British Gas Homecare - Is it really worth it?

vicki488

Hi all,

Just after a bit of advice really. My parents have been having a few problems with their combi boiler keep going off and this morning it packed in completely. They called British gas out who charged £99 and they had to sign up for £20 a month. The engineer arrived and said that the boiler is clogged up with sludge. He removed the sludge he could but said that they recommend the boiler and radiators be flushed out which takes a full day and costs £599. He also said that any faults caused by sludge are not covered under the homecare plan. £599 is alot of money to my parents and myself and they are unsure whether to get this done. We feel like British gas pretty much have us over a barrel. We have considered getting another heating engineer to see if they can flush it out cheaper but then you don't know who can and cannot be trusted. Any experience or knowledge would be greatly appreciated. We are also concerned that they pay the £599 and the next time it breaks down they just tell us it's sludge again, meaning we are not covered. I don't consider £20 a month particularly cheap either.

Thanks

Ich_2

After attending a house fire yesterday caused by a BG technician ignoring a dangerous situation, I wouldn't trust them either.

Mac2308

What they mean is a powerflush. This will clean the system and after they will put chemicals to stop it happening again. British Gas are notoriously expensive for this type of thing. Find a local heating company who will probably do it for half the price. HTH. By the way I have 3* homecare with British Gas and every time they come out they try to upsell but it works out well for me. Pump seized recently and would have cost a couple of hundred quid to fix but was covered.

macman

Another day, another BG Homecare overpriced powerflush story...
Cancel the policy (if cooling-off allows), get an independent local GSR RGI to fix the fault, he will advise if sludge is the issue or not.
Why pay £339 a year when you can save £20 a month against the cost of a call out if needed?

ihateyes

macman wrote: »

Another day, another BG Homecare overpriced powerflush story...
Cancel the policy (if cooling-off allows), get an independent local GSR RGI to fix the fault, he will advise if sludge is the issue or not.
Why pay £339 a year when you can save £20 a month against the cost of a call out if needed?

Unfounded drivel again........ you can save £20 pm...... can you say for sure??

MacMan some people cant save money, or afford to pay a one off bill for a repair, however that same person could afford a monthly payment to cover the repairs.
Also you may be aware some boiler dont break down often, some boilers are forever for breaking down.

SO what advice would you give to someone who just had to pay out for a new heat exchanger??? what should they do to avoid that large bill next time?


imo boilers are shockingly bad..... very costly to install, not a very long shelf life.... specially nowadays. they are never realiable.

macman

Why drivel? If you can do a DD to pay £20pm to BG, you can do a £20pm DD to pay it into a savings account. No difference.

Willow_K

I second the suggestion to get a second opinion and quotes from indenpendant companies. If the powerflush does indeed need doing, you will be able to get it done a lot cheaper.

In my experience BG overcharge and rarely give a correct diagnosis of problems.

If you can, cancel the £20 per month to BG and find a reliable local contractor - speak to the neighbours to see if they can recommend anyone. Your parents can always put the £20 a month away and use it towards any boiler problems in the future.

vicki488

Thanks guys. We were going to ask some local companies for costs to do the flush out but we didn't know whether that would then invalidate the agreement with BG. The boiler has gone off again this morning and they are having to come out again. If we use a local company we will most likely have to pay call out fees everytime it breaks down. Ideally I think we'd like to get a cheaper company in to do the flush out and then pay the £20 a month because according to BG all parts are covered providing the fault is not sludge related. Also the BG engineer wrote on his paperwork that he recommended a flush out. Oh I wish I had a crystal ball lol

ihateyes

macman wrote: »

Why drivel? If you can do a DD to pay £20pm to BG, you can do a £20pm DD to pay it into a savings account. No difference.

there is a lot of people, especially but not limited to people on low incomes, can pay money to a company monthly but the temptation would be there for a 'treat' if something cropped up, then sods law kicks and and something goes wrong.

Drivel..... cos you tell everyone they can save money by not having these agreements.

Everyones circumstances are diffrerent, everyones boilers are different, in terms of model, the amount of use it gets etc.....

to decide weather you need an agreement, i think you have to look at your finances to start with.... if something goes wrong, do i have money at the ready? Whats the breakdown history on the boiler..... if it hasnt broke down in years,,,, then dont pay for an overpriced service.

Those are 2 things to take into account. and if anyone was to ask me are they worth the money, instead of me telling everyong what you tell them, id tell them to consider the above 2 points.

macman

ihateyes wrote: »

there is a lot of people, especially but not limited to people on low incomes, can pay money to a company monthly but the temptation would be there for a 'treat' if something cropped up, then sods law kicks and and something goes wrong.

Drivel..... cos you tell everyone they can save money by not having these agreements.

Everyones circumstances are diffrerent, everyones boilers are different, in terms of model, the amount of use it gets etc.....

to decide weather you need an agreement, i think you have to look at your finances to start with.... if something goes wrong, do i have money at the ready? Whats the breakdown history on the boiler..... if it hasnt broke down in years,,,, then dont pay for an overpriced service.

Those are 2 things to take into account. and if anyone was to ask me are they worth the money, instead of me telling everyong what you tell them, id tell them to consider the above 2 points.

Which is why I suggested putting it in a saving a/c via a monthly DD...
For the majority of people, these policies are very poor value. An annual service by an independent local GSR RGI will be far better value, and greatly reduce the chance of an unscheduled call out being required.

ollski

Hi Vicki bg are expensive for a powerflush because it includes a lifetime guarantee that if another flush is required in the future or any parts fail there will be no charge, although some continuity of bg cover must be maintained. It also sounds like the comi is probably overheating due to a blocked secondary heat exchanger, this is replaced during the flush and could be a couple of hundred quid as a job on its own.