Homeserve Free plumbing & Drainage policy

[collinsc]

Hi

I have today completed on my first property. I rang Thames Water to transfer the account to my name, and they told me about the 'Homeserve Free plumbing & Drainage policy'. It is free for the first 3 months and then £74.25 for the remaining months.

Has anyone heard of this? Is it worth it?

I am thinking that for 3 momnths free (after which i can cancel) i would be a fool not to take it out - and then just cancel after 3 months. But with a lot of these 'cancel after 3 months' things i have had problems in the past!

All advice appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Bahco]

A lot of people will forget the deadline date to cancel so will become liable for the full fee!

They will get a lot of fees this way.

Insurance is only good if you need it.

 

[collinsc]

true, but then sometimes u dont know if u need it!

 

[Space cat]

Our local water supplier (Northumbrian Water last time I looked) are always trying to sell us insurance for our pipework. They go on at length about how much it would cost to repair a burst pipe or (their favourite) a collapsed drain.

What they don't tell you is that, owing to some quirk of the rules, THEY are responsible for the supply pipe all the way to our stopcock. Naturally, this is a liability they are keen to offload, hence the big push to get it insured at our expense. Maybe Thames water are doing the same.

Also, Bahco is right. Not only do people forget to cancel; they are often just too lazy to cancel.

But with a lot of these 'cancel after 3 months' things i have had problems in the past!

That doesn't surprize me. Some subscriptions are almost impossible to cancel. They ignore letters and phone calls and, finally, if you cancel the direct debit at the bank they 'sell' you to a debt collection agency who won't care whether you really owed the money or not. You should be alright with Thames Water though. They can't afford to be named and shamed on Watchdog.

 

[seco services]

total waste of money.
i sub contracted to homeserve and for £74.25 you are only getting the basic.

read what your covered for.
example you get a leaking radiator the policy don't cover us to fix it it only covers us to isolate that rad and make safe.
10 min job
to have the job repair costs the rate + materials of what ever time of day it is.

plus thats one callout and they are limited to the policy.

 

[homeplum]

hi
i have just left homeserve after working there for 14 months,as a plumber
i would say its a good policy ask the five customers i went to on xmas day
yes in general you get two claims a year but some policys give unlimited calls,in fact i think there is 4,000 policys they do,all slightly different
seco is right if the rad leaks from the body they will only isolate, if the rad valves need replacing they will if the hot water cylinder as a hole in it they will drain down and isolate,they dont cover ceramic discs on taps but this will change soon
they i would say are the main three they dont cover
but if you have a burst under the concrete floor they dig up and repair,if the toilet doesnt work they will repair if the stopcock is seized they will replace and so on so on balance ,especially if your not very diy minded i think its worth having
im not defending them because like all policys there is exclusions
if any wants to know why i left im more than happy to tell?
luv bob

 

[collinsc]

thanks bob.
go on then... why did you leave...

 

[seco services]

if any wants to know why i left im more than happy to tell?
luv bob

go on then bob it probably won't surprize me why you left.

 

[AlanE]

but if you have a burst under the concrete floor they dig up and repair,

You reinstate though! And if there happens to be a boiler on top of that bit of floor YOU have to arrange (and pay) for it to be removed and replaced.

 

[corgiman]

nope they sort the boiler removal nd reinstatment for that AlanE

done a fair few of them for them meself

 

[AlanE]

Funny then because couple of years back I was asked to remove a floorstanding boiler and later replace so Homeserve could repair pipe.

I spoke to the person who eventually called to do the job and he asked me if I was doing the floor reinstatement as well as the policy only covered the actual repair and nothing else!

 

[corgiman]

must be different kinds of cover Alan

either thast or the punters shouted loud

 

[Slugbabydotcom]

Put your £74.25s in a building society account then not only will you get interest on it you will have your own little insurance set-up without people making a living out of your fears.

 

[Agile]

Homeplumb seems to have disappeared without ever telling us why he left!

 

[dainesekid]

So why did Homeplumb leave Homeserve ? - I subbed to them from when they were fastfix and home hotline and then homeserve - mostly drainage - They seemed to go direct with their own labour as they got bigger - looked like it was going the same way as British Gas (Dyno Rod).
Work dried up in the end - customer satisfaction was 50 50 if it was a simple job customer got an ok deal but if it was involved the get out clauses caused complaints. People used to forget they had the policy as it was only a few quid a month direct debit but if you only get a blocked drain once every 10 years or so youve paid around 700 quid for a bloke to do a ten minute job - pump that around the country (commission paid to water boards for adverts in with bills) and you can see why their share price rocketed which is what their all about really.