British Gas boiler cover, unable to resolve simple renewal re-quote

z06_tim

I have had an ongoing issue with British Gas since my renewal dropped through the letter box in September 2014 for £340/yr.

A fairly simple telephone call you might imagine to negotiate a better deal to compare to competitors at around £200/yr for the same level of cover.

Anyway, two telephone calls that failed to result in a new price, due to "computer issues". Followed by various methods of them delivering the same £340/yr renewal quote with no explanation. Plus my complaints via on-line message through the website and to various complaints/customer service email addresses has still not resulted in a resolution.

The most annoying fact is after the initial phone calls they said I would continue to be insured, and they would take the direct debit at the monthly amount stated. Now they never did this, so i would assume I am not insured, but they have not responded to my questions to confirm this.

Please give some thought before you take one of these policies, and not just with BG by the sounds of it. I am going to try and find a good recommended boiler service guy and hope that any breakdowns and repairs are not too painful.

Thanks for reading..

z06_tim

I was going to take Npowers policy at £186/yr for new business (£212/yr 2nd year), then i discovered that they can weasil out of payments, when a repair of about £500 is deemed to be more than the value of the boiler.

If this is the case, anyone with an older boiler (their policies class 7 yrs as older), and mine is 12 years old, doesn't really stand a chance of getting a major repair done. Instead expect a £3000+ quote for a new one, followed by the teaser that they will deduct the £500 repair cost from this!

My main reason for wanting an insurance policy was the fact that if a breakdown occurs it is attended to very quickly. If you have to make your own arrangements in an emergency, you could be without heat for a lot longer. This could be particularly difficult if you need a new boiler.

Anyway i soldier on with my old boiler, knowing that it could need replacement one day, but for now, it is quiet and cheap to run. Surprisingly cheaper than the average dual-fuel bill and we keep our house pretty warm. I fully expect to have to foot the £2000 new boiler bill myself one day, but i don't wish to be forced into doing this (by an insurance policy) when my boiler is still repairable.

As a footnote the BG engineers were all very good. They gave an honest appraisal of my boiler and although they do push the new boiler option "because you wouldn't want to be without heat in the winter", one chap recommended purchasing some of the parts that are unavailable to them, to keep, and they would fit them when required. It's a shame their customer services is so poor, and the money grabbing management at BG can't make the policies more reasonable in terms of annual cost, and what is actually covered.

It must be tough for British Gas trying to maintain their £1billion annual profit, and pay their millions in directors salaries and benefits.

jbuchanangb

Not helpful to post same question two places.

Have you tried http://www.homeenergyservices.co.uk/

Ray_Alexander

I've heard of a few cases where these policies end up with price bumps after a year for all sorts of mystery reasons. Sad thing is some firms even install small print that makes them awkward about fixing certain faults too.

I had a bad deal from BG for my cover - but as my boiler is between new and old I opted to get it covered elsewhere. I just went online to get some reviews and customer feedback and ended-up with stl heating. It was luck really, as I'd been googling for ages and was getting expensive quotes with sales people elsewhere.

Please give some thought before you take one of these policies, and not just with BG by the sounds of it. I am going to try and find a good recommended boiler service guy and hope that any breakdowns and repairs are not too painful.