British Gas HomeCare Agreements

geepm22

I am single and for years when I engaged  a tradesman my friends told me I was either paying too much or the standard of workmanship was poor - I was slowly loosing all my confidence.  When I saw British Gas HomeCare4 system advertised I thought this was the answer to the problem - I paid British Gas and they employed and managed tradesmen, provided a call centre to log problems and provided appropriately experienced tradesmen promptly when I had a problem.  I have been a HomeCare4 customer for at least 10 years and it has worked on the rare occasion I needed to call them out until November, 2021.

On 23rd November all the ceiling lights failed.  I called British Gas and they sent an electrician on 24th November.  He asked what had happened and could he see the fuse box/control panel.  He said it was a major problem and asked if there were mice in the property.  I said garden mice often come in to the roof space only at this time of year for warmth but didn't think there were any.  He said, without going into the roof space, that a mouse had eaten one of the wires.  He went upstairs and when he came down said he couldn't resolve the problem that day he had 6 other jobs to do and the ladders he had were not long enough to get into the roof space.  He said he had called the office and asked them to send someone else with more time and longer ladders.  I heard nothing and at 5-5.30 I called the call centre. I explained I was 70, in week 5 of the recovery period of a broken hip and had no lights in the bathroom, hall, stairs, landing, downstairs loo and kitchen.  I was assured someone would be with me that evening.  At around 8pm an electrician called to say he would not come to resolve the problem until I provided a certificate to say there are no mice in the property.  I wrote to the executive department but they said they considered the health and safety of their staff paramount.  The rodent people came in and confirmed there were field mice in the roof space but absolutely no house mice or rats.  They were unable to provide a certificate until the bait trays they leave in the loft had not been touched for at least 1 week so the earliest they could issue the certificate was in 3 weeks time. I wrote again to the exec team asking as there was no health issue in the roof space could the work be done before the certificate was issued.  I was asked if there was a local electrician who could do the work instead and British Gas would pay.  I asked for that in writing.  There is no limit mentioned in the email.  The Terms and Conditions don't mention a limit on the electrician's work but there is a £1,000 limit for work required to access the site of the problem and repair afterwards.  The electrician's bill came to £1,868.47 and the plasterer's work to replace the plaster board and replaster the hall was £245.  When I submitted the electrician's bill British Gas refused to pay more then £1,000.  I engaged the electrician and plasterer so have to pay the outstanding balance which at this time with rising energy prices, etc is extremely challenging.  I was paying British Gas over £70 a month last year for this 'service'!  I really feel this is a con.

I feel people should know that all you get these days for high monthly payments from a HomeCare agreement is a conversation with the Contact Centre and the problem passed back to you plus any costs that exceed £1,000.

BT_Broederbund

It's not a con, they don't want to repair electrical wires caused by mice chewing through them if mice are just going to chew through them again. 

I was asked if there was a local electrician who could do the work instead and British Gas would pay.  I asked for that in writing.  There is no limit mentioned in the email. 

You were asked if there was a local electrician who could do the work? You wrote to them so presumably they wrote back to you in written form (an email is considered "in writing" in the 21st century)?  

You need to give the various responses you have received from BG before anyone can say anything, to be honest.

geepm22

Thank you for taking the time to respond.  You say I need to provide more detail for anyone to comment, I hope the following is enough, if not I will provide the contents of all the email exchanges but it is quite long.

1. In response to your point about recurring damage:

I spoke to the electrician, his manager and the executive complaints department staff and had emails from the executive complaints staff.  At no time did they mention the risk of future damage but they all quoted health and safety of their staff.  I was sent the current Terms and Conditions and the following paragraph was highlighted:

"Working in dangerous or unsafe conditions

We won’t start or continue doing any work in your home if we believe there’s a health and safety risk, for example: hazardous chemicals, pest infestations, verbal or physical abuse, or harassment. And we won’t return to finish the work until that risk is gone."

Also the first paragraph of their final email states:

"I contacted you to discuss the details and apologised for the delays and inconvenience.  I confirmed that under our terms and conditions that we will not work in dangerous/hazardous conditions and that the evidence of mice was a cause of concern. I confirmed that the health and welfare of our employees was paramount and with regret we would not return until the issue with the mice/vermin was under control."

I have lived in this house for 46 years and every year field mice have come in to the main roof space when it gets cold.  I used to catch them in traps, etc  but now I have a contract with British Gas to manage them.  This is the first time there has been any mouse damage.  Also, the wire that was chewed was in the roof space of the porch which is not connected to the main roof space and there is no way mice can get from the main roof space into the porch roof or vice versa.

2.  Regarding your point about emails

I am not sure I understand your point.  I stated that "There is no limit mentioned in the email."  I do consider emails to be written form.  For information the contents of the email I received in response to my asking for their offer to pay if I found a local electrician to do the work in writing is:

"I have tried to call you and have left a message.  I have spoken with my Senior Manager and they have authorised the third party contractor costs.  If can please forward me copies of all invoices received and schedule of works/repair completed and I will reimburse to you."

As you can see there is no mention of a financial limit.

There are so many points that are misleading/incorrect in their final email explaining why they would not pay more than £1,000 I hesitate to publish it.  If you feel it would help I will put it up with my comments in the relevant parts but it will be long.

3.  I still feel British Gas have con'd me.  

geepm22

In response to the comment that more responses from British Gas were needed for people to comment I tried to put up all the details but hit the size limit of this system.  The following is the final response from British Gas with my comments about its content in italics in square brackets:

You contacted us after an electrician attended your home on 24 November 2021 to investigate an issue with your downstairs lighting [it was the ceiling lighting throughout the house].  You were unhappy that the electrician confirmed health safety concerns with the working conditions in your home due to the evidence of mice present [He didn't tell me this. He told me he had 6 other jobs assigned to him that day and he didn't have time to resolve mine but that he had telephoned the centre and asked them to send someone out who had more time and a longer ladder.  He did not go into the loft space - he told me so as he left. Consequently he had no evidence other than the information I gave him, which was that we do get field mice come into the roof space at this time of year to get out of the cold].  You were advised at [20.00 that night by another electrician who had been advised by his manager that he would not be coming out to resolve the lighting problem] that due to strict protocols in place to protect our employees that a certificate would be required to confirm no presence of vermin (mice) infestation [I would be interested to know what your definition of infestation is.  Also the only place mice have been found are in the roof space of the main house and porch, no where else]  in your home, before any return would be agreed to complete repairs.

 

Our [pest control] partners attended on 26/11/2021 and confirmed evidence of field mice [in the roof space only] and advised that further investigations would need to be completed before they would be able to provide (consider providing) a certificate for us to return.  During this time you raised concerns that the [British Gas(BG) suggestion of]  use of extension leads and lamps to light the downstairs of your home [it was the hall, stairs, bathroom, downstairs loo and kitchen] was a trip hazard and you were concerned that you could fall [because I am 70 and was recovering from surgery after falling and breaking my hip in October] and were dissatisfied with the delays and response for us to agree a date to return to your home.

 

My Investigation

 

I contacted you to discuss the details and apologised for the delays and inconvenience.  I confirmed that under our terms and conditions that we will not work in dangerous/hazardous conditions and that the evidence of mice [There was no evidence of mice when we first spoke.  No one from British Gas or their partners had been in the roof space at that time to provide that evidence.  The BG electrician decided the cause of the problem while standing outside the house about 5 minutes after he arrived.  As stated above, he told me he had not been in the roof space because his ladders were not long enough] was a cause of concern. I confirmed that the health and welfare of our employees was paramount and with regret we would not return until the issue with the mice/vermin was under control. [I would have expected, as a Homecare4 customer of over 10 years, that more regard for my health and safety would be demonstrated.]

 

You remained dissatisfied with our policy and  was discussed the possibility of you obtaining quotes for a third party to attend and complete the repairs as you were unwilling for us to attend at a later date once all safety issues were resolved. [I wrote to the CEO and Head of Operations for a second time pointing out:

- the H&S concerns were not necessary as the mice in my roof space were field mice and did not carry disease, I was hoping it would be agreed that your electricians would be allowed to come on site and repair the problem asap

and also

- that I was paying almost 100% more each month for my Homecare4 agreement than the price advertised on the BG website.

You contacted me and asked if a local electrician could come in and do the work before Christmas.  I said I thought not as the electricians I had contacted up to that point were fully booked up to Christmas and were not taking on any additional work.  I did, however, phone some more electricians from the Checkatrade website and found 3 who had 2 days free in December but of those only one had the days that would fit in with my daughter's working requirements.  I emailed you the hourly rate for one of them ie £65 and the daily rate for the electrician I used.  I also emailed the estimate (not quote) from the electrician who did the work] You sourced  initial estimates (quotes) and contact from local qualified engineers and we agreed on 15 December 2021 based on initial estimate (quotes) of £900 [for 2 days work but with the following proviso: 

" This is strictly an estimation based on two days labour for one person with a combined budget of

up to £50.00 on replacement parts. This job may require more labour and parts than has been

accounted for and the final bill may be substantially larger than this estimation."]

 for a third party electrician to attend your home.  I confirmed that repair would be covered under the terms and conditions of your policy and gaining access and making good, and requested a copy of works completed, and schedule of repairs completed for review.

 

You contacted us again on 16 December  2021 as additional issues were found by the attending electrician and I raised concerns that the further works scheduled to be completed would need to be reviewed to confirm that they were covered under your policy terms and conditions.  I sent you a copy of your terms and conditions and advised that your policy was for repair only and did not cover any upgrades or rewiring of the electrics to your home.  [I confirmed more than once that only repair work was being carried out.]

 

Further contact was received on 18 December 2021 to confirm that the electrician attributed the issue in your home as caused by mice chewing through the electric wiring supplied to your external porch light.  This in turn led to more work required to upgrade the mains electric to your downstairs lighting  and wiring to your cooker affected by the consequential damage caused by the mice infestation. [As I have said to you before, the repairs made were only to the chewed lighting cable and other cables that it had came into contact with and damaged] Again with this new information I expressed concerns that any upgrades or re-wiring to your home was not likely to covered under your policy terms and conditions.  I promised to review the situation with my Senior Manager and look to contact you with further updates.

 

On 22 December 2021 you forwarded us a copy of the invoice received for the third party repairs and schedule of works completed by the third party electrician of £1868.47 later revised to £2,278.47 [No, the invoice was not revised to £2,278.47.  In my response to the offer of only £1,000 I stated :

I expect British Gas to make good this offer, which was clearly made without conditions, and pay the total expenditure on this matter, which is as follows:

£135 (invoice and details of work carried out sent to you) + £1,868.47 (invoice and details of work carried out sent to you) + £275 for repair of hall ceiling. Total: £2,278.47.]

 to include an additional £275 to repair a hole cut into your ceiling to gain access to the wiring.  A hole cut as he could not access from the floor above due to tiling you had in place which restricted access.  It is important to note that your policy covers gaining access and making good only.  To quantify making good would be the installing of plasterboard on the ceiling only to cover the hole and not reinstatement of plaster/artex and redecoration.

 

I advised that as the costs had more than doubled from our original agreement [given the estimates I gave you were just estimates, and that I informed you of the changes as they happened, I am not sure where you consider there was an agreement between us on the exact price of the work] and due to concerns that the nature of the works completed by the electrician were considered an upgrade and rewiring of your original 1960’s electrics [Again, you are ignoring the fact that only damaged cables were replaced as stated in the electricians report:

The faults seems to have started with pest damage to the lighting circuit in the porch. The overloading of the lighting circuit cable, which was grouped together with a number of other circuit cables, caused severe thermal damage to these circuit conductors.
Damaged cable, on the four circuits involved in the thermal damage, had to be cut out and replaced.

The removal of the ceiling in the hall was necessary to gain access to several metres of cable as access via the floorboards above had been tiled over.]

, that the invoice would need to be referred to a Senior electrician to review and confirm were covered under the parameters of your policy, terms and conditions.

 

 

My Conclusion

 

I have spoken with a Senior Electrician and they have examined the documentation, invoices and schedule of works completed and they have confirmed that the total costs provided of £2,278.47 are not covered by your policy terms and conditions. [Why is an electrician advising British Gas on compliance with the legal terms and conditions of the policy? That seems irregular.]

 

The labour costs alone incurred were £1800 over a period of 4 days which we believe is excessive for the works [Based on what?  No one from BG has been on site to see the extent of wire damage going into the control unit or under the floors  where there were no mice.  How can you possibly accurately judge?]  We agree that sometime would have spent to trace and locate the fault and then to complete the repairs to the porch light which was the root cause and source of the repair required to [all affected wiring in]  your home.  To confirm as aforementioned your policy covers repairs only and any additional works and upgrades required [Yet again, no additional works and upgrades were carried out, only replacement of damaged cables] as a result of the damage caused by mice would not be covered and would be with regret at an additional expense to you.

 

In addition re the further request for £275 for repairs to your ceiling after hole made by the attending electrician, we will look to cover part payment for making good; however will not cover the costs for full cosmetic repair and redecoration [I asked the plasterer to provide a quote for just replacing the plaster board and to exclude any plastering, the figure he has provided is £245].  In light of these facts and our review of the works completed I offered a part payment in resolution to your complaint of £1000 towards the repairs completed.  This was refused by you and you advised that you would only accept the full requested amount of £2,278.47 in final resolution.

 

This full case has been reviewed by our Senior Customer Relations Manager Matthew Steeper.  It has been confirmed that our actions are fair, we agreed for you seek a third party repair based on original [estimate] quotes of £900 due to your dissatisfaction with the delays incurred whilst the issue and cause of infestation was investigated and certified that it was safe to work in your [roof space] home.  It has been  agreed the payment offered of £1000 will not be increased [Aside from the deficiency of this amount in the face of the actual bill for the basic work, this does not cover the elements that you stated in this email will be paid, i.e. £900 for electrician and £245 for the plaster board replacement].  You will receive this by cheque within 14 days, this is our final outcome on this matter.

 

Please accept my apologies again and I hope your next experience with British Gas will be a very positive one.  Your next recourse if you wish to pursue your complaint will be to contact the Financial Ombudsman service, your complaint with us is now closed.