Anyone else have central heating breakdown cover?
Discussion
I have had an ongoing issue with British Gas since my renewal dropped through the letter box in September 2014 for £340/yr.
A fairly simple telephone call you might imagine to negotiate a better deal to compare to competitors at around £200/yr for the same level of cover.
Anyway, two telephone calls that failed to result in a new price, due to "computer issues". Followed by various methods of them delivering the same £340/yr renewal quote with no explanation. Plus my complaints via on-line message through the website and to various complaints/customer service email addresses has still not resulted in a resolution.
The most annoying fact is after the initial phone calls they said I would continue to be insured, and they would take the direct debit at the monthly amount stated. Now they never did this, so i would assume I am not insured, but they have not responded to my questions to confirm this.
Very boring issue, sorry for cluttering up PH with this, but please give some thought before you take one of these policies, and not just with BG by the sounds of it. I am going to try and find a good recommended boiler service guy and hope that any breakdowns and repairs are not too painful.
Thanks for reading..
A fairly simple telephone call you might imagine to negotiate a better deal to compare to competitors at around £200/yr for the same level of cover.
Anyway, two telephone calls that failed to result in a new price, due to "computer issues". Followed by various methods of them delivering the same £340/yr renewal quote with no explanation. Plus my complaints via on-line message through the website and to various complaints/customer service email addresses has still not resulted in a resolution.
The most annoying fact is after the initial phone calls they said I would continue to be insured, and they would take the direct debit at the monthly amount stated. Now they never did this, so i would assume I am not insured, but they have not responded to my questions to confirm this.
Very boring issue, sorry for cluttering up PH with this, but please give some thought before you take one of these policies, and not just with BG by the sounds of it. I am going to try and find a good recommended boiler service guy and hope that any breakdowns and repairs are not too painful.
Thanks for reading..
I don't disagree with either of you!
I just don't want others to expect a big household name like British Gas to actually be able to provide the simple level of service that one would expect.
I mean why else would you take this sort of policy if it wasn't for it's simplicity of a simple monthly payment and reasonable annual cost, with the prime reason of giving you piece of mind in case of a breakdown, otherwise I may as well just self insure and put the money in my "emergency" account.
I just don't want others to expect a big household name like British Gas to actually be able to provide the simple level of service that one would expect.
I mean why else would you take this sort of policy if it wasn't for it's simplicity of a simple monthly payment and reasonable annual cost, with the prime reason of giving you piece of mind in case of a breakdown, otherwise I may as well just self insure and put the money in my "emergency" account.
I was going to take Npowers policy at £186/yr for new business (£212/yr 2nd year), then i discovered that they can weasil out of payments, when a repair of about £500 is deemed to be more than the value of the boiler.
If this is the case, anyone with an older boiler (their policies class 7 yrs as older), and mine is 12 years old, doesn't really stand a chance of getting a major repair done. Instead expect a £3000+ quote for a new one, followed by the teaser that they will deduct the £500 repair cost from this!
As stated above a new boiler should be a lot cheaper than this. £1000 seems a bit optimistic, unless you are in the trade, but i'm sure less than £2000 is perfectly possible.
My main reason for wanting an insurance policy was the fact that if a breakdown occurs it is attended to very quickly. If you have to make your own arrangements in an emergency, you could be without heat for a lot longer. This could be particularly difficult if you need a new boiler.
Anyway i soldier on with my old boiler, knowing that it could need replacement one day, but for now, it is quiet and cheap to run. Surprisingly cheaper than the average dual-fuel bill and we keep our house pretty warm. I fully expect to have to foot the £2000 new boiler bill myself one day, but i don't wish to be forced into doing this (by an insurance policy) when my boiler is still repairable.
As a footnote the BG engineers were all very good. They gave an honest appraisal of my boiler and although they do push the new boiler option "because you wouldn't want to be without heat in the winter", one chap recommended purchasing some of the parts that are unavailable to them, to keep, and they would fit them when required. It's a shame their customer services is so poor, and the money grabbing management at BG can't make the policies more reasonable in terms of annual cost, and what is actually covered.
It must be tough for British Gas trying to maintain their £1billion annual profit, and pay their millions in directors salaries and benefits.
If this is the case, anyone with an older boiler (their policies class 7 yrs as older), and mine is 12 years old, doesn't really stand a chance of getting a major repair done. Instead expect a £3000+ quote for a new one, followed by the teaser that they will deduct the £500 repair cost from this!
As stated above a new boiler should be a lot cheaper than this. £1000 seems a bit optimistic, unless you are in the trade, but i'm sure less than £2000 is perfectly possible.
My main reason for wanting an insurance policy was the fact that if a breakdown occurs it is attended to very quickly. If you have to make your own arrangements in an emergency, you could be without heat for a lot longer. This could be particularly difficult if you need a new boiler.
Anyway i soldier on with my old boiler, knowing that it could need replacement one day, but for now, it is quiet and cheap to run. Surprisingly cheaper than the average dual-fuel bill and we keep our house pretty warm. I fully expect to have to foot the £2000 new boiler bill myself one day, but i don't wish to be forced into doing this (by an insurance policy) when my boiler is still repairable.
As a footnote the BG engineers were all very good. They gave an honest appraisal of my boiler and although they do push the new boiler option "because you wouldn't want to be without heat in the winter", one chap recommended purchasing some of the parts that are unavailable to them, to keep, and they would fit them when required. It's a shame their customer services is so poor, and the money grabbing management at BG can't make the policies more reasonable in terms of annual cost, and what is actually covered.
It must be tough for British Gas trying to maintain their £1billion annual profit, and pay their millions in directors salaries and benefits.
Edited by z06tim on Sunday 25th January 10:00
Edited by z06tim on Sunday 25th January 10:53
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