Landlord - feedback on Britishgas homeserve cover?

gemma.zhang

Wondering anyone has British Gas homeserv cover for gas / central heating with their rental properties, any feedback ?

the quote is 15-18/month, it covers gas annual service / gas certificate. Sound brilliant deal, instead of spending thousands to change 10+ yr boiler on the rental property. 

Gas certificate itself costs about £100 in london. This shall be sufficient for rental property. Any catch?

Hope you all have a great Xmas break.

user1977

Not sure if you've misunderstood something about what it covers - it won't save you anything whenever they eventually tell you the boiler is beyond economic repair and needs replaced. 

Snookie12cat

From experience, insurance is a con. They wouldn't do it if it wasn't. 
You tend to wait on hold for ages to be given an 8 hour time slot which they expect you or your agent to be there if the tenant can't. They do not pick up keys if it's inconvenient. 

More hassle than it's worth. When it's busy you might not get them out for a few days or more.

bbat

Hi, as a tenant it worked well when my landlord arranged this cover. Prior to this, there were a string of engineers that the landlord wasn't great at dealing with which made it difficult for use ans problems kept coming back.  (yes, really the best option was for landlord to replace terrible boiler but they didn't do that). British Gas always managed to fix it even if it required a few visits. Organising visits and certificates was not issue, as we spoke to BG directly to arrange. I'm sure its expensive, but as landlord didn't live close by i think they preferred the ease od using BG than trying to find independent engineers. 

lookstraightahead

I've got it as a homeowner (sorry if that's not much help) but we've more than made up for the premiums this year, even with the call out charge.

However, we are likely to get a new boiler next year with a warranty instead.

[Deleted User]

If you think the boiler is on its last legs, consider replacing it. 

Look at the Terms of the policy and tell us how it will help you.

Homeserve do boiler service and gss safety for me about 130 per year. Service for me also keeps new boiler warranty valid.

gemma.zhang

bbat said:

Hi, as a tenant it worked well when my landlord arranged this cover. Prior to this, there were a string of engineers that the landlord wasn't great at dealing with which made it difficult for use ans problems kept coming back.  (yes, really the best option was for landlord to replace terrible boiler but they didn't do that). British Gas always managed to fix it even if it required a few visits. Organising visits and certificates was not issue, as we spoke to BG directly to arrange. I'm sure its expensive, but as landlord didn't live close by i think they preferred the ease od using BG than trying to find independent engineers. 

Thanks for the positive feedback.
this is what we are thinking. As the boiler is still working, and has been previously on homeserve with BG. We are intended to keep it on, and replace is once it breaks down beyond small fixes.

what attracts me is the 180 pounds including the gas certificate, which would cost about 110 anyway if arranged independently, so i only pay about 70 for the small fixes / maintenance for
a whole year. Not bad deal ~~~. It does give me small comfort (piece of mind).

saajan_12

gemma.zhang said:

Gas certificate itself costs about £100 in london. This shall be sufficient for rental property. Any catch?

Where are you getting your GSCs? I pay ~£50 in London, and they tend to be decent ie never subsequently found issues where the tradesperson suggests it should have been flagged earlier, and nor have I got superfluous non-issues raised. 

gemma.zhang

saajan_12 said:

gemma.zhang said:

Gas certificate itself costs about £100 in london. This shall be sufficient for rental property. Any catch?

Where are you getting your GSCs? I pay ~£50 in London, and they tend to be decent ie never subsequently found issues where the tradesperson suggests it should have been flagged earlier, and nor have I got superfluous non-issues raised. 

It sounds like I shall get your gas guy details ~~ 

mine has been 95+Vat..located london zone 2.