SSE cancel (backdate) Home Services Policy after a boiler claim

Kondongo

My elderly mother has for many years taken out a SSE Home Services boiler and heating insurance policy (alongside her SSE Electric and SSE Gas contracts).  The recent monthly cost of this insurance policy was £22-47.  This is for the Boiler Cover level of SSE Home Services provision.  According to the documentation, this level of cover also includes “free boiler replacement”.
On 13 February my mother’s boiler began to experience difficulties and on my advice she telephoned SSE Home Services.
This call initially lead to an engineer visiting her home on the following Monday, to make an assessment, and later that day through an SSE sub-contracted agents ’selling’ her a “CorgiHome Plan” (costing £99).  Two days later a visit was made by a local Heating Engineer  who installed a new gas boiler and also charged my mother £2476.39.

The following day my mother  telephoned me in great distress having received a letter from SSE Home Service cancelling her SSE insurance cover, without explanation, as of 15 February and offering her a refund (£202).

I've complained to SSE and asked for both an explanation of their behavior and reimbursement for the boiler cost and while I've received an acknowledgement email from them 2 weeks ago I've heard nothing since.

Has anyone else come across this sort of practice by SSE?

niktheguru

Why did your mother not discuss any of this with you before letting them change the boiler?

It may be worth reading the policy document for the homecare agreement your mother had. Usually these companies will replace the boiler if it is under a certain age Usually around the 8-10 yr mark, if it is an older boiler they Usually say they will give a discount (which on balance is still usually more expensive than a local gassafe installer would charger)

You mention your mum them signed up to a new corgi home plan.....I suspect that's probably why sse cancelled here existing policy and gave the refund.

More info and investigation definitely needed.

Kondongo

She didn't discuss this with me because she lives several hundred miles away, and lives on her own (with daily carers).  Being in poor health she needed the problem 'fixed' asap particularly given that it was February and she had no hot water. She was also feeling very anxious and being 'sold' a new policy when in a distressed state doesn't seem like a fair step for a sub-contractor to take in the circumstances. The boiler (it's about 5 years old) is serviced by SSE every year, so if they had a problem with it why didn't they explain at the time rather than continuing to take monthly payments?  I've read the documentation and I can't see any issues there.  I would have also expected the backdated cancellation of the policy (how convenient) to have stated a reason for its cancellation.

niktheguru

If its only 5 years old then it's ridiculous that they needed to replace it unless there was a major fault, and certainly if they've been servicing it every year they should be liable for the cost of replacing it.
You definitely have grounds to complain about this as it looks like seedy practises have occurred.

tehone

Hmm, Ovo (CorgiHomePlan) only recently took over SSE, looks as if they (the agents?) are trying to move people from one part of the business to another - I wonder if there are targets to hit / commission to be made for switching.

Definitely investigate more and try and find out what really happened

brewerdave

Was the local engineer who carried out the install , actually appointed by SSE Home Services ? If so ,the invoice should have gone direct to them !

Kondongo

Thank you for all your replies. SSE have also sent an acknowledgement letter to my mother regarding receipt of the complaint and the process going forward.  Hopefully, that will clarify what is going on and cut through the confusion.

From what I can ascertain, once my mother telephoned SSE, they used an agency to make an assessment/survey of the problem, who then contract a local heating company to carry out the work.

My mother also seems to have been targeted by the likes of HomeServe (South-West Water)  for a host of holdhold goods (cooker, fridge, tumble dryer, etc.) insurances and services (electrics, pipes) and also 'Xtreme Home Protection (Skybox?) and I'm wondering whether any of those insurances are worth the paper they're printed on.  Hey ho!

brewerdave

Kondongo said:

My mother also seems to have been targeted by the likes of HomeServe (South-West Water)  for a host of holdhold goods (cooker, fridge, tumble dryer, etc.) insurances and services (electrics, pipes) and also 'Xtreme Home Protection (Skybox?) and I'm wondering whether any of those insurances are worth the paper they're printed on.  Hey ho!

Each to his own BUT more than a few years ago now, I decided to self insure. Each month I put £20 away in a B/Soc account to pay for repairs replacements of white goods etc. Over the years I gradually increased the amount per month. Stopped a couple of years ago when the unused balance of the account reached £5k !!

niktheguru

Kondongo said:

Thank you for all your replies. SSE have also sent an acknowledgement letter to my mother regarding receipt of the complaint and the process going forward.  Hopefully, that will clarify what is going on and cut through the confusion.

From what I can ascertain, once my mother telephoned SSE, they used an agency to make an assessment/survey of the problem, who then contract a local heating company to carry out the work.

My mother also seems to have been targeted by the likes of HomeServe (South-West Water)  for a host of holdhold goods (cooker, fridge, tumble dryer, etc.) insurances and services (electrics, pipes) and also 'Xtreme Home Protection (Skybox?) and I'm wondering whether any of those insurances are worth the paper they're printed on.  Hey ho!

These policies can be quite good if you have old boilers or don't want the hassle of having to ring around, check if who you call is not gonna rob you blind or is competent or not etc......however most of these companies have become completely useless during covid. British gas has pretty much gone into melt down because of all their contract disputes and such like.....so despite them still charging people their monthly charges, they aren't providing anywhere near good enough service.

Is definitely worth considering leaving and setting up your own piggy bank, as long as you can find the right trades that wont rip you off.

Kondongo

Thanks again for all your replies.  Quick update: the CorgiHomePlan (£99) has mysteriously been refunded to her bank account (again no explanation), but the complaints letter might have started to work already.  Still a long way to go however.

tehone

Kondongo said:

Thanks again for all your replies.  Quick update: the CorgiHomePlan (£99) has mysteriously been refunded to her bank account (again no explanation), but the complaints letter might have started to work already.  Still a long way to go however.

Thanks for the update