MSE News: HomeServe suspends sales amid mis-selling probe

ihateyes

WillimS wrote: »

I am glad this issue has been raised, I have Homeserve full cover, my toilet was leaking where the drain pipe connects at the joint of the toilet, prior to this I was having to fill up the cistern with water as it wasn't filling up on its own.

I rang Homeserve who informed me I would have immediately pay £50 excess, so I had to pay over the phone for that before they would even send anyone out. Once the repair man arrived he fixed the leak but he pointed out there was a fault with the cistern mechanism and did I want it fixing, of course I said yes, so he made a call to Homeserve who asked to speak to me, I was gob smacked when they said "oh yes he'll replace the float in the cistern but you'll have to pay another £50 excess as this will be classed as a different job".

I replied "you must be joking", and of course I declined, so for a leaking toilet it would of cost me £100, given the fact if I would of just picked up the yellow pages and rang any plumber at random I very much doubt he would of charged that, and on top of that my £8.99 per month insurance, I did complain but I got nowhere, Homeserve were good until I believe they were taken over by another company, now they are just rip off merchants.

oh this is the package where the customer is happy paying the cheaper price but unhappy when it comes to coughing up £50....

i believe homeserve charge £25 for their top package 1st £50, £43 without the £50

Lea74

Interesting to read this. I received my renewal documents today and noticed my premium had gone up. I called to chat to them about it and was very kindly offered a discount, however the gentleman helping me sounded very dodgy. He also mentioned that they werent doing any sales at the moment due to computer problems - hmmmmm!! A porky pie me thinks having just read this forum.

I also had the toilet blockage problem and was told I had an excess of £50.00. My monthly premium was £18.96 and I have never claimed. So that times 12 months plus the £50.00 and no doubt a claim against my policy would be far more expensive than just a plumber from the yellow pages.

Rose_Owen

archer123 wrote: »

Homeserve and Mr Harpin are a disgrace. For years they have been selling my elderly mother-in-law Full Plumbing Cover for her maisonette, and then ringing many times to try and get her to pay 'an upgrade' for sewage pipes. This cost her over £100.
When she called them, for the first problem, the plumber they sent broke her stop-!!!! and left water flooding/spouting into the front garden, then refused to repair it.
Mr Harpin failed to respond to a letter addressed directly to him, and their staff just hid behind the terms and conditions, saying 'outside stopcocks and those not regularly serviced are not covered'.
To top it all, when I read the T&C's their policy DOES NOT EVEN COVER MAISONETTES - yet they knew she lived in a maisonette when they sold her cover!
Another one for the FSA, I think....

I was interested to read the message from archer123. My 81 year old mother has been paying Homeserve without my knowledge and her payments have increased without informing her. I have advised her to cancel the direct debit and I will be writing to Homeserve for, at least, a refund as I believe that she has been pressured into this. Can anyone advise me as to the best way to write a letter - what are the pertinent points that will get a result?

ihateyes

Rose_Owen wrote: »

be writing to Homeserve for, at least, a refund as I believe that she has been pressured into this.

Why is she due a refund? how was she pressured into?

A letter won't have any effect with accusations you want to make without substance.

They would send your mother documents each year. what you wan to do first is the softly approach.....

Ask how the agreement was set up, and when. WHat is covered, and a list of any engineer visits.

Why would any company refund premiums if work has been carried out.

If i got a letter such as the one you want to write and work had been carried out id think...... what a cheek!

find the above out, then go from there.

archer123

I wrote to Homeserve about this policy, and the fact that it wasn't made clear that the plumbing cover was actually just an insurance policy, and the fact that they should never have taken on cover for a masonette, plus other problems related to poor standards of service. Homeserve have now made a substantial refund to my mother-in-law, and we now have no need to pursue this with the Financial Services Ombudsman.
If you feel you have been sold a 'pup', then take the matter up with Homeserve, first, and then if you get no joy try the FSA Ombudsman.

Greypair

My mother in law was in hospital and asked me to sort out her finances. I found she had 6 Homeserve policies for various insurance cover and she was paying over £350 a year for them. On looking through the policies and renewal documents I saw that she was not covered for many of them as she lived in a flat. I complained to Homeserve in January and it has just been resolved. The complaint centered on the way the policies had been sold to her, the cynical renewal notices and the targeting of elderly and vulnerable people. In my first letter to them I pointed out an upheld complaint by Age concern to the Adevertising Standards Agency that their marketing was likely to cause alarm and distress to the elderly (a Google search will find it). I laid out the details for each policy and the reasons why she didn't need the insurance cover or didn't qualify.

The upshot is that my complaint to Homeserve has been upheld by them. They have cancelled all the policies and refunded all the premiums for the last six years and also compensated for the distress and inconvenience caused to my mother in law. We have had £1500 refunded.

The member of staff who dealt with my complaint was very helpful and sympathetic. At one point he said he wouldn't want his grandma taking out these policies!

It would seem that Homeserve does not want any more adverse publicity and our refund more than exceeded our expectation.

More than happy to supply the Homeserve contact details.

marshabb

hi, this is my first post...!
we are wondering whether to take out cover with homeserve, since all of the bad publicity last year, does anyone feel this has changed and have they had some good experiences to share! i never buy things like this and just take a chance but we've just had a bog bill for our boiler and thought we should look into it! they seem cheaper than BG....

thanks

Baxbax

Hi marshabb

I'm hoping you didn't go with Homeserve!
We've had their top policy for a few years without incident. However this year our boiler sprang a leak. To cut a long story short we were left without heating or hot water for 5 days in December, despite Homeserve knowing we have a disabled child, because no one ordered the part we needed. And because allowing anyone else to touch the boiler voids the Homeserve policy, we couldn't get it repaired by a local engineer instead. We didn't even get an apology.
Needless to say we won't be renewing this year. We're taking the emergency cover offered by our home insurer - which covers electrics too - for a fraction of the cost of Homeserve's premiums.

rizla_king

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25711053

Homeserve facing £34m FCA penalty

Maintenance company Homeserve is being warned it faces a fine of £34.5m from the City regulator owing to historical sales problems.

This would be the largest retail fine ever handed down by the City regulator.

The company said the Financial Services Authority had proposed the fine, having been investigating Homeserve for 18 months.

Questionable sales techniques and complaints handling emerged following an internal review in 2011.

The company has since been conducting a marketing overhaul.
Investigation

Homeserve was founded in 1993 by chief executive Richard Harpin as a joint venture with South Staffordshire Water and grew rapidly. It demerged from the water company in 2004.

Homeserve sells homeowners insurance to provide them with cover against drain blockages, burst pipes, faulty boilers and electrical problems. It describes itself in adverts as "Britain's fifth emergency service".

But there were questions over whether the cost of its packages of cover was clear to customers.

The FCA subsequently started an investigation which, the company, said has led to the penalty proposal which assumes a 30% discount for early settlement. The proposed penalty was higher than the company expected.

"Homeserve will now engage in discussions with the FCA to finalise the notice," the company said in a statement.

Customers who were affected have been, or will be, contacted directly by the company with regards to compensation.

C_Mababejive

I think this fine and/or its threat,will finish off Homeserve. No doubt it will open up next next under another name..the final ripoff,,leaving homeserve customers high and dry no doubt.