Smoking fuse box, Home Emergency Cover declined as we turned the power off!!

[sparkyshark]

Hi, Last night, there was a funny smell in the house, and when we traced it back to the source, it was coming from the fuse box. It was melting at the top.

We then immediately switched the power off. Having home emergency cover with the Halifax we then made the call for someone to come out.

So that call went like this, its not a home emergency situation because we turned the power off, and at the time there was power and therefore we can't do anything for you.

I've just put in a complaint now. But surely this can't be the case? Basically what they're saying is that I should of left the unit burn and potentially the house and then it would have been a valid claim. wft?

Luckily we were up at the time. The electrics are currently off, so I'm going to get an independent in and defo go down the ombudsman on this one, if it goes that far.

 

[davelx]

That cover does not appear to be worth the paper it is printed on. "Complete Failure" - WOE is that?

 

[winston1]

Well reading what is and what is not covered it appears they are right. Had you read this before you took out the cover no doubt you would not have bothered. Morally though they ought to cover you but what insurance company has morals? I guess you won't be renewing!

 

[jelliottelectrical]

Ring them back and say you have no electric now? Or it’s on fire. Though they’ll probably just say ‘ring the fire brigade’!

 

[securespark]

Those two things (what is/ is not covered) contradict each other......

 

[sparkyshark]

Its a complete an utter joke guys. I've lodged the complaint and expect I'll be going to the ombudsman on this one. I won't let this one go, so happy to waste my time on it.
What is the point of any insurance if they will just wiggle out of it - this was clearly an emergency.

So basically all I really had to say was there was no power and I would have been covered, talk about a slap in the face for being honest.

And if a water pipe was about to burst, what would I do, turn it off or leave it on, oh you still have running water, so its not a emergency. Its the same scenario leave the fuse box to catch on fire and you're covered.

Out of interest, why didn't the RCD's trip as they clearly do not.

Its obvious all the insurance is the same, a waste of space or I just got a bad egg.

 

[jelliottelectrical]

Out of interest, why didn't the RCD's trip as they clearly do not.

Looks from it position probably the neutral bar has got a bit hot and started to melt the case. Probably a bad connection. Rcds won’t trip for such a fault necessarily. What make is your consumer unit?

let us know what happens when your electrician turns up

 

[ETAF]

not all the same, have to read the T&C of whats covered , I found this last year when i changed my insurance , some of the home emergency did not cover blocked toilets ?????

and a friend had a leak, i noticed it in the conservatory , and found the loft full of water - the inlet pipe to the water tank had a washer fail
She had home emergency - called them and they said it would be at least 8 hrs before they could arrive !!!! supposed to be 4 I think.
so a local plumber came out and fixed the leak in about 15mins , and we charged the home emergency the cost of the plumber which they agreed to pay
But by then the loft was full of water and managed to let some out in a controlled way - But then the ceiling fell down , and ended up a full insurance claim of about £20K because of all the damage caused to both floors

 

[HERTS P&D]

How much is the policy for the extra home emergency cover?

Andy

 

[ETAF]

hers was around £50 - most are between about £24 and £70 as i only looked at this , this morning, as my insurance is due for renewal - separate company renewal quote had gone up from £39 to £44
Plumber charge £167 to come out and change the washer - which the emergency company paid.
A lot of the insurances you get quoted by the company - but its actually a different company that offer the cover, and pay separately by DD

 

[sparkyshark]

Its a MK plastic version. Ironically this unit was replaced sometime ago via the insurance.
The main feeds coming into that fuse box at the time got loose, and I remember the Engineer arguing with the insurance company that it had to be replaced and the onus would be on them if they didn't!

We'll be moving next year for sure, shame on me for being so loyal, over paying for it as it is, oh well there loss.
If I recall somewhere in the region of £50 for the emergency cover, Halifax contract it out to alliance insurance.

Bit worrying though, ultimately if we were not there at the time and noticed. In a worst case would a fire have occurred or would at that point the RCD would have tripped? I'm guessing it wouldn't have mattered if it we're alight anyway.
I think I'm going to install an additional smoke alarm where the fuse box is which is under the stairs. Call me paranoid but for the sake of a few quid would give piece of mind.

They haven't arrived yet, obviously busy.

 

[HERTS P&D]

The emergency cover is only to make safe, if you have a leaking toilet and the house has 2 toilets then we would just isolate the faulty toilet by means of turning an isolation valve on the pipe work. I've had many arguments with customers wanting a new toilet and pipe work.

Andy

 

[JohnW2]

The emergency cover is only to make safe ....

I fear that's probably the problem - reminding us that one really needs to make very sure that one understands what sort of insurance one is buying.

As you say, some (maybe many/all?) "Emergency cover" policies are literally what they are called - as you say, providing cover only for someone to 'make safe' in the case of an emergency. If that's the sort of policy the OP has, I suspect that all they would have done had they accepted the claim would have been to send someone out to switch the CU off, just as the OP had already done.

If that's the type of policy the OP has, I fear that there would not be much mileage to be had out of an ombudsman, unless it could be successfully argued that the policy did not make the nature of the cover sufficiently clear.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Its a complete an utter joke guys. I've lodged the complaint and expect I'll be going to the ombudsman on this one. I won't let this one go, so happy to waste my time on it.
What is the point of any insurance if they will just wiggle out of it - this was clearly an emergency.

I think the Ombudsman will side with Halifax, on reading that What is and is not covered. They only cover you for complete loss of supply - the only real way that can happen is a fault with your supplier, which your supplier is responsible for fixing anyway.

Best thing to do is stop paying for the cover, if like most people you are able to turn things off yourself.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Trust me John, all policies have small print which covers them completely. I've being out to a split radiator before where I turned off each end and drained the radiator. The customer was going mad asking why I wasn't going out to buy a new radiator for him. When I explained his policy to him, all I got was; 'I've paid £500 for my home insurance and I have been with them for 20 years.' but with me trying to explain that the emergency part was an added extra policy and at best an extra 80p per week. His radiator was over 40 years old!

Andy