Central heating insurance

Liberal

Hi. Just moved into very old house. 1820. Was thinking of going onto British gas home cover level 4 for one year to cover any problems. But reviews are pretty terrible. Anyone on here with experience? I have never been on any cover scheme before. Would prefer to have a local company but nobody seems to offer anything comparable. Thanks

Grenage

If you can set the money aside each month then it will be there to employ someone local if and when it's needed.  If not, you're money up.

Liberal

Thanks. To be honest not too concerned about the money. It is just that with it being a very old house I am wary of something big going wrong. Insurance seems the way forward for this but the reviews for British gas home are are terrible. So just wondering what experience people on here have. Tend to trust them more. 

twopenny

I had a friend who used them. I wasn't impressed with what she got for the money.
Normally I'd get a reliable local company to attend when needed.
It may be worth your while getting local to do a boiler service and check the rads as a one off now, get any niggles sorted. You then have them onside for the winter.

donemedosh

Not a great fan of british gas cover plans as the level you are talking about is about £200 a year. But you still pay around £50 excess for each callout. They also do not use british gas service engineers all the time but sub contract it out. My sister in law had a policy with them the boiler was never serviced right & needed replacing after 8 years. Lastly if the plumbing etc is over a certain age they often refuse to cover it. Local gas fitter/plumber is the best option

SaverRate

Personally I prefer Homeserve, have had much better experiences with them and cheaper! Althought the cheapest option for me is to take out home emergency cover via my home insurer (We are with QuotemeHappy - part of Aviva - that use Homeserve for their home emergency cover. - Used to be with Churchill but their home emergency contractor was awful). I then took out the 75p plumbing and drainage cover through Homeserve direct as this covers the water supply from the meter to the internal stopcock which the home emergency doesnt. If you do this cancel after the first year as this renews at a ridiculous price after!!!

EssexExile

The house may be 1820 but the heating won't be. If it was, on British Gas's first repair visit they'd condemn it! Any heating engineer will be able to work on it assuming it's not something weird like warm air or heat pump. Just pay as you go.

plumb1_2

Ya stay away from BG they hardly have the manpower to cover call outs 
Young Plumb1 who’s self employed sub contracts for them , 1 or 2 jobs a week 

He was asked by BG on Saturday to go this week and service a boiler, oh and they have reported boiler not working, oh so how do I carry out a service ?
BG ok then I will issue a repair job as well .

TELLIT01

British Gas used to be good but have gone down hill very badly over the past few years.  Longer and longer gaps between annual services which BG get round by saying 'annual' means at some random date in the life of the annual contract.  The extreme version of that could mean the first service on day 1 of year one of the contract and the next service on the final day of year 2!  I actually had an email from BG saying they wouldn't be able to service the boiler this year and offering a £65 refund.  A few days later I had an email saying my service was due and to book on line which I have done.

Adding insult to injury, BG are advertising on radio for new customers and offering free drain, plumbing and electrical cover.

Bendy_House

Liberal, if you tell us the make and model of your boiler, and other parts of your system (what type is it?), perhaps along with some photos, folk will be able to suggest better what your 'risk' is.

Did the boiler come with a recent service doc? If so, it might be worth calling up that GasSafe and asking them their thoughts on the boiler condition and the whole system.

Or are most of your concerns about the rest of the plumbing - water leaks and bursts?!

LippyDoodle

TELLIT01 said:

British Gas used to be good but have gone down hill very badly over the past few years.  Longer and longer gaps between annual services which BG get round by saying 'annual' means at some random date in the life of the annual contract.  The extreme version of that could mean the first service on day 1 of year one of the contract and the next service on the final day of year 2!  I actually had an email from BG saying they wouldn't be able to service the boiler this year and offering a £65 refund.  A few days later I had an email saying my service was due and to book on line which I have done.

Adding insult to injury, BG are advertising on radio for new customers and offering free drain, plumbing and electrical cover.

I agree they have gone down hill over the past several years. 

I think the reason for not having regular services lately was down to covid. I also received a refund due to that. 

I wouldn't be to gutted by the "free" offer to cover drains, plumbing & electrics. They send out Dyno rod for plumbing and drains. Been out a few times to me and each time I've had to get them back, but that said it will depend on what they are like in your area. 

I have to get new central heating and when I do I won't be taking cover out with them again.