NPower Hometeam BER (Beyond Economic Repair)

Black.Belt

Has anyone else been caught out by NPower Hometeams's Beyond Economic Repair clause? and how did you deal with it?

Our current boiler is an 8 year old Worcester Bosch 40 HE Plus. To provide peace of mind, we have always had the boiler covered by a one of the maintenance and repair contract - i.e. NPower's Hometeam 50.

Recently, our central heating system has started losing pressure. A visit from an NPower Hometeam engineer resulted in the fault being diagnosed as a leaky primary heat-exchanger. At this stage, I expected NPower to order the necessary part and fix my boiler.

However, NPower declared the boiler "Beyond Economic Repair" and refused to fix it. The replacement part costs around £300 + VAT and would take around 1 hour to fit. With a quotation for a new boiler (from NPower) of £3165.36 - a repair cost of around £450 would appear to make sound economic sense.

But, NPower claim the calculation of "Beyond Economic Repair" is at their discretion and they use a formula based on the age and base cost of the boiler. To quote diretly from NPower

" Having checked on line, EBay have a brand new version of your Worcester priced at £1420.00. This is only a random search online and prices will vary between different companies; some will be more expensive and some less. Therefore the 9% depreciation in value of 8 years would be £1,022.40. The economic value of the boiler after 8 years service would therefore be £397.60. I reiterate that prices will vary from company to company and the calculation just shown is for illustration purposes only. Nonetheless, I am confident that the economic value of your boiler would be around the sum of £397.60 plus or minus a few pounds. "

In summary, even though NPower are taking over £200 per year in fees to insure my boiler, if any repair is estimated to cost over £400 they will not cover that cost.

macman

Only if you were foolish enough to accept their ludicrous install quote of £3,165-a typical independent local RGI would install and supply for around £2000.
I'd get the same independent to do the repair, and cancel cover that you don't need.

norapower

Thanks Black Belt, after reading your OP I have just phoned NP to cancel my boiler contract with them. When they asked why I told them about your experience with their cover or lack of it. Surprise Surprise they did not argue about the details that you gave and even seemed a bit embarrassed about it. My boiler is over 12 years old so any repair cost over £100 it would be BER, according to NP.

Herongull

I think you could challenge this.

They appear to be saying that BER can mean whatever they say it means rather how an ordinary person would interpret this term in the contract.

However generally speaking, ambiguous contract terms are interpreted in favour of the other party (ie the party that didn't write the contract).

So if they wanted to use that sort of interpretation of BER, the contract should have made this clear in the definitions.

If it didn't, then I suggest you write to them again and make this point. If they don't accept it, then pay someone else to do the repair and take them to the small claims court for the cost.

Black.Belt

@Herongull, after over a week without Heating and Hot Water, I did have the repair done myself and now hope NPower will cover the cost.

@Norapower, if my experience saves yourself and others from spending money with NPower Hometeam for an insurance product that NPower won't actually payour on, then maybe some good will come out of this experience. The unfair and biased BER clause reminds me of some of the much publiciced Payement Protection Insurance clauses.

Herongull

I had a look online, and their T&Cs do have a definition of Beyond Economical Repair. Viz

"Beyond Economical Repair means where We estimate that a Repair could cost more than the current value of the Boiler or where the parts required are no longer readily available to Us."

It isn't unreasonable for the current value to reflect depreciation rather than the cost of new boiler, but I would have thought that they should start with the cost of a new boiler including fitting and then depreciate it over (say) 15 years - one would expect a well-maintained boiler to last at least that long.

This would give a very different answer.

If they are allowed to use the cost of a boiler on ebay (uninstalled) and whatever depreciation rate they like, then this seems like an unfair term and could be challenged on this basis.

Perhaps if the cost of repair had only been £250, they could have found an even cheaper one (or used the wholesale price) and depreciated it over 6 years so that they could also get out of doing that repair as well.

Most service contracts are a rip-off! For piece of mind put the money you would have spent on them in a savings account and draw on that if/when the boiler needs repairs.

ihateyes

When Npower started their cover.... Homeserve used to do it.

And Homeserve are notorious for not replacing Heat Exchangers..

This doesnt surprise and this is why:

http://www.npower.com/idc/groups/wcms_content/@wcms/documents/digitalassets/standard_service_repair_terms.pdf

FIXED PRICE REPAIR
The Price provided to you under the Fixed Price Repair shall include the
call-out charge, labour, parts and value added tax
at the current rate at the date of the Contract up to the value
of £600.
If the engineer identifies that the cost of the repairs (including call-out,
labour, parts and value added tax) required exceed the value of £600 we
may provide you with a quotation for the additional work under the Time
and Materials (Pay As You Go) repair product, set out below.
You shall not be entitled to the Fixed Price Repair for any repairs or
remedial work to your gas boiler, System and/or gas appliance where you
have already received a quotation from us or any third party for any
repairs or remedial work required to your gas boiler, System and/or gas
appliance or where our engineer has already inspected your gas boiler,
System and/or gas Appliance (as applicable), regardless of whether that
quotation has expired or not.
We shall not be able to carry out any repairs or remedial work to the heat
exchanger in your gas boiler, the hot water cylinder or radiators in your
System or any blockagesto your System under the Fixed Price Repair,
however, we may be able to offer you an alternative repair solution under
the Time and Materials (Pay As You Go) product, set
out below


Note what i have put in Bold. Even under a One off callout that they can charge upto £429 i believe.... they wont fix a heat exchanger.... so no surprises!!! im afraid!

Black.Belt

@ihateyes - I think your link is to a different product. I can't post a link to the actual T&Cs but a Google search for "NPower Hometeam terms and conditions" returns the current Hometeam T&Cs.

ihateyes

Black.Belt wrote: »

@ihateyes - I think your link is to a different product. I can't post a link to the actual T&Cs but a Google search for "NPower Hometeam terms and conditions" returns the current Hometeam T&Cs.

Blackbelt.....

My post above just proves Hometeam.... no matter what packae your on..... they WONT replace the heat exchanger.

Talldave

£200 a year would have built up a very cosy contingency fund by now. The manufacturer's warranty would have provided peace of mind for the first year or two, after which, the fund would have had sufficient funds to cover most failures bar a total replacement (and that's very unlikely).

I never pay for policies like these and "insure" the risk myself. As examples, two problems this year:
Kitchen tap faulty at 3yrs old - £60 for replacement and £25 for plumber to fit.
Radiator failed (leak) - £70 for replacement and I estimate maybe £50 to fit.

To put those into perspective, that's the first problem with a radiator in 14 years living in the house, and the first tap problem more serious than a washer change.

Doing it my way, I get to choose top quality components at decent prices and support local trades people (who care about customer service) with the fitting work.

Black.Belt

In the long run, I agree that boiler protection insurance schemes will cost a customer more than they get out of them and anyone who can afford to "self insure" almost certainly should.

However, I believe most customers actually take out the insurance to provide peace of mind - a safety net - in case a large expensive repair is needed. And this is exactly where NPower have failed to deliver against their moral and contractual obligations in this instance.