Boiler cover renewal.

Rev

It's boiler cover renewal time, currently with british gas, they've bumped the cover up an extra £5 a month, have called and they can knock it down 15%.

But it's still more expensive than most other quotes, and that's not taking into account cashback etc.

Just after some opinions, are homeserve still to be avoided at all costs? What about SSE and 247 home rescue etc?

Any opinions or experiances to share?

thanks.

alderpoint

Homeserve free with my house insurance. Check yours...

Rev

alderpoint wrote: »

Homeserve free with my house insurance. Check yours...

I have. Thank you for suggesting but it's not on mine. Home emergency only covers my boiler from October to April too!


Can I ask who your Home insurance is with? My renewal is due in a month so if I could combine the two I'd do so.


Have you ever used home serve? Are they any good?

Rev

Called BG back this morning and asked them if hey could better the 15% discount. They made it 20% which I accepted.

It's now £12.90 up from £12 so 90p more which isn't bad.


Domestic and general offer boiler cover which I didn't know so I think I'd have gone with them if BG hadn't budged. My mum used them for years without issue.

alderpoint

Rev wrote: »

ICan I ask who your Home insurance is with?
Have you ever used home serve? Are they any good?

First Direct.

Called them out a few weeks ago and the service was very good. I was in Italy and the wife was in UK with the problem and this didn't phase them at all.

But then again I've nothing to compare them with, so whether others are better or worse I cannot comment.

Rev

alderpoint wrote: »

First Direct.

Called them out a few weeks ago and the service was very good. I was in Italy and the wife was in UK with the problem and this didn't phase them at all.

But then again I've nothing to compare them with, so whether others are better or worse I cannot comment.

Thank you. Just got a quote and it was almost £40. For no accidental damage. No personal possessions and with a voluntary excess of £100.

I don't pay that now for house insurance and boiler cover combined! And I get more cover! When I changed it to the same level of cover I get now it jumped to £42 (I pay £17).


I only live in a 2 bed terrace and have 10+ years no claims. That quote is outrageous!

MarkBargain

So £12.90x12 = £154.80 a year? Does that include the annual service?

You could probably get a local Gas Safe Engineer to service it for £55, then put the £100 a year in a tin for ad-hoc repairs and to save for an eventual replacement boiler.

Rev

MarkBargain wrote: »

So £12.90x12 = £154.80 a year? Does that include the annual service?

You could probably get a local Gas Safe Engineer to service it for £55, then put the £100 a year in a tin for ad-hoc repairs and to save for an eventual replacement boiler.

Yes that includes a service.

To be honest having it gives me peace of mind. The boiler is only two years old and already the diverter has needed replacing.

It was still in warranty with Vaillant and they wouldn't even look at it, despite the fact it was in wrranty unless I paid them £90.

Now I didn't realise it was still in warranty and got Home care last year, when it broke down I realised it was still in warranty and called Vaillant, got the above response, called British Gas, paid the £50 excess and had a working boiler 12 hours later.

Had I decided aganst it and put the £155 away, using some for a service I'd still be without a boiler as I don't have accsess to a lump sum for emergencies. And it would have cost me more than £155 to repair.

So until my financial situation changes and I have spare funds available in case of emergency then boiler cover gives me peace of mind.

MarkBargain

Rev wrote: »

It was still in warranty with Vaillant and they wouldn't even look at it, despite the fact it was in wrranty unless I paid them £90.

What reason did they use for not honouring their warranty?!

I have a Baxi which came with a 7 year warranty and haven't had to call on it yet.

daveyjp

The Vaillant £90 is a refundable deposit to cover the cost of a visit if it is found the issue is not a valid warranty claim. This is all explained when you call.

A diverter valve would have been changed free of charge under the warranty.

Rev

daveyjp wrote: »

The Vaillant £90 is a refundable deposit to cover the cost of a visit if it is found the issue is not a valid warranty claim. This is all explained when you call.

A diverter valve would have been changed free of charge under the warranty.

No, it wasn't explained.

I was told that they'd need £90 before they'd even come out. I wasn't informed at any point, that it was refundable.

I've since sent numerous emails to vaillant, tweeted them and posted on their Facebook asking why there was a charge for in warranty repairs. Every method of communication has been ignored. This is the first time I've been told, by anyone that the £90 was refundable.

And even so, surely they come out, if it's not a warranty repair then charge £90. Not just blindly charge £90.

And as I explained, I don't have access to lump sums of cash, I couldn't have given them £90 even if they had explained it was refundable, which they didn't. Because I didn't have £90.