Given that British Gas Homecare cannot honour their insurance, is that a breach of contract

g_rashid

I need your help in rationalising my thoughts.
I have been with BG for the last 3 years, paying £18 a month, I have called them twice for small non emergency call outs and paid £60 both times, but recently my heating has been coming on even though it's switched off from the thermostat, timer and main switch. I have booked two appointments both of which have been cancelled and on the last cancellation I got a call from BG stating that they have cancelled all callo for the foreseeable future.
I am unsure if I am just in feeling that British gas is a service and if they cannot honour it then it is a breach regardless of the situation and the policy is nullified to my last call out and I should be refunded any  payments that I have made since that point?
Or do we allow them a pass due to the Coronavirus situation in which case if they can't honour the agreement then they shouldn't charge just for that period.
For e.g what would their response be if we asked them for free cover because we can't afford it due to Coronavirus? They would state the absurdity of that request and highlights are a private company and not a charity. And in the same spirit if they are a private company and not a charity and can't honour a contract due to whatever reason then it's a breach.

JJ_Egan

No due to government restrictions  .

neilmcl

What is it with newbies and polls!

Here's a novel suggestion, why not talk to BG regarding your concerns as and when it's appropriate.

As far as your boiler problem goes, what type of boiler is it, combi or system? It may be posting on the Home, DIY forum regarding the issue.

unholyangel

Is the plan a monthly or annual one that you pay monthly? 

And yes, your point about approching them saying you're unable to pay during covid is a point I've made myself - that when someone loses their job or is victim of theft, they couldn't approach say virgin/sky and tell them that they can't pay but because it's circumstances beyond their control, virgin/sky will still have to provide services for free. 

It being beyond their control (although this is debatable - gas is an essential service and hasn't been told to close) only means they're not liable for additional losses. Not that they can still charge you while providing no service. 

Speak to british gas and see what they say. They may have a procedure in place. But also be prepared to fight your corner. Perhaps suggest they credit your account with extra months to make up for the months you're paying for but not actually receiving the service. 

ssparks2003

Whilst your heating coming on could be annoying it's not really a huge emergency, surely you could turn the thermostat down and dial the roads down. Whilst you will be using some gas it's not a major issue at this time.

Though I will say I never liked British gas and their homecare, we had it for two years and both years they failed to turn up to perform the yearly service so told them to poke it 

shaun_from_Africa

Personally, I would suggest calling Britidh Gas again and insist that they log it as an emergency repair.
If the heating is coming on despite the thermostat being set to off/low, the timer not set and the main power switch being turned off, it must be an electrical problem somewhere, something that needs sorting out as soon as possible.
They are not carrying non emergency work but are still visiting for urgent repairs.

eddddy

g_rashid said:

Given that British Gas Homecare cannot honour their insurance, is that a breach of contract

You need to read your contract to find out.

And if you find a term (or terms) in the contract that you believe have been breached by BG, you can contact BG to discuss it with them


FWIW, I don't think you'd get very far by contacting BG to say they've breached their contract because "a bunch of randomers on the internet have voted that there was a breach of contract - even though the randomers probably don't know what the contract says."

(Even more so, if you decided to take BG to court for Breach of Contract, and this poll was your evidence!)

steampowered

I imagine there will be a "force majeure" clause in the contract which says they aren't liable for failing to provide a service during circumstances such as Covid-19.

However, if they can't provide the service at the moment, they shouldn't still be taking payment.

[Deleted User]

I can see both sides to this argument. On the one hand, the customer is paying for service that plainly isn't being provided at the moment. On the other, British Gas has a duty of care to their employees not to put them in unnecessary danger of contracting a deadly virus. Entering a customer's home is definitely risky even if social distancing is maintained as the virus could be present on furniture and surfaces. The gas engineer could also bring the virus into the customer's home...

So what would I do as the customer? I'd be turning the thermostat to it's lowest level and switching the radiators off individually. However,  I'd also be requesting a pro rata refund of the  month already paid during lockdown and for cessation of payment for the remaining time until normal service is resumed. 

I would not waste time arguing "breach of contract" though, nor post "polls" on the internet....

bris

Force Majeure. It's just one of those unfortunate situations. They have not breached the contract for obvious reasons but I would cancel the payments until the situation is rectified.

unholyangel

bris said:

Force Majeure. It's just one of those unfortunate situations. They have not breached the contract for obvious reasons but I would cancel the payments until the situation is rectified.

You realise the purpose of a force majeure clause is to protect the party from breach of contract claims which were beyond their control? In other words, the clause doesn't kick in unless there has been a breach. 

There is a set of questions to determine whether you are in breach and then an entirely different set of questions determines whether you are liable for losses caused by that breach.