Central Heating/Plumbing Cover

[J4CKO]

been with British Gas on their Homecare thing for years, have used it on occasion but this year they want £358, £30 a month and it seems like a lot of money, house insurance isnt much more, car insurance is less.

The do provide a yearly service in that, not sure what they actually do, they do tell us the boiler needs replacing every year and have done for ten years but it keeps on trucking. they do say parts will be difficult to get so I expect they will say they cant fix it if it conks out. Do Boilers need servicing yearly ?

They have a £50 excess, so if I call them out once in a year, it costs over £400.

Anyone use anyone else for this cover ? who actually bothers ? could put £30 a month away into a separate Heating/Plumbing account.

[Torquey]

I'd probably feel more reassured by buying a brand new boiler every 7 years (with a 7 year warranty). And saving some cash.

I don't bother with boiler care as its almost brand new but wouldn't hesitate to change at the first fault outside of the warranty period.

Edited by Torquey on Thursday 27th February 11:07

[TheRainMaker]

J4CKO said:

could put £30 a month away into a separate Heating/Plumbing account.

This is what we do, £150 every month into a spare account which is used for any emergencies to do with the house, plumping, electrical, appliances etc etc.

[wombleh]

Boilers do need servicing but cost is only around £100 and probably cheaper if you look around!

We don’t have the cover, same as the other posters we save up a repair fund, plus have other ways to heat the house and water if it does go wrong.

We had cover in the past but cancelled it when they started saying they couldn’t guarantee to fix it due to its age. That boiler ran fine for another 10 years.

[Sheepshanks]

J4CKO said:

been with British Gas on their Homecare thing for years, have used it on occasion but this year they want £358, £30 a month and it seems like a lot of money,

I might be missing something, but how is that much? The most expensive option on their website is £23.50/mth. CH (whole system) only is £17.

Is it like AA/RAC where you can call them up and they'll bomb the renewal price?

[Road2Ruin]

We have it as an extra on our home insurance. I think it was about £42 for the year. 24 hour call out. There was a maximum amount payable and an excess of £70 I think, but there always is.

[Sheepshanks]

Road2Ruin said:

We have it as an extra on our home insurance. I think it was about £42 for the year. 24 hour call out. There was a maximum amount payable and an excess of £70 I think, but there always is.

Does it include boilers over 10yrs old? Generally those home emergency covers, and same with the bank ones, don't.

[J4CKO]

Sheepshanks said:

J4CKO said:

been with British Gas on their Homecare thing for years, have used it on occasion but this year they want £358, £30 a month and it seems like a lot of money,

I might be missing something, but how is that much? The most expensive option on their website is £23.50/mth. CH (whole system) only is £17.

Is it like AA/RAC where you can call them up and they'll bomb the renewal price?

Yes, that was my thinking, taking the piss basically.

I called them up at told them I could get it cheaper, knocked 15 percent off so said ok, cancel it and the price came down to £24 a month and included the electrical cover, excess went up a tenner to sixty quid.

Apparently mine was higher due to the age and make of boiler, its a Valiant traditional type, not very efficient and its pretty old, we have been here twenty two years and it was by no means new then, loathe to replace it as even though its not that efficient it does the job and peole with newer ones seem to have more issues.

I would have just cancelled it but it knocked a decent amount off, got more cover but the main reason is that the wife will moan like mad if I cancel it, she likes the reassurance of the yearly service and to be fair we have used it on a semi regular basis for a few things.

Will review again next year as I think for some stuff like this, and pet insurance it is probably better to save it up each month and effectively self insure, have a few grand you dont touch and use that if you need to.

I think with this, paying the premium, plus sixty quid if you call them out is quite expensive, if you have more cash to one side its less of an issue as you just pay it, most people dont generally have a few grand to cover stuff like this so thats why they make money out of it.

[Somebody]

I did have central heating cover from Homeserve up until last year when the boiler broke down beyond economical repair at 12 and a half yeas old. I think the premium was £260+ for the year.

As it was beyond economical repair they arranged for a replacement boiler (but I had to pay the labour), and refunded the premium pro-rata. I didn't have a regular plumber/heating engineer, but used one to fit Honeywell Evohome 3 months before the boiler failed who quoted me £2,200 all in to replace so I think I did ok.

[Sheepshanks]

J4CKO said:

I think with this, paying the premium, plus sixty quid if you call them out is quite expensive, if you have more cash to one side its less of an issue as you just pay it, most people dont generally have a few grand to cover stuff like this so thats why they make money out of it.

I'd say it's not that, it's more about having someone you can call. Not an issue if you know a bunch of gas safe plumbers, but not many of us do.

It's also arse covering - you've done your bit by calling BG, it doesn't matter what happens after that, it's all their fault!

[J4CKO]

Sheepshanks said:

J4CKO said:

I think with this, paying the premium, plus sixty quid if you call them out is quite expensive, if you have more cash to one side its less of an issue as you just pay it, most people dont generally have a few grand to cover stuff like this so thats why they make money out of it.

I'd say it's not that, it's more about having someone you can call. Not an issue if you know a bunch of gas safe plumbers, but not many of us do.

It's also arse covering - you've done your bit by calling BG, it doesn't matter what happens after that, it's all their fault!

Yeah, that is another point, all very well paying but finding someone who will come out and is duty bound to do so under contract is another thing.

[nikaiyo2]

Sheepshanks said:

I'd say it's not that, it's more about having someone you can call. Not an issue if you know a bunch of gas safe plumbers, but not many of us do.

It's also arse covering - you've done your bit by calling BG, it doesn't matter what happens after that, it's all their fault!

This IMHO is why these things are great. A couple of years ago, there was water coming through my mums kitchen ceiling, on boxing day morning, BG had a guy out within 3 or 4 hours and fixed.

OP have a look at Corgi they do a "homecare" type thing and it was decent saving for us over BG. It also meant that switching to BG for gas and electric last year got 12 months for free, it would not have applied had we had an existing homecare policy!

[Road2Ruin]

Sheepshanks said:

Road2Ruin said:

We have it as an extra on our home insurance. I think it was about £42 for the year. 24 hour call out. There was a maximum amount payable and an excess of £70 I think, but there always is.

Does it include boilers over 10yrs old? Generally those home emergency covers, and same with the bank ones, don't.

Off the top of my head I couldn't tell you. Our boiler is less than 10 years old so it makes no odds

[Sheepshanks]

Road2Ruin said:

Off the top of my head I couldn't tell you. Our boiler is less than 10 years old so it makes no odds

It does to the OP though - he said they've been telling him to change his boiler for 10 years.

[Countdown]

OP - same thing happened to me this year.

IIRC it went up from £220/yr to £290/yr (Homecare 300). I telephoned them and they agreed to reduce it to £247 if I paid as a lump sum rather than monthly.

They ARE expensive but I think they're worth it for peace of mind.

[J4CKO]

Sheepshanks said:

Road2Ruin said:

Off the top of my head I couldn't tell you. Our boiler is less than 10 years old so it makes no odds

It does to the OP though - he said they've been telling him to change his boiler for 10 years.

Yeah, am reluctant to remove it when its working and spend two or three grand, they will still cover it to come out if it fails, just dont think they will be doing much with it.

They do replacement cover if you have a homecare agreement and they fitted it, for boilers up to seven years, am guessing they dont pay out on that so often.

[Black_S3]

Even as low as £25 a month the maths doesn’t really add up with the prices of new boilers that come with 5 year + warranties. Try boxt for a quote, stick an interest free credit card away for worst case and find a local gas man to service/fix small faults is the way to go imo.

ETA :

J4CKO said:

They do replacement cover if you have a homecare agreement and they fitted it, for boilers up to seven years, am guessing they dont pay out on that so often.

They won’t ever be paying anything for this. They’ll fit stuff with a 7 year warranty and leave it up to the manufacturer who has to get you working or replace.

Edited by Black_S3 on Thursday 27th February 20:00

[dhutch]

We dont pay for cover, I never have. Boiler is circa 10yo and serviced after two years for £60 odd.

However we also 30/32yo currently without kids, and have two open fires and some electric heaters, and an immersion heater, we could pull into service to continue reasonable ok without the boiler if it packed up at a bad time.


Daniel

[Simpo Two]

J4CKO said:

Anyone use anyone else for this cover ? who actually bothers ? could put £30 a month away into a separate Heating/Plumbing account.

I've never had 'boiler cover'. All these wheezes are for, IMHO, mugs, or people who don't have the liquidity to replace the unit if it fails. Insurance is designed to make the insurers richer, not poorer.

At least you haven't fallen for the annual 'you need a new boiler guv' line. Add up how much you've paid BG over the years and what you've got in return. I think you'll agree that money would have been better off in your bank account.

[Road2Ruin]

Simpo Two said:

J4CKO said:

Anyone use anyone else for this cover ? who actually bothers ? could put £30 a month away into a separate Heating/Plumbing account.

I've never had 'boiler cover'. All these wheezes are for, IMHO, mugs, or people who don't have the liquidity to replace the unit if it fails. Insurance is designed to make the insurers richer, not poorer.

At least you haven't fallen for the annual 'you need a new boiler guv' line. Add up how much you've paid BG over the years and what you've got in return. I think you'll agree that money would have been better off in your bank account.

I think you have over simplified it. Some people like the security and convenience. If you have ever tried to get hold of a plumber in an emergency then you will know.