadnt had to do prior to leak - having lived in the house for over 3 years with no problems). I check all the rads and noticed that one in our spare bedroom which is never used is leaking from the bleed valve... i try and turn it to stop the leak and notice that the bleed nipple is broken... i manage to stop the leak, and call homeserve who again send somebody out to look at the problem.... the guy advised (after making a few phone calls) whoever came out didnt go in that room to bleed the rad (which is bu**sh**) as my wife showed him where all the rads were.... eventually they agree to replace the bleed nipple.....

Needless to say we cancelled the homeserve cover...... wouldnt recommend homeserve at all....

During cold weather this year, we had a problem with frozen pipes... one burst..... called british gas who we have service cover with and have been absolutely brilliant.... They sent somebody out within a couple of hours on a Sunday and they guy checked the pipe and said its not part of the boiler and technically its not covered on the boiler cover we have, but as a goodwill gesture he would get it fixed if we gained access to the pipe (it was right above kitchen sink - so need an access hole making in ceiling)... didnt bother calling them back, got a family friend whos a plumber to fix it - charged me sod all apart from the bits needed...

My advice, avoid homeserve at all costs....

john432

Has anybody else had poor service from homeserve?
As I have just started a new policy with them I can cancel it as I am the cancelling period. Any more feedback would be appreciated.

Also, I am still ok to have homeserve as well as the DL emergency cover which is part of the home insurance? I am concerned about the overlap.

Thanks in advance.

lilac_lady

I have a homeserve policy and got great service when the water tank in my loft leaked via he ceiling into my bedroom. Sorted within a couple of hours.

mwbrown

All i can say is that, if i was alone with bad service with a company, then i could understand it, but for 2 members of the same family to have problems with Homeserve then that has got to be down to either bad luck or poor tradesmen?... I personally would put it down to bad management of the company and not using "properly vetted people!" and using a "company" that does all trades rather than using specialists in the particular field that is required!

Would you employ a bricklayer(general builder) rather than a plumber?

I would (and now do) avoid companies (not just homeserve!) who offer multiple protection policies (ie.... plumbing, drainage, boiler cover etc.....)... i would rather pay somebody like BG (for example only) for boiler cover and stick the rest of the money i would save away for a rainy day fund.......

Mike

Londonlass_2

Dont use Homeserve. See Boiler Maintenance cover and see what has been said about poor service. I've had a terrible time just getting them out to service the boiler. Complete waste of money.

beverley1296

I too am having trouble with homeserve boiler breakdown, they contract out their work to cowboys!! 3 days chronically disabled still no hot water or central heating and no sign of an engineer.

homeserve_crap

Why am I not surprised to read all the problems with HOMESERVE . I too have been waiting 2 weeks now its been a constant battle between them and their contractors STORM Heating . Don't wish to bore everyone again but its the same story for me . Don't use storm / homeserve they are unreliable liars take your money and you get nothing back .