British Gas Homecare - unsolicited "upgrade" swizz

prixon

Be warned that if you have a British Gas Homecare agreement, do regularly check that your direct debit payments are the amount expected, even if you've had no correspondence to expect otherwise.

My Homecare plan was for "Boiler and Controls Breakdown Cover" with £50 call out excess. I know this may not be great value for money but I've used it for minor problems a couple of times in recent years, and was happy enough with the premiums vs peace of mind.

My plan renewed automatically in April this year with an increase in the monthly premiums, but still at (just) an acceptable level.

Then in July I noticed that my monthly direct debit to British Gas had increased again by almost £10. I logged into my account to see what was happening and discovered their system had me on a "Homecare 4" plan covering not just heating but plumbing and electrics too.

After calling British Gas for an explanation I was informed that as part of their "Rewards" scheme, they had applied a complimentary upgrade to Homecare 4 for a limited period. This may sound like a positive thing but actually:

- despite the upgrade being at no additional cost for the limited period, they had failed to reapply the £50 excess which had caused my monthly premium to automatically increase anyway.

- at the end of the limited period I would have to explicitly ask for the product to be downgraded if I didn't want to continue being billed at a much higher monthly cost.

- there was no correspondence/emails at all regarding any of the above having taken place (this was confirmed by BG).

Obviously I asked for my original plan to be instated and the additional payment in July to be refunded.

However, I've been told that the "Boiler & Controls Breakdown Cover with £50 excess" plan is no longer available and the nearest alternative in Homecare 2 which now has a £60 excess and a mandatory yearly boiler inspection (which means it will cost more on next renewal).

Nice try British Gas, but you've definitely lost a long standing customer next time around.

Just wondering how many people never check their direct debits and could be paying for something they didn't ask for?

P

MABLE

prixon wrote: »

Be warned that if you have a British Gas Homecare agreement, do regularly check that your direct debit payments are the amount expected, even if you've had no correspondence to expect otherwise.

My Homecare plan was for "Boiler and Controls Breakdown Cover" with £50 call out excess. I know this may not be great value for money but I've used it for minor problems a couple of times in recent years, and was happy enough with the premiums vs peace of mind.

My plan renewed automatically in April this year with an increase in the monthly premiums, but still at (just) an acceptable level.

Then in July I noticed that my monthly direct debit to British Gas had increased again by almost £10. I logged into my account to see what was happening and discovered their system had me on a "Homecare 4" plan covering not just heating but plumbing and electrics too.

After calling British Gas for an explanation I was informed that as part of their "Rewards" scheme, they had applied a complimentary upgrade to Homecare 4 for a limited period. This may sound like a positive thing but actually:

- despite the upgrade being at no additional cost for the limited period, they had failed to reapply the £50 excess which had caused my monthly premium to automatically increase anyway.

- at the end of the limited period I would have to explicitly ask for the product to be downgraded if I didn't want to continue being billed at a much higher monthly cost.

- there was no correspondence/emails at all regarding any of the above having taken place (this was confirmed by BG).

Obviously I asked for my original plan to be instated and the additional payment in July to be refunded.

However, I've been told that the "Boiler & Controls Breakdown Cover with £50 excess" plan is no longer available and the nearest alternative in Homecare 2 which now has a £60 excess and a mandatory yearly boiler inspection (which means it will cost more on next renewal).

Nice try British Gas, but you've definitely lost a long standing customer next time around.

Just wondering how many people never check their direct debits and could be paying for something they didn't ask for?

P

I have been with them for about 6 years and never any issues. Every year they try to increase the price and every year I speak to their retentions dept who normally keep the price the same.

They clearly lay out the dd payments for the forth coming year and this has never varied from what is actually taken.

Also we have boiler, electrics and plumbing and that costs us £32.00 a month and there is no excess.