Reactive insurance solutions no engineer visit radiator issue

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Howdy !

After experiencing a couple of costly boiler repairs , I eventually found a company that would service my central heating system for a monthly premium. This company is called reactive . I found them through Giles heating who fixed the boiler .
Fair enough . The policy started on 29th June 2018 , £ 17.56 pm
I nearly got declined at credit search, but they have more than one way to check credit rating and I passed. Not too sure if this is relevant

So, in mid December (14th?)can't remember exact date , I noticed two radiators are cold at the bottom
I called reactive , and was told an engineer would be in touch .
I do expect that they would be busy around this time ,and I didn't press the keypad for urgent priority .
I had to call them again on the 18th , an engineer did call me back .
He sounded busy . He said that he would get back to me . He said it sounded like a power flush . He never called me back .

In the meantime , I looked at my policy. A powerflush is not included
Balancing is not included . The policy is for 'home heating plus' .
What is covered is : the central heating including boiler , pipe work,radiators ,thermostatic valves and thermostat .

So, on 4th of jan I sent an email to the complaints team.
I was obviously polite and told them that I understood it to be a busy time before xmas. However, I did ask them what am I actually paying them for ? I did say a lack of customer care ,and potentially paying a lot more if the problem rads are to be fixed.

I received a reply on the same day, with the complaints procedure arttached. The chap did say that the complaint will be investigated fully and I will receive a response ASAP .
I was told that he contacted an engineer today and the engineer will contact me "to arrange an appointment for next week "
The week has passed. I sent an email on Friday 11th and received an automatic reply telling me to ring no/ email engineers .

Which brings me to today. I phoned from my mobile and got cut off.

So, I was thinking of just stopping direct debits . If I do that , it means I've paid £105.36 for nothing . I was going to wait till boiler has been serviced, then change them for somebody else.

Not sure what to do here. They have great reviews on trustpilot, sound professional on the phone . One thing I did say on the email , was that them using contractors doesn't fill me with confidence.
That was a bit naive on my part, but when I was told " we"ll try another contractor " when I told them I wasn't contacted since the 18th Dec ,it may have unintentionally rubbed them up the wrong way.

Not sure what to do here.

Please can someone advise

Thanks in advance
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Comments

  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 15 January 2019 at 2:20PM
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    Stop a DD may lead to debt collectors and your credit record trashed.All depends upon the contract you took out.



    Not sure exactly what you have bought at such a high price.


    http://www.reactiveinsurance.co.uk/homeemergency




    If they are an insurance company then they use contracters as normal .
  • another_casualty
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    JJ_Egan wrote: »
    Stop a DD may lead to debt collectors and your credit record trashed.All depends upon the contract you took out.



    Not sure exactly what you have bought at such a high price.


    http://www.reactiveinsurance.co.uk/homeemergency




    If they are an insurance company then they use contracters as normal .

    Thanks jj
    It was home heating plus .
    It's a yearly contract , that expires on29 June
  • Pete99
    Pete99 Posts: 128 Forumite
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    Turn boiler on, turn off all the radiators that work, that should push any airlocks out of the radiators that don't get warm, hopefully job done, cost zero, finally turn on the ones you turned off.
  • another_casualty
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    Pete99 wrote: »
    Turn boiler on, turn off all the radiators that work, that should push any airlocks out of the radiators that don't get warm, hopefully job done, cost zero, finally turn on the ones you turned off.

    Tried that . Still the same unfortunately
  • RS2OOO
    RS2OOO Posts: 389 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
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    Have you bled them?

    When I've had the same issue (cold at bottom, hot at top), a quick bleed seems to fix them, then top up the boiler via the filling loop back up to the pre-bleed pressure (if required).
  • another_casualty
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    Thanks Rs 2000
    Yes both rads bled . The key goes at the back of the rads .
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,098 Forumite
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    edited 17 January 2019 at 11:18AM
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    If they are cold at the bottom then the problem is not air, but sludge. This would be a pre-existing condition, fixable by flushing the system, and so unlikely to be covered under your policy. Which is why these policies are not money-saving.
    Cancel the policy at the end of the minimum term and then self-insure. Then you will only be paying out when you need to.
    PS: had a look at the T&C's and it only covers you for a 'functional stoppage', i.e a boiler breakdown, burst pipe etc. A couple of cold rads does not constitute a 'home emergency', but is purely a maintenance issue.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • another_casualty
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    macman wrote: »
    If they are cold at the bottom then the problem is not air, but sludge. This would be a pre-existing condition, fixable by flushing the system, and so unlikely to be covered under your policy. Which is why these policies are not money-saving.
    Cancel the policy at the end of the minimum term and then self-insure. Then you will only be paying out when you need to.
    PS: had a look at the T&C's and it only covers you for a 'functional stoppage', i.e a boiler breakdown, burst pipe etc. A couple of cold rads does not constitute a 'home emergency', but is purely a maintenance issue.

    Thanks macman :)
    Yeah, I'll cancel in June . I'm still pondering whether to phone them ,as I have heard absolutely nothing . I'm waiting for their complaints procedure to see what they have to say . Annoying . The builder I use could change the rods cheaper than the cost of a powerflush .
  • another_casualty
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    Update:
    I thought it best to let you know the outcome .
    I called them again this month and was let down . I then decided to give a fairly poor review on trust pilot . As soon as that happened ,I was contacted by the owner of the company .
    I won't go on too much , but I will say that Reactive sorted out my problem free of charge as I agreed to stay with them if they did.
    So, I had a boiler service by one engineer. The other engineer hosed the insides of the two problem radiators . I did tip him ,as I know I had a lot done .

    What I would like to say , is that it is very easy to leave negative feedback & condemn a company . I believe in good and bad / right and wrong , and changed the feedback on trustpilot leaving a glowing recommendation . Things happpen .
    I am sticking with Reactive ,who went the extra mile to put things right.
    Thanks for your kind input as always :)
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,098 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
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    So, you are happy to pay £210.72 a year, for another year, unless it's gone up, just to have 2 rads removed and flushed?
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
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