British Gas raising boiler insurance cost again. Options?

1404

housebuyer143 said:

1404 said:

FreeBear said:

1404 said:

For the £29 per year (currently the British Gas insurance fee) I also get an annual service and landlord gas safety certificate (I have a lodger). So I do get something else out of it.

£29 per year is a pretty good deal. But if it is per month, get a local Gas Safe engineer to do the annual service and issue a GS certificate. Depending on where you are in the country, it would probably cost £80-120.

That does make sense to do. It's sods law there'll be an expensive breakdown shortly thereafter though! 

Do they service your water tank though? I don't think its included and that is something you should be servicing as they are extremely dangerous if left with a fault. 
Personally, I would save your money and call an engineer if it breaks and pay for the repair. 

As far as I'm aware they do have a look at the tank in some way. I seem to recall the engineer being upstairs on a loud phone call. So I would say they donat least look at it. 

Yeah, I'm thinking that it's just too expensive playing £29 (soon to be £34) per month. At £20-ish it seems like a good deal. But now they are overstepping the mark. 

I think I will try to source a local gas engineer (or two) in my area and pay as I go instead. 

1404

This is the boiler I have:

Silvertabby

We have BG homecare for the peace of mind of knowing we can call for assistance 24/7.

We did try a slightly cheaper homecare company some years ago.  They carried out our annual boiler service on a Friday afternoon - and not long after they'd left we could smell gas.

Rang them straight away (before 5pm) to be told that they didn't do out of hours call-outs - and if we thought we had a problem then we should call British Gas. Then they wondered why we cancelled our contract with them.....

1404

Silvertabby said:

We have BG homecare for the peace of mind of knowing we can call for assistance 24/7.

We did try a slightly cheaper homecare company some years ago.  They carried out our annual boiler service on a Friday afternoon - and not long after they'd left we could smell gas.

Rang them straight away (before 5pm) to be told that they didn't do out of hours call-outs - and if we thought we had a problem then we should call British Gas. Then they wondered why we cancelled our contract with them.....

I'm happy enough with British Gas boiler insurance. Been with them for years. 

The issue is they (like everyone else) keep raising their prices. Now that it's over £30 it doesn't seem like a great deal anymore. What do you pay?

housebuyer143

I would just be concerned with a 22yr old boiler, that it breaks and BG say there are no parts and recommend replacement. I had BG out to quote for a new boiler and that's what they told me about my 22 year old boiler - no parts and should be replaced.
However, a local engineer told me that they would recommend a repair if it broke and you can always get generic parts. 

If they say this, then your policy is not worth it because you are paying this money and they won't repair it anyway?

1404

housebuyer143 said:

I would just be concerned with a 22yr old boiler, that it breaks and BG say there are no parts and recommend replacement. I had BG out to quote for a new boiler and that's what they told me about my 22 year old boiler - no parts and should be replaced.
However, a local engineer told me that they would recommend a repair if it broke and you can always get generic parts. 

If they say this, then your policy is not worth it because you are paying this money and they won't repair it anyway?

Good points.  And it's a lot of money to be shelling out in the meantime.

Silvertabby

1404 said:

Silvertabby said:

We have BG homecare for the peace of mind of knowing we can call for assistance 24/7.

We did try a slightly cheaper homecare company some years ago.  They carried out our annual boiler service on a Friday afternoon - and not long after they'd left we could smell gas.

Rang them straight away (before 5pm) to be told that they didn't do out of hours call-outs - and if we thought we had a problem then we should call British Gas. Then they wondered why we cancelled our contract with them.....

I'm happy enough with British Gas boiler insurance. Been with them for years. 

The issue is they (like everyone else) keep raising their prices. Now that it's over £30 it doesn't seem like a great deal anymore. What do you pay?

£34, but that covers our gas fire (plus annual service), water storeage tank, etc. 

ThisIsWeird

Your Ideal boiler is not a complex beast, 1404, and I bet plenty spare parts are still available. A quick check on eBay, for example, should reveal pro refurbished parts like fans and gas valves, and these can be literally as good as new, and a fraction of the price.
All you need then is a trustworthy GasSafe to do the work.
At around £300-odd pa, it ain't bad since it includes a service/safety check, which would be what, £100 or so in itself? So hard to know what to suggest.
What you can anticipate, tho', is for BG to condemn your boiler as soon as an 'authorised' source of new parts dry up - they won't entertain a refurb'd part, I doubt. Then they'll push a new boiler on you, at BG prices, which usually means 'extortionate'...
I think I'd call Ideal - they are very communicative, I understand - and ask for the names of authorised service GSs in your 'hood. Also ask about the supply of spare parts for your model. I'd then check the names against known and recommended GSs that you may know, and choose one for the annual servicing. They should be able to suggest how long your boiler wil likely live for, and whether they'd be happy to fit pro refurbished parts if needed.

1404

ThisIsWeird said:

Your Ideal boiler is not a complex beast, 1404, and I bet plenty spare parts are still available. A quick check on eBay, for example, should reveal pro refurbished parts like fans and gas valves, and these can be literally as good as new, and a fraction of the price.
All you need then is a trustworthy GasSafe to do the work.
At around £300-odd pa, it ain't bad since it includes a service/safety check, which would be what, £100 or so in itself? So hard to know what to suggest.
What you can anticipate, tho', is for BG to condemn your boiler as soon as an 'authorised' source of new parts dry up - they won't entertain a refurb'd part, I doubt. Then they'll push a new boiler on you, at BG prices, which usually means 'extortionate'...
I think I'd call Ideal - they are very communicative, I understand - and ask for the names of authorised service GSs in your 'hood. Also ask about the supply of spare parts for your model. I'd then check the names against known and recommended GSs that you may know, and choose one for the annual servicing. They should be able to suggest how long your boiler wil likely live for, and whether they'd be happy to fit pro refurbished parts if needed.

I will indeed call Ideal and have a chat with them about spare parts and GasSafe engineers in my area.  Thank you very much for your knowledge, understanding and advice today.  It is very much appreciated!  

MysteryMe

"They say it's on the "limited parts list". In my personal experience having had a BG service contract, that's BG code for, if it's anything other than a very minor repair we're going to condemn the boiler.  

I'd scrub the contract as if you get a major fault they are not going to fix it IMO. A local GS engineer may well be able to fix it so as others have said, put the money away for your annual service and landlord certificate.