Change of service contract.
 

When I moved into my new home I took out a service contract with Homeserve for my boiler and central heating, plumbing and electrics as each policy was only £10 a month but with excess if called out. The excess on the plumbing and electrics was £60 and on the boiler and central heating was £100.

So this year in comes the renewal. The boiler and central heating quote had gone up to £29.85 a month or £358.20 for the year.
The plumbing went up to 12.50 a month or £120.50 for the year and the electrical one went down to £9 a month or £84 for the year.
Plus they still wanted to charge me the excess if on a call out. Even if they didn’t do any work you still had to pay.

British Gas quoted me £204 for the same cover, reduced to £174 if paying yearly by direct debit. The excess charge is £60 on a call out but if they do not do any work on the problem or need to replace any parts then the excess is waived.

I phoned Homeserve and said that I was cancelling my policy with them. The very nice lady on the phone asked me why. I said that Homeserve were far to expensive and quoted that for the year they wanted £562.70 from me whereas British Gas only wanted £174. And without any quibble the policy will be cancelled when the contract runs out.

A better idea. Put £250 a year in a savings a/c (even at 1% interest). The average history is one claim per 10 years. If you are a bit sharp you can get £100 when you open a new account. Just ask.

Then cultivate a knowledge of local traders, or even just one -they all know each other. I knew several when I lived in Saltash, even did their pensions!

totally agree, however, for some it is piece of mind

macafee2

I would be wary of Homeserve based on our experience of them Robert.

They sold multiple “overlapping” policies to my old Mother in Law and then refused to pay out when her boiler packed up saying it was not covered as it was over 10 years old. This despite the exact model and age being listed on several of the missold policies.

We won our complaint and the FOS gave them a huge blast. MiL received all her wrongly collected premiums plus 8% interest.

It was another case where using a Subject Access Request cut through the nonsense these dodgy companies get up to.

I've had success with Domestic & General. No problem getting someone out within 48 hrs. Have boiler covered and washing machine. Their annual fee is less than a call out. No excess, when called out, they either repair or iof they can't will replace with new. (haven't needed to test the replacement clause yet). Until we actually needed repairs we never bothered. On breakdown phoned them up, take out a years policy and they came and fixed it. Covered for the following 12 month as well. Can't really fault it. Both the boiler and washing machine are far from new so have kept the cover up for a following year. Yes we could save for replacement or against getting a local trader in to repair when things go wrong (just what our previous plan of action was). But it's often difficult getting a local trader at that short notice, and they aren't always up to snuff when you can, and they don't have the backup of the replacement guarantee. When you do get someone via D&G they'll be reasonably local anyway and with full backup. Both times we've had them out they've been very competent. In short you get access to the best local tradesmen without a long wait and with no added costs and a backup guarantee of replacement thrown in.

We hzve boiler cover with them 22 a month covers parts labour and vat, no xs to pay. If boiler is unrepairarable we get 750 off a new one.

I self insure, fixing most things myself.

But it is more difficult when manufacturers make white goods to be throw away - usually by built in obsolescence and limited spare part availability. Consumers across the USA and the EU have complained about this for years.

And fair play to the EU and the US - moves are being made to ensure future goods are going to be repairable for at least 10 years via the “right to repair” rules

The common complaint across the world is that owners are unable to fix machines themselves or find a repair guy to do it at a decent price. “Cheaper to by a new one” is not good for the planet or the consumer.

In the USA - around 20 States are setting down “Right to Repair” legislation.

We got an all singing all dancing Dyson washing machine a few years ago, at my other half's insistence! We got a letter asking a ridiculous amount for extending the soon to be expired warranty, not paying that much! A couple of weeks after the warranty expired we came home to find a fault code and a telephone number flashing on the display. Call me cynical but a fault just after the warranty expired :mad: Cleared the fault after an internet search.

D&G stand behind Whirlpool guarantee. 1+2 year cover initially and 10 years (ie 3+7) if you take the reasonable contract for all parts and call out.