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Fraud and deception?

planetrobbers
Posts: 9 Forumite
I took the wise choice to insure my central heating system including my boiler.
The company that I chose were very willing and accepted me, as a result, I have so far paid 4 monthly insurance payments for my heating system
The company also said that they aim to send someone out within 28 days to look at my boiler to ensure that it is in satisfactory condition, and only then would I be fully covered.
4 months have past since my acceptance for insurance, and in that time, no engineer has been to inspect my system, the company did NOT inform me that I was not insured, and they also continued to take my money.
Tuesday 26th my boiler broke down due to a leak and the lights were not working on the boiler.
I immediately informed the gas company who then sent out an engineer, I also asked the company if I was covered, they replied “yes”
However the engineer informed me that my system has not been inspected therefore I am not covered, as a result, I would have to pay for both labour and parts to fix the boiler.
After a few phone calls and some intense haggling the company has wavered the labour costs but are insistent that I pay for parts at a cost of £490.00
My main argument against them was the Fact that at no time did they send or try to get an engineer to my house to inspect my system or inform me that technically I was not insured even though they continued to take my money.
I also threatened to stand outside their office with a sign saying, “I’m being screwed by them”
At the moment I am on the “Escalation” list and still without heating with the possibility of having to pay £490.00 for parts.
Am I screwed?
Has this happened to you?
What should I do next?
Thanks in advance
Planetrobber
p.s. Sorry if the grammar is bad
The company that I chose were very willing and accepted me, as a result, I have so far paid 4 monthly insurance payments for my heating system
The company also said that they aim to send someone out within 28 days to look at my boiler to ensure that it is in satisfactory condition, and only then would I be fully covered.
4 months have past since my acceptance for insurance, and in that time, no engineer has been to inspect my system, the company did NOT inform me that I was not insured, and they also continued to take my money.
Tuesday 26th my boiler broke down due to a leak and the lights were not working on the boiler.
I immediately informed the gas company who then sent out an engineer, I also asked the company if I was covered, they replied “yes”
However the engineer informed me that my system has not been inspected therefore I am not covered, as a result, I would have to pay for both labour and parts to fix the boiler.
After a few phone calls and some intense haggling the company has wavered the labour costs but are insistent that I pay for parts at a cost of £490.00
My main argument against them was the Fact that at no time did they send or try to get an engineer to my house to inspect my system or inform me that technically I was not insured even though they continued to take my money.
I also threatened to stand outside their office with a sign saying, “I’m being screwed by them”
At the moment I am on the “Escalation” list and still without heating with the possibility of having to pay £490.00 for parts.
Am I screwed?
Has this happened to you?
What should I do next?
Thanks in advance
Planetrobber
p.s. Sorry if the grammar is bad
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Comments
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Why on earth didnt you chase the engineer
Given they used the word "aim" and stated you werent covered until it had been inspected Id suggest the legal side is with them0 -
I agree the legal side is with them, but they did not at anytime try and send out an engineer or inform me that they could not send out an engineer but they continued to take my money.0
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The reason i did not chase the engineer was i forgot and its not my job to chase the engineer (but in hind sight i should have).
But ultimately they did not fulfill there side of the contract remember its been 4 months without an engineer but they were quite happy to take my money.0 -
planetrobbers wrote: »The company also said that they aim to send someone out within 28 days to look at my boiler to ensure that it is in satisfactory condition, and only then would I be fully covered.
I'm with Iam. If you knew the above why didn't you chase them up to send out an engineer to make sure you were fully covered:heart2: Love isn't finding someone you can live with. It's finding someone you can't live without :heart2:0 -
planetrobbers wrote: »The reason i did not chase the engineer was i forgot and its not my job to chase the engineer (but in hind sight i should have).
But ultimately they did not fulfill there side of the contract remember its been 4 months without an engineer but they were quite happy to take my money.
My post above cross posted with yours.
It might not be your job to chase up an engineer but if a co said to me that I wouldn't be covered if my boiler wasn't seen by them in 28 days I'd make it my job.
Didn't you worry about not being covered for 4 months?:heart2: Love isn't finding someone you can live with. It's finding someone you can't live without :heart2:0 -
planetrobbers - is this definately an insurance product? The alternative would be a maintenance plan such as the ones offered by British Gas / Centrica. Makes a difference in terms of complaint procedures.
Domestic and General offer an insurance product and I've just checked their site. They do not need to inspect. Instead, full cover only commences 30 days after you take the cover out to stop people claiming for pre-existing problems.
If this is an insurance product then what they are effectively doing is underwriting at the claims stage, not the inception stage and that is frowned on.
To give an analogy, if you took out a motor insurance policy tomorrow, the policy would be underwritten at that time. By this, I mean they gather all the facts, do their background checks and work out the premium and issue the policy documents.
However, if they simply took the money without checking their facts etc, you would still have cover but it has not been effectively underwritten. Then when you come to claim and they start asking questions like previous convictions / accidents etc. If they do not like the answers they get they squirm like mad to get out of paying. Their fault really for not asking the questions / doing the checks up front when the policy was taken out.
Care to name the company involved. Would be interested to see the policy wording / FAQ on their website to see what they promise and where they have failed to deliver here.
PS: as to those who suggest you should have chased. I'm a surveyor for a commercial insurer and therefore part of the underwriting process. I do 400 surveys a year and no policyholder has ever chased me for a survey despite it being a policy condition. If it is the boiler insurers stipulation that cover is subject to survey / inspection it is up to them to arrange.0 -
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Right, had a look. First off, this does not appear to be an insurance contract. It is a maintenance plan. Might be one for the utilities board.
Secondly, found this term in their T+C.14. For new agreements, cover will start 14 days after we accept your application, subject to receipt of payment where applicable. Any repairs required during this 14 day cooling off notice period will be chargeable and are not covered under the terms of this agreement.
15. After your 14 day cooling off notice period we will provide you with fault and breakdown cover. If a breakdown call is initiated by you prior to our initial inspection, we reserve the right to charge you for any remedial repairs, if in our opinion the fault would have been identified at the inspection.
So the cover is in play w.e.f 14 days after inception. In your case though, they are saying that the fault that caused the breakdown must have been there when you took the plan out and would have been picked up in the initial inspection.
If it was me, I would be asking the engineers for a full desciption of the fault / part concerned. I would then ask another boiler engineer if in his or her opinion that fault could have been present for 3 months without causing you problems, i.e. would it have been noticed 3 months ago when the inspection should have been done.
If it should have been visible at the inspection how much would it have cost to fix then? If they had inspected and replaced a £20 component, would it have saved you a £450 bill now?0 -
[FONT="]Ignorance is bliss but in my case it’s laughable[/FONT]
mattoo- Thanks for your time,
I will be asking the engineer what you suggested.
In my opinion the leak that caused so much problem may have been caused by a drop in the pressure if this is true then i believe that it would have been picked up on the initial inspection, From what i have read this would have been easily fixed. But i'm not an expert
You have given me more ammunition to fight my case for another day
Once again thank you for your time and expertise
Planetrobbers
[/FONT]0 -
Well, IMHO...
The T&C's say that "16. We aim to undertake our initial inspection and service within 28 days of your agreement start date (after the 14 day cooling off notice period)."
To me, this reads as that they take responsibility for arranging their initial inspection
and
"14. For new agreements, cover will start 14 days after we accept your application, subject to receipt of payment where applicable."
Which doesn't say anywhere that if they've not got round to inspecting you, that you're not covered. On the contrary, the only exclusion is the inital 14 days.
Where does it stipulate that until they do the initial inspection you're not covered? I think I must've missed that bit
What they do say in the FAQ's is that they would have done an annual service if they'd have booked that appointment with you. Perhaps their failure to perform this service has resulted in your problems? Why not put it to them?All posts made are my own opinions and constitute neither professional advice nor the opinions of my employers
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