Cheapest Boiler Cover Discussion

Rooster72

BEWARE: LONG RANT!:mad:

When my wife and I moved into our home just over a year ago, we found our boiler was not working properly. It couldn't tell what temperature it was at and kept firing up every few seconds. We had plumber out but he was rubbish and did not fix the problem. We decided to contact British Gas for their Homecare service, told them the problem and they came out for the initial check and to fix it. Job done. But, of course, we had to pay extra because they had to repair the boiler. Anyway, when it was time to renew, they totally outpriced themselves, even when they offered me a discount.

After checking out different options, we plumped for Eon Central Heating Care. They came out, did the check and the boiler started to go the same way as before. Bear in mind this was just before Christmas 2008, but an engineer came out on 23rd Dec and he ordered the parts needed.

I know it was holiday time but it has taken 3 weeks to get parts, after they screwed up the order. Don't get me wrong, when I called them they were very apologetic and said they would try to get things moving but they NEVER called me back when they said they would.

Eventually, I did get a call to say one part had to be ordered direct from the manufacturer and someone had to be in on Friday 9 Jan because it was going to be delivered to our home. Why not to their depot? Because they don't have a contract with the manufacturer, just the middleman! Think of how they could save us money.

The manufacturer said it will be delivered sometime between 8am and 6pm Friday but the Eon guy said they usually deliver before 2pm. The Eon guy was just going to leave it at that so I asked if we could we get an engineer out on Friday when the part arrives. Okay, what about between 12 noon and 2pm? But the part may not be here then! Daft as a brush. So he changed it to between 2.30pm and 4.30pm.

Right. Came home tonight (Thursday 8 Jan) to find part had already arrived! Straight on the blower to see if an engineer could come out earlier on Friday. The lady on the other end said it may be possible but she would have to cancel my appointment, try to get in touch with the parts people, and I would have to hope they would call me back before 8pm! I thought, why couldn't she just see if there could be an earlier slot then get it changed if there was? Doesn't work like that. If you want to try to get anything changed, you have to lose out and wait some more.

I told her I was fed up with them and put the phone down. I would like to leave them immediately. Only been with them two months so I have to wait a bit to cover their costs before I can cancel.

I have to say, though, I was warned. I had read some middling reviews but then I have never seen any brilliant reviews for any of them. At least British Gas return your calls and don't leave you hanging about at the coldest time of the year. Shame they are so damned expensive.

And another thing...avoid Ariston boilers. Cheap, nasty, expensive parts and break down once a year.

Bet you're knackered now. I am.

MothballsWallet

sseshield wrote: »

you are correct in everything you have said and the reason we dont do plumbing and drains is because it can be covered on you home insurance. e.g norwich union will cover it for £15 for the year or you can keep your plumbing and drains cover with bg for £3 on the flexi or £5.75 a month for unlimited and bring the rest across to us so you will still save money and if you have both gas and electric with us we will give you £50 off your energy bill for taking the cover out. that offer is only available over the phone, there are no benefits if signing up on our website at the moment.

if anyone is interested in the cover and you have your energy supply from sse then if you pm me your surname. house no. and postcode i can set up a prospect for you and all you need to do is ring customer service and say you want the shield cover with £50 off your energy bills because you have prospected and voilla!

Then just the other day I get an unaddressed junk mailshot from my water company offering Hometeam drainage cover because the piping between the boundary and my house is my responsibility under law - I bet the water companies got that clause put into the privatisation law so more money could be made by them.

After seeing what Hometeam's cover consists of, and bearing in mind that they don't do an annual check/inspection/service (no matter which level of cover you take - according to uSwitch), I'm going to look at some local Corgi-registered gas peeps' offerings and see what they can do.

Oh, and remember folks - CORGI's replacement will be run by Capita... Now am I the only person who's scared witless by that?

j26

We were considering changing from British Gas Homecare 200 contract to the one provided by Eon. After reading the forum we noted the problems some people have had with eon and after ringing BG and saying we were considering changing to another provider (suggested in a post on the forum THANK YOU), we were offered a 10% discount to stay with them. This will bring the cost down to below last years prices.

I do object to the way we are now expected to pay a further £3 a month for a 2 hour time slot and possible same day callout, though. I'm not taking them up on this but fear we will be pushed further and further down the 'pecking order' when we ask for a callout.

It would be good to read some POSITIVE feedback for these service providers, there must be some people who are satisfied but, of course, good news is no news!!

As far as we are concerned BG has not been all that helpful or efficient but sometimes it's better the devil you know.......

One concern I have is that I received a phone call from BG last week to arrange for a service an couldn't arrange a suitable date for this to be done. He gave me an 0800 number to try and arrange a cancellation appointment. The 0800 number was incorrect and should have been 0845. By using 'sayno to 0870' (which saves us a fortune) we found an alternative number and were connected to the correct department....result service appointment this week (not offered originally) !!!!!

ANDYB_3

We live in a park home. Can anyone suggest an insurer for the boiler etc running on LP gas. We live in suffolk

nicol1978

Hi all, I'm looking to get cover for a Fifas Electric boiler for heating only.Tried u-switch but they say unable to cover electric boiler.Any help.I'm in Scotland
Many Thanks In Advance
:beer:

Cardew

nicol1978 wrote: »

Hi all, I'm looking to get cover for a Fifas Electric boiler for heating only.Tried u-switch but they say unable to cover electric boiler.Any help.I'm in Scotland
Many Thanks In Advance
:beer:

http://www.fifas.eu.com/back_up.html#

jaymc82

H_Rehman wrote: »

A neighbour of mine took out a full service plan with British Gas (BG). BG serviced it to start with. This winter something went wrong with the boiler and it would not fire, the pilot light had gone and it would not kick startagain. BG were contacted they did not come on the same day but come around the following day and told my neighbout the the boiler was very old and the part were for the boiler were unavailable and the BG service man left. Why did they not tell my neighbour at the time of first service that if something goes wrong with the boiler it would be difficult to get hold of the parts. They kept on taking monthly payments knowing well that they would not be able to repair the boiler.

I find it hard to believe they werent told that the boiler was rsl (reduced parts list) as customers are told this before contract taken on, to cover bg if it becomes ir-repairable. Also there is a box on their service paperwork that "we" tick stating there may not be parts available as manufacturers are only required to provide parts for 10 years after the boiler ceases production, which seems fair to me. If this wasn't the case then yes that would've been very unfair for the customer.

jaymc82

arenaman wrote: »

Hello, apologies if it's been mentioned but I'm considering taking out boiler cover for peace of mind. I've noticed most policies exclude "natural wear and tear" and don't specify items so does that mean they can just say "Your fan's gone" or your "whatever" has worn out, they do that from time to time so you're not covered? anyone know?

with bg for example, you'll get whats called a 1st visit which basically checks that its not needin any work done before covering, once covered components like fan, burner etc are covered as the engineer has used their judgement to say it was ok first. something that isnt covered is build up of sludge in the system (black gung stuff, basically pipes rusting due to be untreated/ old etc) if it can be proven that this is the cause of breakdowns ie, pumps burning out all the time, bad circulation etc, they wont continue to replace parts, as it will keep on happening until the sludge problem is remedied. This can be done by whats called a "powerflush" which is quite expensive but I think it comes with a lifetime guarantee as long as you stay covered with them.
If you take system cover then same applies, if it gets the ok from an engineer, any faulty radiators, h/w cylinders etc will be completely replaced if not fixable.
your best bet would be to ask for copy of terms and conditions from them and focus on the "whats not covered" section. Hope this helps

Martin_Brooks

Avoid this firm. I was left for 6 weeks without heating in Christmas 2007. I have a full Court judgement for over 200 pounds in my favour. Coverheat failed to call, failed to mend, ignored correspondence, ignored telephone calls, treated the court with sheer complacency. I still have not had my premium refunded. They are the pits. They even told the court that they had never heard of me (until I produced the contract!) They pretend that they are coming to your boiler, but infact attempt to contact local firms to help them out. Do not waste your money with this shower.

taytay_2

My girlfriend has been with British Gas homecare since Sept and paying the monthly premium. The boiler has just developed a fault and British Gas have said its a type of boiler that they dont cover and have offered to refund all the money since she started subscribing to the Homecare policy.

Can they do this? Surely by signing a contract and having the initial check on the heating system they have commenced a service and cant back out of it now?