British Gas homecare

[mivona]

I have recently had a Homecare engineer come to replace a faulty pull-cord switch in the bedroom of my rental property. As he had a "trainee" with him, he was let loose into inspecting other aspects of my electrical system. Fine...

He found a fault in the kitchen - a kitchen I had installed about 20 years ago by a reputable firm, to code at the time. The code has obviously changed over the years, and the current installation would not be acceptable under modern standards, but it had been perfectly functional. An earth leak had developed in an electrical line had ran behind the cooker in a spur line.

British Gas then said that it wasn't covered - because it was "inadequately installed". They were quite happy to take my money off me every month for quite a few years now, without ever mentioning to me that any aspect of a FAULT in my electrics would not be covered because I am sure that very little of it is up to "code". How many older houses will have electrics that meet the ever-changing electrical code?

I had had my electrics inspected independently a couple of times since 2000 as part of my responsibilities as a landlord, and never had an inkling that my system was "incorrectly installed".

To me, this is taking money under false pretences, and I am considering taking a small claims case for the return of my premiums. I wasn't asking them to upgrade my system, but to fix a FAULT that had developed in a system that had been installed correctly in the first place.

Any views?

[DampProof]

If I have understood correctly, you asked BG to fix a pull cord fault which they have declined due to finding an earthing fault behind a kitchen appliance? And I'm assuming your BG insurance covers electrical faults.
Does not sound reasonable to me.
In the first instance you need to give BG the opportunity to fix the fault before calling in an electrician from outside.
Write to complain that the earthing fault, whilst having been identified has nothing to do with the fault you had called them out to fix and would like to give them the opportunity to rectify before having the work completed by an outside contractor.
In addition include copies of the wiring tests / documentation you have had carried out at the property over the last few years. This will show the court (if it gets to that stage) that you are a responsible Landlord.
The use of the word 'reasonable' in your letter, in my experience is important, as The Small Claims procedure is based on reasonableness.
If this does not do the trick get back to me.

P.S. Advice is given without liability and is based on my experience in the Small Claims Court only.

[mivona]

Sorry, they did fix the pull cord - that is a pretty simple job. They refused to fix the earthing fault that they found.

I had to have the job done, because I had new tenants moving in, so I didn't have any time to mess around with them. After the engineer initially refused to fix it, I phoned them back again to query. They arranged for another engineer to come - but initially sent me an appliance engineer (!) and the following day then sent the same original electrical engineer back! He just refused again, so I was forced to get another contractor in. I couldn't in all conscience let the house, knowing that two sockets were dodgy in the kitchen.

I have asked the second contractor to write a report on exactly what they found, and what they had to fix as part of my documentation for any eventual small claim.

[mivona]

British Gas rang me to discuss my complaint, and the woman I was speaking to (Customer Relations, not technical) was adamant that anything fault in the installation that was not up to code would not be covered. The codes change all the time, so I seriously wonder just how many homes would actually find themselves covered in the event of a fault?

It is not a fault when it is not up to code, but something that needs to be upgraded, and for this reason they won't fix it.

So much for their "peace of mind" offer...

[Bigmac versus]

This is how they make their dosh, pretty annoying isnt it.

[mivona]

Yes, it is annoying, when they attempt to portray themselves as a company that will prevent you having unexpected expense and giving you peace of mind in the event of a breakdown.

The gas cover on your boiler will only be of benefit until they can't get parts for your boiler, when you will be offered a "special discount" rate for a new boiler that will be well above what you be charged by an independent engineer, with subsequent additional costs for such basics as adjustments to the flue (for the change in size over time).

If there is any opportunity for them to condemn your boiler as unsafe, once parts are no longer available, they will.

The plumbing cover is pretty useless. It doesn't cover taps or stopcocks. It will cover pipes that leak, but if they burst from freezing, you'll be screwed. Leaking radiators are covered, amazingly, but I doubt that any radiator valves will be covered. I've had a ballcock fail in my coldwater tank, and that amazingly, was covered - but they replaced it with a TOILET ballcock, which then eventually failed again.

I am trying to put together a range of local business people that I can use, to support the local economy, rather than continuing to give British Gas my money.