British Gas Homecare - is my mother in law being ripped off

Tennis08

I was amazed and a little disgusted to discover my mother in law is paying £62 a month to homecare. I have checked online and the highest price for everything should only be £42. How can they get away with this?

TIMMY85

Without knowing what your mother in law has I would imagine her price as increased at renewal depending on claims made in the past - worth asking her to call to query what factors have led to this as the job history will be on the system. While £62 is a lot each month HomeCare 400, cover on kitchen appliances and a gas fire or two would be about this price anyway. Whether it is high depends on what cover she has.

ihateyes

Tennis08 wrote: »

I was amazed and a little disgusted to discover my mother in law is paying £62 a month to homecare. I have checked online and the highest price for everything should only be £42. How can they get away with this?

before ranting on... are you aware of your mother in laws breakdown history?? are you aware of what exactly is on the agreement??? going by £42.... id say homecare400 £27 + 3kitchen appliances £14.75.

if im right, i would think £47 per month for the 400 is steep, but as Timmy said, id imagine her breakdown history is high.

redboy1

If it were me I'd stop it and shove it in a new bank account, in a year you would have over 720 pounds if nothing goes wrong. That would be plenty for a new washing machine, fridge etc,
My MOTO is don't have insurance unless you legally have to.

giraffe69

1. Review the list of appliances covered
2. Consider whether she wants to switch to the insurance version i.e. you pay the first £50. This reduces the cost of my version from £23 to £15 per month. Even with one claim per year you are better off.
3. Ask for a reduction at renewal time (you have to be persistent)
4. go to the website and get a quote as a new customer to see the degree of rip off.
5. Consider going elsewhere if this does not work.

PasturesNew

redboy1 wrote: »

If it were me I'd stop it and shove it in a new bank account, in a year you would have over 720 pounds if nothing goes wrong. That would be plenty for a new washing machine, fridge etc,
My MOTO is don't have insurance unless you legally have to.

I'd have agreed with this attitude 1-2 years ago for a lot of things.... but it depends on why the policy is put in place.

I want to put such a policy in place for an elderly relative so that if/when something breaks the carers know exactly who to call and can be assured somebody will come out.... it takes time/knowledge and cunning to catch up with local tradespeople, be let down by then, then be able to afford the price they quote right after they make that sucking intake-of-breath noise.

Sometimes you're paying for peace of mind, and ease of use, rather than the service in itself.

Newcroft

Not that long ago, I had to take responsibility for my elderly father's affairs, including his contract with British Gas (for their Homecare 400 contract).

According to the British Gas website, this particular contract (the Homecare 400) covers the following:

Boiler & Controls
Central Heating
Plumbing & Drains
Home Electrics

It was costing my father just over £29 per month. Not bad, if I'm honest. A good cover, especially for the elderly. However, added to this amount, was the additional cost of checking his gas cooker each year. It was an extra sixty-odd pounds (which did not cover any repairs). It was soley to check the working parts of the cooker. Any repairs/replacement parts would have cost even more; which was money for nothing as far as BG was concerned, bearing in mind that my Dad had never ever claimed!

Approximately two months ago, my father died - and I cancelled the annual check on his gas cooker - but continued with the Homecare 400.

The Homecare 400 is extremely reassuring, especially for the elderly, but anything extra is superfluous and involves unnecessary cost. For anyone to be charged £62 per month is a rip off.

My advice would be to phone British Gas and ask them for a breakdown of costs.