coverheat - full central heating cover

BaboonBoy

Thought I was alone. Agree with above. Took out policy and had problem with frequent problems with boiler. Didn't turn up for first appt. and said they'd rang to cancel but the phone was engaged(!!) (one days annual leave!). On second appt said they couldn't find a problem and went away. The boiler problem still existed so rang again and they wouldn't come out until we'd paid £84 call out charge because they couldn't find anything wrong the last time (even though the fault was still there and had not been rectified). Unfortunately I was at work when they came and my partner had to deal with them. Rude on the phone and came home to find her in tears. I've found other complaints about them (one of which is being followed up by BBC Watchdog and one by Trading Satndards). I don't know whether to pay the £84 or not. I feel I'm being ripped off. Any advice? BB
PS They keep ringing my works number and claim they don't have my home number even though I've given it to them.

robertai

I signed up with COVERHEAT last November.
THis week my Potterton Combi boiler broke down and the engineer they sent said it needs a new pcb (principal circuit board). Coverheat then told me that I was not covered as this was a 'design fault' with the Potterton boiler.
I have had the boiler for 9 years almost and this is the first time ither pcb has gone.
I have to now pay to get the work done myself.
Any ideas on how to proceeed to get my money back will be appreciated

stingrad

robertai wrote: »

I signed up with COVERHEAT last November.
THis week my Potterton Combi boiler broke down and the engineer they sent said it needs a new pcb (principal circuit board). Coverheat then told me that I was not covered as this was a 'design fault' with the Potterton boiler.
I have had the boiler for 9 years almost and this is the first time ither pcb has gone.
I have to now pay to get the work done myself.
Any ideas on how to proceeed to get my money back will be appreciated

Hi the PCB fault it not a design fault it has worked for 9 years, the PCB's are regulary updated by the manufactur due to different suppliers and improvements. The suprima had about 10 different ones before finally redisgning it. This however was still a boiler fault and not a design fault. I would challenge them on this. If you need more info please PM me

Cardew

robertai wrote: »

I signed up with COVERHEAT last November.
THis week my Potterton Combi boiler broke down and the engineer they sent said it needs a new pcb (principal circuit board). Coverheat then told me that I was not covered as this was a 'design fault' with the Potterton boiler.
I have had the boiler for 9 years almost and this is the first time ither pcb has gone.
I have to now pay to get the work done myself.
Any ideas on how to proceeed to get my money back will be appreciated

Take them to the small claims court.

BBC Watchdog

Incidentally unless terminology has changed I believe PCB = Printed Circuit Board.

robertai

stingrad wrote: »

Hi the PCB fault it not a design fault it has worked for 9 years, the PCB's are regulary updated by the manufactur due to different suppliers and improvements. The suprima had about 10 different ones before finally redisgning it. This however was still a boiler fault and not a design fault. I would challenge them on this. If you need more info please PM me

Please send me more information - thanks

BaboonBoy

Can open! Worms everywhere. My partner phoned Corgi and Trading Standards. Corgi said they'll send a complaints form and an engineer out to assess but, in our case, it doesn't sound like Coverheat acted appropriately as the fault wasn't rectified and the boiler not left in working condition. (Its actually worse since they visited). Trading Standards are looking at our contract but on first thoughts they think Coverheat are in breach. She also suggested that a tap (which they closed during their visit, and should be open!) may have been deliberate although this is purely conjecture. My advice is to phone Corgi and Trading Standards. Extremely helpful. BB

foggs

Had boiler cover with them
when our boiler broke down we called COVERHEAT,they said that they wanted us to fax or post them the boiler service record before they can send someone.The boiler was serviced by Homeserve
the previous year but we didn t have any paperwork’s for it.
They then offer to send someone but they would charge £75 a hour!
What is the point of paying £29 every three month if they charge you full price.
We refused and use the yellow pages and got the boiler repaired the following day.
We looked at the terms and conditions they is no mention that the cover will be void if you cant supply any service record.
We cancelled the cover and ask for a refund but they refused the refund. We have contacted Trading Standards.:mad:

lindalove

These people are awful. I have just taken cover out with them. At easter weekend our boiler broke down. I called at 10am Sunday morning; the service centre said someone would be out within the next 2 days and almost definitely the same day. They weren't and no-one called me back. I called again and again trying to get an ETA to be told I would be called back 'immediately. I was never called back. Eventually I found out an engineer had been booked to come on Wednesday morning, which is today. I was told he would turn up between 8am and 12pm. It is now 12.30 and still no-show.
I called the office and they said the engineer would call 'half and hour' before he turned up as was told morning slots were actually from 8am-1pm. I said to her 'well it's now 12.30 and he's not called me - they're not going to make 1 are they?'
To which she had NOTHING to say. She wouldn't give me the name of her manager and said the best I could do was email the complaints department. I said I did that yesterday and 24 hours later still haven;t heard a thing from them. Again she had NOTHING to say.
DO NOT use these people. They couldn't organise a !!!! up in a brewery. I am cancelling my insurance with them as soon as the engineer turns up (if ever) to day to finally fix my boiler.

BaboonBoy

Beware lindalove. If you do finally get someone to turn up make sure you don't sign anything if they say they can't find a fault. If your boilers not working there's a fault. Another thing they may say is there's a design fault and it isn't covered by the contract. Don't pay any call out charges. We had an independent engineer to fix our boiler(see previous saga) and he found 3 simple, and related, faults within 5 minutes and its fixed now. When we told him what had happened he was astounded, as the fault was common and easily rectified. He had to take off the front of the boiler to find the fault and my partner informs me that the Coverheat engineer didn't do that.
He also asked which company came from Coverheat and knew them and their notoriety. He said he spent alot of his time with problems like ours and alleged that Gritish Bas were no better. DO contact CORGI and Trading Standards. They seem to know about these people and are extremely helpful.
We've not paid the callout charge yet and cancelled our direct debit. We may face legal action from them for doing this but we're assured by TS that they are in breach of contract. Good luck! Would like to hear how you all get on.

Bolland123

The service I have received from Coverheat has been absolutely terrible. Their engineers and call centre staff have been rude and abusive, they have not managed to spot basic faults and seem to do everything they can to actually avoid carrying out any repairs or replace parts.

I had a new bathroom fitted by a CORGI engineer who spotted that my valve wasnt working correctly. So I phoned Coverheat who subsequently refused to do any further work because someone else had caried out work (to fit the bathroom), claiming this invalidated the policy. I have since tried to cancel but they are demanding a full years payment.