24/7 Help re cancelling policy

Gronk

Due to loss of confidence in the company, caused by their engineer's mistake, I decided to cancel this policy. They are demanding £100 cancellation which I challenge and now seek advice how to proceed. I have cancelled the Direct Debit, and they have acknowledged this by email this morning. Had I simply wanted to cancel with no reason, I would completely accept the demand for a fee. However, I believe that as their engineer actually "broke" my boiler and was not able to effect a proper repair due to his own incompetence I should be able to cancel without penalty, (maybe even a refund of the call out fee).

Full Story… My boiler will be a year old next month. Sunday morning I awoke to find no central heating, but we did have hot water available. Tried to contact 24/7 but no staff working Sundays, (just a link to submit a claim). I therefore waited until Monday and tried again. I was advised the problem was likely to be my TADO software. So I contacted Tado for advice and was told I would need to get an electrician out as it required someone with more competence than I had.

I therefore had no option but to get my boiler insurance people, 24/7 involved. I completed their claim form and paid the £45 fee. The next day, their engineer came to the house, disconnected the TADO system and began to work on the boiler. About 20 minutes later he told me he had turned the boiler off at the gas and the electricity points as it was unsafe to use. So now we had no heating and no hot water either. He also advised that 24/7 would contact Worcester Bosch directly and I should expect a call from them to arrange an engineer visit. No such phone call was forthcoming so I contacted Worcester Bosch myself and they arranged an engineer visit the next day.

The Worcester Bosch engineer spent about ten minutes on the boiler and told me the 24/7 engineer had connected a live wire to the neutral. There was actually nothing wrong with the boiler other than the way the 24/7 engineer had crossed the wiring incorrectly. The WB engineer even reconnected my TADO for me, leaving us with a perfectly fine and working boiler with central heating and hot water.

[Deleted User]

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6656202/24-7-help-re-cancelling-policy

Welcome to the forum.

You ask for "advice how to proceed". If you are intent on proceeding, this would be via a county court claim.

Be prepared for a long, possibly expensive claim. e.g. I would expect the claim to be vigorously defended by the defendant and you will almost certainly need the support and subsequent agreement to attend any court hearing from one or more expert witnesses to support your claim. If leave is granted for you to have one or more expert witness, you can be sure a similar leave will be granted to the defendant.

Due to the nature of any such claim, you may also wish to appoint a legal advocate to support you (if you could find one prepared to do so). Win or lose, you will probably have to fund them yourself.

Otherwise, if you do succeed in your claim, you can apply to the court for your costs (which may or may not be granted, or allowed for only in part). If you lose, not only will you pay your own costs, but you could face paying the costs of the defendant's expert witness too.

Personally, I would suggest you drop it; put it down to experience. The risk/reward would simply not justify a claim imho.

Woodstok2000

II think you've jumped the gun a bit here. You should have complained to 24/7 and given them a chance to respond and hopefully resolve the complaint before cancelling the direct debit. You'll need to have some record of a complaint if you want to have a chance of avoiding the cancellation fee

Scot_39

Assuming you have a job report sheet from WB stating the poor repair attach copy to refuse cancellation fee and demand allow you to cancel.

If not ask for one and do so.

Your boiler would have been under warranty anyway I guess so not sure why you went to 24/7 first.

Many wb boilers (not the rebadged ones fitted by BG at least in past) fitted and serviced annually by one of their authorised dealers gets typically 7-10 years guarantee. Check your model and paperwork. Won't necessarily cover radiator leaks or pump etc - but the local wb heating agent might cover ad hoc on a self insured basis or have a cover extension plan.

born_again

What do their T/C say about cancelation?

Stopping DD could/is going to lead to unpaid marker on your credit history & also possible charges by company for failure to collect funds.

Why on a 1 year old boiler did you not contact manufacture? Guessing it is still under warranty. Instead on a 3rd party co?

Gronk

I have home breakdown insurance and is why I contacted 247 in the first instance.

It did not occur to me to ask Worcester Bosch until the 247 engineer told me they would arrange a call out under warranty.

Pleased in any case to report it is now resolved since having a heated conversation with a 247 manager this afternoon, they dropped the charges. It was not until I reminded them of recent FCA and Ombudsman complaints, and complaints made on this forum that they relented.

All sorted now, thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply.