British Gas Homecare
- Thread starter cutiecat
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Occasionally you can do well out of them but thats the luck of the draw. I went to one house where they were paying 40 ish quid a month for the super duper cover yet the boiler was so old they said that it could no longer be repaired. The only other gas appliance was a £100 B&Q fire.
I advised the owner to put that £40 ish a month in a savings account and pay for repairs out of it. That was over 15 months ago and if they took my advice she would have about £500 towards her next boiler and the same if not better level of service from me in the meantime.
I advised the owner to put that £40 ish a month in a savings account and pay for repairs out of it. That was over 15 months ago and if they took my advice she would have about £500 towards her next boiler and the same if not better level of service from me in the meantime.
In most cases, you're better off just paying for repairs as and when they arise. Many boilers soldier on for 10 years or more without ever going wrong! Many more require only the occasional minor repair in a ten year period. But if you were shelling out say £17 per month for 10 years you will have paid a total of £2,000! Plus you would lose the interest that might accrue on this if you saved it yourself.
Also bear in mind that some boiler faults arise from installation faults such as corrosion and will not be covered by BG homecare. Plus they may declare your boiler obsolete when it finally breaks down, claiming non availability of spares (even when they are available!), putting pressure on you to pay for a new boiler installation.
The crucial thing is to find a competent and trustworthy heating engineer - not impossible but admittedly difficult. Don't wait for an emergency breakdown, but arrange a boiler service visit and see if that work is carried out professionally.
Also bear in mind that some boiler faults arise from installation faults such as corrosion and will not be covered by BG homecare. Plus they may declare your boiler obsolete when it finally breaks down, claiming non availability of spares (even when they are available!), putting pressure on you to pay for a new boiler installation.
The crucial thing is to find a competent and trustworthy heating engineer - not impossible but admittedly difficult. Don't wait for an emergency breakdown, but arrange a boiler service visit and see if that work is carried out professionally.
As with any insurance, can you afford to take the hit if the worst happens? If so, then you'd be better off without cover, on average, because that's how they make their money.
Most boilers aren't serviced. Apart from back boilers, lack of servicing, it seems to me, leads directly to breakdowns only once in several years.
BG's "servicing" is sometimes no more than a sniff of the fumes to check that's OK. So you wouldn't expect that to have much, if any, effect on breakdown frequency.
Most boilers aren't serviced. Apart from back boilers, lack of servicing, it seems to me, leads directly to breakdowns only once in several years.
BG's "servicing" is sometimes no more than a sniff of the fumes to check that's OK. So you wouldn't expect that to have much, if any, effect on breakdown frequency.
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I have found that most people going onto homecare now are generally doing so because nobody else will bother to turn up or are just not interested in a difficult repair. I have also come across difficult faults to diagnose which have had several parts fitted each at a cost and yet the fault remains....the BG service my not eliminate return visits but will stop the cost of them. The parts issue is very misunderstood, when the manufacturers stop supplying the parts BG will use 3 major suppliers to try to source the parts. Only then should the part be declared unavailable, however if you trace one on ebay or a mates shed or a spare boiler you kept in the loft then BG will fit them.
See my earlier topic for more info on BG homecare.
I've been with them 3 years and have had 2 maintenance checks where they complain about the location of the vent to my boiler & then say that it doesn't matter because they are legally obliged to point out where legislation has changed previous practices.
Hopefully they'll fix my current problem, where I've had the programming unit & the thermostat replaced without any difference.
I took out the homecare because I was fed up of the cost of emergency plumbers - on one Sunday, we'd called out a 'local' service that actually drove from Norwich (to West London). At the interesting rate of £150 an hour - we couldn't get anyone else that day, but we had no heating & no choice.
Prior to this we've had most of the system we inherited from the previous builder/occupier changed at one time or other:
- immediate gas leak that they undoubtedly left us - £1000 bill for rerouting pipework outside the house.
- new programming unit (not current problem)
- new thermostat on cylinder
- new pump
- new valves and wiring because the wiring box was screwed to the floor under where the previous leaking valves were.
- new fan on boiler after meltdown.
Each one of these was a separate incident costing hundreds of pounds to fix.
All of this was paid for without insurance, so £14.99 a month doesn't seem too bad. Due to my incompetence with terms & conditions, I'm paying a non-BG plumber £150 for a few minutes work just to replace the programming unit (cheapo model). Unknown cost for the room thermostat even though the unit is only a few quid.
Ho hum. Roll the bones.
I've been with them 3 years and have had 2 maintenance checks where they complain about the location of the vent to my boiler & then say that it doesn't matter because they are legally obliged to point out where legislation has changed previous practices.
Hopefully they'll fix my current problem, where I've had the programming unit & the thermostat replaced without any difference.
I took out the homecare because I was fed up of the cost of emergency plumbers - on one Sunday, we'd called out a 'local' service that actually drove from Norwich (to West London). At the interesting rate of £150 an hour - we couldn't get anyone else that day, but we had no heating & no choice.
Prior to this we've had most of the system we inherited from the previous builder/occupier changed at one time or other:
- immediate gas leak that they undoubtedly left us - £1000 bill for rerouting pipework outside the house.
- new programming unit (not current problem)
- new thermostat on cylinder
- new pump
- new valves and wiring because the wiring box was screwed to the floor under where the previous leaking valves were.
- new fan on boiler after meltdown.
Each one of these was a separate incident costing hundreds of pounds to fix.
All of this was paid for without insurance, so £14.99 a month doesn't seem too bad. Due to my incompetence with terms & conditions, I'm paying a non-BG plumber £150 for a few minutes work just to replace the programming unit (cheapo model). Unknown cost for the room thermostat even though the unit is only a few quid.
Ho hum. Roll the bones.
I've been signed up to this in its various guises for about 8 years in two houses.
Currently pay about 13 quid a month for the central heating and hot water cover, can't remember the exact figure.
Have probably had occasion to call them out about 6 times in total, mostly for minor things but on one occassion the pump had gone and was replaced.
Its difficult to say if i would have been financialy better off going an independant route but for me the convenience is actually quite useful.
Most recent problem no hot water or heating on new years eve - Ring in the morning, technician out in the afternoon, problem fixed.
Currently pay about 13 quid a month for the central heating and hot water cover, can't remember the exact figure.
Have probably had occasion to call them out about 6 times in total, mostly for minor things but on one occassion the pump had gone and was replaced.
Its difficult to say if i would have been financialy better off going an independant route but for me the convenience is actually quite useful.
Most recent problem no hot water or heating on new years eve - Ring in the morning, technician out in the afternoon, problem fixed.
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well quite frankly BG are crap
however if and independant had replaced 50% of my boiler and had over 12 visits to solve a simple problem, it would have cost me way more.
Granted you'd hope an independant wouldn't be that useless in the first place.
However in the south east, I can't get reliable tradesmen in any other skillset, either from the actually turning up, to doing a good job. So BG are the safer option.
That said if anyone can reccomend a good Heating Engineer in the South Herts area I'd be pleased to hear it.
Slight thread hijack, but what actually would a modern condensing boiler and megaflow tank service consist of?
BG claim there is nothing for them to service, and that there Maintenance Inspection is more a saftey inspection than anything else? True or False?
however if and independant had replaced 50% of my boiler and had over 12 visits to solve a simple problem, it would have cost me way more.
Granted you'd hope an independant wouldn't be that useless in the first place.
However in the south east, I can't get reliable tradesmen in any other skillset, either from the actually turning up, to doing a good job. So BG are the safer option.
That said if anyone can reccomend a good Heating Engineer in the South Herts area I'd be pleased to hear it.
Slight thread hijack, but what actually would a modern condensing boiler and megaflow tank service consist of?
BG claim there is nothing for them to service, and that there Maintenance Inspection is more a saftey inspection than anything else? True or False?
Thanks I am going to risk it and take out the cover. Will be calling them out in the next couple of weeks to get my dolc radiators fixed and a couple of TRV replaced.
You guys are really great. I am SO pleased I have found this website.
You guys are really great. I am SO pleased I have found this website.
Sorry this may be a stupid question, but given the current stories about 25% price rises coming through BG, if you swap provider, does anyone know if you have to cancel the policy?
I suppose everyone else will also have to raise prices, but maybe the difference between suppliers will grow.
I suppose everyone else will also have to raise prices, but maybe the difference between suppliers will grow.
I am not a BG customer for my gas I am just using the for the Homecare. You shouldn't have to change it if you change gas provider. I have my gas with Scottish power and have it capped so they cannot hike it. You can probably get better than that though. Why not use the uswitch.com website to find out. I am going to check mine now too.
as an engineer for BG and reading into all the above i think that the cover is good and not just because i work for them its because the amount of boilers visited everyday and the parts replaced add up to a stupid amount and the reason we deem boilers obsolete is because we will only fit genuine parts from suppliers instead of you average plumber who would botch it up.
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