Cheapest Boiler Cover Discussion

HomeServe_company_representative

Hi

Sorry to hear you have had a bad experience with us, please can you email your details to us via our profile section, we will investigate the issues mentioned and get back to you regarding the outcome, we look forward to hearing from you.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/member.php?u=2078577

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James
Here To Help Team
HomeServe

christopher24

We moved into our property last May and inherited a BG homecare 200, which is about to expire.

I am with e-on for gas and electric.
Having looked at various suppliers and read quite a few posts on here, I'm drawn to the £9.98 per month with e-on, especially with their annual boiler service and parts and labour inc.

My system is an IDEAL - ICOS HE12 and is 5.5 years old. All is well with the system but I need peace of mind and an annual service/inspection certificate as part of my housing purchase agreement.

Anybody got better advice? I've got a couple of weeks before I buy another contract.
Thanks in advance. Chris.

Fellwalker

ihateyes wrote: »

The age of the boiler will have an insignificant effect on the price..... the increase will more likely be down to make/model (cost of parts), and breakdown history of that particular model of boiler.

BG is probably the best of a bad bunch.
As long as you read the T&C's and are familar with what they cover, you wont get any nasty surprises

We had been using BG for 17 years. Then we got BG to replace the boiler and hot water cyclinder, and fit new thermostatic valves. They gave us a free year of cover. At the end of the year, not only had our monthly payment gone up significantly, but they had also REMOVED our 5 year no claims discount, on the basis that this was a NEW boiler. :mad: Needless to say, they no longer get my money for that cover, nor will I ever use them for my gas and electricity.

christopher24

Just made an enquiry to e-on and was told their cover service has now finished and is now run by Home Energy Service, which is an associated company linked to e-on.


I asked if HES uses sub-contractors and the girl couldn't tell me, but she gave me a contact number.


I haven't yet made up my mind who to sign up with. It seems there are problems with all of these providers. I need to choose soon because my housing contract demands cover.


Suggestions please re: best supplier.


Chris.

ollski

Fellwalker wrote: »

We had been using BG for 17 years. Then we got BG to replace the boiler and hot water cyclinder, and fit new thermostatic valves. They gave us a free year of cover. At the end of the year, not only had our monthly payment gone up significantly, but they had also REMOVED our 5 year no claims discount, on the basis that this was a NEW boiler. :mad: Needless to say, they no longer get my money for that cover, nor will I ever use them for my gas and electricity.

That low call out discount disappeared for everyone a couple of years ago when the cover changed to insurance.

CJN1946

This may have been mentioned in earlier postings.

I was a trifle annoyed the other day to receive a letter from the NHBC to say that the Builder Warranty Cover for my house was expiring, as it is now 10 years old, and my builder was no longer responsible for boiler, central heating etc. I was offered a discount with British Gas heating cover at the same time, but am already covered by RIAS.

We bought the house 7 years ago and despite reading the documents from NHBC that came with the house there was no indication that the builder was responsible for this, so have wasted 7 years of boiler and central heating cover. Probably one of those things that everybody knows except me.

I suggest that anyone who has a house less than 10 years old and is covered by the NHBC to check this.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


I stand to be corrected, but I am pretty certain that the NHBC cover does not include defects to boiler etc, - any more than it would cover fitted appliances - fridge/dishwasher etc.


http://www.nhbc.co.uk/Warrantiesandcover/Homeowners/WhatdoesBuildmarkcover/

During years 3 to 10

We provide insurance to cover the cost of putting right any damage caused by defects in specified parts of the home, usually the structural and weatherproofing parts. This will start two years after the date on the Buildmark insurance certificate.
What parts of the home are covered?
These parts of the home are covered:

• Foundations
• Load-bearing walls
• Non load-bearing partition walls
• Wet-applied wall plaster
• External render and external vertical tile hanging
• Load-bearing parts of the roof
• Roof coverings
• Ceilings
• Load-bearing parts of the floors
• Staircases and internal floor decking and screeds where these fail to support normal loads
• Retaining walls necessary for the structural stability of the house, bungalow, flat or maisonette, its garage or other permanent outbuilding
• Double-glazing or triple-glazing panes to external windows and doors
• Below-ground drainage for which the owner is responsible

We will cover the cost of putting right defects to a flue or chimney if it causes a danger to the physical health and safety of the occupants.

CJN1946

Hi Cardew

I was puzzled that we would be covered. However that is what the document said, maybe it is a British Gas scam. I can send you a copy of the document which I have scanned if you wish.

gropinginthedark

I have a home emergency policy with HSBC, I think RSA is the underlying provider and they pass the job to, in mycase CET. It worked very well up to a point...
The policy provides up to £300p.a. for heating repairs, it costs £10 a month and includes a bundle of services including 2 car AA/RAC type cover so it's reasonable value.
I had a boiler fail on a Sunday recently. They got a (third party) enginer to site very quickly, he diagnosed the problem identified the spare he'd need and ordered it.
He alerted us to the fact that he'd probably have the spare first thing on Monday but would have to await CET authorisation to fit it and that unless you chase them CET are in no hurry. He said in one instance he had to wait 2 weeks for them to get back to the customer and give the go ahead.
That being the case we phoned CET (you guessed it, one of those numbers where we are paying to enjoy a long wait in a queue).
They said they were awaiting a spare part costing but would check the status and call back within 30 minutes.
After an hour we called again and they said "theres an excess to pay, the supervisor is calculating it now and will call you back for payment details within 30 mins".
After an hour we called a third time. This time they said "put the phone down so the supervisor will ring back immediately to get payment details". Having established by experience how reliable their promises of "we'll call you back" were we said, no, we don't want to end the call, you'll let us down again, pass the call to the supervisor.
Them: "Can't do that, she uses a different phone"
Me: "OK get her to call my mobile here's the number ..."
Them: "OK she'll call you right back on mobile you can end this call now"
Me: "What's the point in that? I'm not ending this call because your earlier promises to call back were all broken, I'll put this phone down when my mobile rings"
Them: "OK but you can put the phone down now."
Me: [repeated my last response, perhaps sounding a little annoyed].
SUCCESS, the supervisor called, took a payment, authorised the repair.
The engineer showed up within an hour and said our story was familiar, and that he'd advised them of the cost of the spare at 07:30.

The key point is that with any insurance, you only know how good it is when you make a claim. It's very difficult to know in advance, that's where the internet could help by providing feedback from others who have made a claim. Unfortunately that's hard to achieve as companies facing criticism may be tempted to post false positive reviews and dilute or drown out the negatives.

By comparison, I had another boiler breakdown a few weeks later. Having used up my emergency cover cost allocation I contacted a local heating engineer. Arrived within an hour, identified the problem went out and bought the spares, all done within a couple of hours. Total cost about half the CET charges despite involving more parts, more complex (expensive) parts, more involved installation.

By the way, I would tell you why I'd never allow British Gas through the door without a court order in view of past experiences with them but MSE's web server might run out of disk space!

Cardew

CJN1946 wrote: »

Hi Cardew

I was puzzled that we would be covered. However that is what the document said, maybe it is a British Gas scam. I can send you a copy of the document which I have scanned if you wish.

I am pretty sure the expired cover refers only to the(faulty) installation of the boiler and CH system etc.


If the boiler were to be covered it would have needed annual servicing(mandatory by law if a rental house) Certainly I have never heard of NHBC offering that facility - and I had a NHBC certificate on my house.


Why not give NHBC a call and ask them exactly what the letter means? Or ring the Building Control department at your local council. Tell them in the light of the letter you have received, your(friend with a 3 year old house) wants to know if they are covered for boiler/CH repairs by NHBCfor 10 years.