Cheapest Boiler Cover Discussion

whitelightning

Looter wrote: »

I'm considering getting one of the BG Homecare packages but what is the deal with the excess? Do I have to pay £99 excess every time I need to call them out?

My understanding is there is no callout fee but £99 excess for any repairs greater than £99. A callout doesn't mean something has to be repaired. Can anyone confirm this is correct?

forzaitalia

My mum has B.GAS HOMECARE policy. She is now in a care home due to dementia, and when I rang B. Gas to cancel policy (far too expensive) they refused to as it is not my house! We are in the process of applying for Court of Protection which will allow us to take over the running of her house etc, and I was told once this is done we can cancel. I then said "so you will continue to take my mums money by direct debit every month even though she no longer lives there?" and was told yes, but they would give us a back dated refund once we have control. Thieving b******s!

We have contacted many companies advising them mum in care home and all have been wonderful and so helpful, except for British Gas. Avoid them like the plague - over priced and poor service.

Zappa001

We took out "central heating care" middle of September and my experience of HES is pretty abysmal. You are not properly covered until the initial inspection, even if you have paid premiums, which they say they will carry out within 28 days. They didn’t come to ours for almost double that. When the engineer arrived he went through long rigmarole telling me why he was unable to even look at the boiler as there was insufficient room for him to be able to work on it and this was against health and safety regulations mumbling that should it ever need a new heat exchanger they were very heavy. Our boiler is located up the wall in the downstairs toilet of an ordinary 1930's semi and he said that the toilet impeded his access (all it needs is a simple work platform to stand on over the top of it). He made a few feeble attempts using my ladder and our kitchen steps (neither of which had been checked by health and safety) but gave up pretty quickly. I told him I disagreed with his conclusion because it had self-evidently been installed without a problem and had been serviced by our local engineer on a regular basis using same set of ladders without any difficulty right up until he stopped doing gas work last year. The HES man said that as our bloke was self employed he could disregard health and safety! He said if he were to complete the service and later his supervisor were to say access is unsafe the insurance would be null and void and our payments would be for nothing, plus they wouldn't pay out for any claim. Then to top it all off he said he could not say that boiler was deemed to be safe because he had not inspected it. It is blatantly obvious that he just didn’t want to do this job and was looking for any excuse. Hopeless; I would not bother with them if I were you, a very poor service and the only plus is its better find out how useless they are before an emergency than during one.

Zappa001

We took out "central heating care" middle of September and my experience of HES is pretty abysmal. You are not properly covered until the initial inspection, even if you have paid premiums, which they say they will carry out within 28 days. They didn’t come to ours for almost double that. When the engineer arrived he went through long rigmarole telling me why he was unable to even look at the boiler as there was insufficient room for him to be able to work on it and this was against health and safety regulations mumbling that should it ever need a new heat exchanger they were very heavy. Our boiler is located up the wall in the downstairs toilet of an ordinary 1930's semi and he said that the toilet impeded his access (all it needs is a simple work platform to stand on over the top of it). He made a few feeble attempts using my ladder and our kitchen steps (neither of which had been checked by health and safety) but gave up pretty quickly. I told him I disagreed with his conclusion because it had self-evidently been installed without a problem and had been serviced by our local engineer on a regular basis using same set of ladders without any difficulty right up until he stopped doing gas work last year. The HES man said that as our bloke was self employed he could disregard health and safety! He said if he were to complete the service and later his supervisor were to say access is unsafe the insurance would be null and void and our payments would be for nothing, plus they wouldn't pay out for any claim. Then to top it all off he said he could not say that boiler was deemed to be safe because he had not inspected it. It is blatantly obvious that he just didn’t want to do this job and was looking for any excuse. Hopeless; I would not bother with them if I were you, a very poor service and the only plus is its better find out how useless they are before an emergency than during one.

cheapercoverab13

Leaking tank last week. New tank ordered by engineer but wrong one delivered. Visiting engineers could not fit it. New one ordered. Delivered next door after waiting in for it all day. Seccond tank still not quite correct so engineer had to make it right. Eventually fitted last week. Left with drip but (hopefully) now fixed. Sick of being told 'I can only apologise.' :(Hoping to find better service. Where to start please? All dealt with by Scottish Gas by the way.

Stevev99

For the person that asked, had a very bad experience with Scottish Power boiler care.
In old house had a Powermax, took out their cover and they didn't turn up for 2 appointments for the mandatory check to confirm cover even though they take the payments.
Of course 5 months later and still hadn't come out and boiler broke down! They sent someone out who priced repair since wasn't authorised to simply do it and didn't hear anything for a week, in Jan with no heating!
So chased them up and was simply told, sorry uneconomical repair, we've cancelled your policy!
I even tried to claim back my 5 months of premiums but they ignored me. Enough said I think about this company's boiler care.

wicky0570

All of these links relate to Gas boilers. Does anyone have a recommendation for someone that covers oil boilers?

Many thanks

Martin

johnbhoy10

Got my annual renewal for Homecare 200 through yesterday and made the usual call to get 12% off and got it down to approx £228 per annum.

This will be the the second year now i've got the old powerflush chesnut hanging over the policy and the implications that come with it. I was given the quote when a rad in the hall sprang a leak a couple of years ago and they replaced it under cover but also hit me with this powerflush quote at the same time.

Now i'm yet another punter that is not convinced that my system needs it. I phoned them to check my callouts and in last 5 years i've had the aforementioned rad replaced and also the boiler flue replaced and guy agreed there was was nothing to suggest sludge issues and also nothing noted when services were done. The policy probably doesn't owe me anything but as an insurance product going forward it seems to have lost a bit of clout.

I then mentioned getting a second opinion and they said be aware if you do go ahead with a cheaper quote elsewhere that you get it in writing that they will do it again if you decide to come back to Homecare and it doesn't pass inspection with BG.

If you take a new policy with the likes of Homeserve, Scottish Power etc and you pass initial inspection do they give you the 'one hit' before they introduce sludge clause like BG do??

Seems more hassle that it's worth this policy now.


ps-boiler/system is between 15/20 years old and i've been here 7 years and never cleaned it. Also, when we put heating on all rads heat up quickly with no obvious cold spots or signs of rust.

Susan_Crane

I was reading Martin's Money tips 'If my insurer goes bust'. No mention was made of following up the S75 cover if appropriate. I have just received a refund of the balance of the year's cover and an offer to cover the cost of a repair I had to pay for because I paid for my cover using my credit card.

kalico

Has anyone done any research and can steer me to the best provider that will cover properties that are rented out?

I have seen that Corgi offer policies circa £22 per month (to cover everything) but there are chunky excesses.

I've been with British Gas for years, but because the tenant called them out last year and (get this) the engineer fitted the wrong part (which caused a leak) so they had to make 3 return visits, B Gas have decided to up my premium to £550 per year. They don't want to hear my complaints about it being their fault that they had to call more than once, so my plan is to switch.