HomeServe Questions

Rob_Pickering

We've been with Homeserve since 2002, so at 16 years I guess you can call us loyal customers. We only have their plumbing and drainage cover and last year paid £179.88 for the 12 months. And that rose from £167.40 the prior year for the same cover.

We just received the annual renewal and they say that they're delighted to let us know that when the contract auto-renews they will upgrade it to "Plumbing and Drainage Plus", which includes cover for the water supply pipes. In previous years I deliberately rejected offers to add this cover, mostly because our pipes were already replaced with modern ones a few years ago (and the previous had lasted 60 years).

Casually they inform us that our premium for the coming year is £308.40. No wonder they were delighted to inform us of the automatic 'change' to our cover. I bet 9/10 customers will just let it auto-renew. I've raised a complaint and asked them to cancel.

In my view this is a blatant case of mis-selling. If you search this forum you'll see they've had large fines in the past for mis-selling. And the Which? Magazine has stated that the industry is promoting unnecessary cover of water supply pipes. They must be crazy to try this. Not only will they be fined a massive amount, they'll also lose a few loyal customers along the way.

If they'd just sent me a renewal with an increase below the pain threshold I'd have let it renew. But their greed drives them to take, take, take.

Looking on their website, they offer a new customer the protection I have for a very enticing amount of just £1 per month - £12 rather than £308.40. I hate this kind of thing. Gaining new customers is more important than retaining existing. Which just shows that most people just renew. I'll never trust this company and I'm now looking for alternatives.

Rob
Reading, Berks.

csgohan4

I only joined them due to a large cashback from top cashback, otherwise just self fund for repairs, you'll be surprised how much you save