HomeServe - Watch out for dramatic price increases on auto-renewal

GrumpyEconomist

Utterly furious with HomeServe.

My elderly father (84 yrs) took out Plumbing and Electrical cover in 2015 for £51. As a Power of Attorney going through his financial affairs with him I was flabbergasted to discover that HomeServe have taken, via auto-renewal, around £2000 from his account in the last 5 years.

Policies like this retail for around £30-50 per year.  I asked them how this can be, they said: "'we do not have a set price and we increase the premiums by as we decide this as a business on a case by case basis' (grammatical errors as per original communication).

In 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority levelled record fines against HomeServe for 'widespread failings' including the mis-selling of insurance products to a largely elderly customer base.

If you are a HomsServe customer, or your elderly relatives are,  please check the price inflation at auto-renewal, they often advertise teaser rates at 50p or £1 per month.

SuzeQStan

Agreed - MiL same position with this company. Trouble is she really rates them and recently had under counter white hoods replaced by them as something had broken - despite us advising she could have had 2x new white goods and more for what she is paying annually with HS.

another one to watch out for is home insurance - MiL lives in a small terrace and we were horrified to find her annual premium in excess of £450. That’s how the industry ‘rewards’ loyalty.