British Gas Homecare2 - is this a scam? (cancelled policy because of expensive repair)

SW6Joao

I purchased a British Gas Homecare 2 service contract starting in June 2022 to cover our home in London. This annual maintenance contract / insurance policy covers an annual visit, and all repairs and parts for boiler/heating/plumbing (or even boiler replacement, under certain conditions), with some exclusions evidently. The following month, we had out “first visit” and British Gas confirmed that they were happy to service our system, that it was in good condition, and accepted the contract (and payment in excess of £300 pa); this did not surprise us, as we had an 8-year old boiler, equipped with a NEST wireless temperature control (and the engineer indicated that boilers last for 15-20 years). From their conditions: 

“What we'll do during your first service:

•           Check we can cover your boiler

•           Make sure parts are available

•           And, that your boiler is working safely and efficiently

If we can’t cover your boiler, we’ll cancel your agreement and discuss other options with you. And of course, we’ll give you a full refund, unless we’ve already carried out any repairs.”

However, in Dec 2022 our boiler stopped working and we called British Gas. Even though outdoor temperatures were sub-zero, and we had no boiler (heating/hot water), British Gas took 22 days to come and visit our property, cancelling various appointments, because their services were “busy”. Once the engineer visited, he concluded that the boiler would take a long time to repair, and might not be repairable, because some parts (likely needed) were obsolete or had long lead times.  British Gas recommended that we bought a new boiler, and the engineer indicated that the costs that British Gas would have incurred in the repair could be hopefully used towards that purchase, and we should contact their customer service/installation time to arrange it. British Gas has no availability to install boilers for several months (even though all the local plumbing companies that I contacted could install a boiler within the next 1-2 days). With sub-zero temperatures, and after nearly ~1 month without a functioning boiler, I followed their advice and installed the boiler privately (at a cost of nearly £3000 for our 5bed home) and raised a complaint to British Gas to recover some costs. 

The complaint was raised in January 2023 and had no reply, despite hours spent on the phone and 3 different “case handlers”. In May 2023, the handler proposed as a resolution that we were “refunded” our insurance premium. I highlighted that British Gas was in breach of contract as we had paid for an insurance contract and, once an (expensive) incident occurred, they simply pulled out of the insurance and offered to give us the money back (as if a driver has a car crash, and the insurance company, instead of paying for the repair, offers to refund the annual premium). After 6 months, the case is still “being looked at” and there is no resolution in sight.  

I have complained to the ombudsman but I think others should be alerted about this scam.  Have other people experienced this?