Homeserve boiler insurance - still not fixed after several visits!!!

[Fedup1962]

Have read previous posts with rising concern,in a weird way its nice not to be alone in this situation.

 

My problem started in nov 10,

leaking diverter valve.

 

Numerous phone calls and house visits still not fixed.

 

Have heard every excuse in the book,from to busy to turn up (cold weather),to part broken in post,

(by the way you could run over said part with a bulldozer probably wouldnt mark it).

 

The heating engineer who services my boiler showed me exactly what was wrong,

so the next homeserve person who turned up i watched what he was checking,

 

now because the diverter valve is above plate heat exchanger water drips onto it,

so after 3 mins of indepth checking said person anounces the heat exchanger was leaking proceded to tighten top screws,

i was so amazed i let him go.

 

I then phoned homeserve and told them to send someone else who was compitent at there job.

 

Whilst on phone i advised them of the real problem also of the parts they would need to bring to fix it.

 

Next person arrived needless to say no parts, stayed with him while he filled in a parts list request form,

the same person came back 7 days later, and as my wife opened door he stated he had wrong parts (honest i would not joke) got in his van and drove off.

 

Thankfully i was at work.

 

So they then phoned me the other day and stated i would owe them £160 because the work they have done is over my £500 limit.

 

I calmly asked to see a statement of work done and parts fitted, to which the reply was the stock

i am only a call center person i dont have that info on my screen.

(written on a postit note stuck on side of moniter) believe me ive seen these notes.

 

One more thing my B & C insurance is with the halifax who do not admit any responsibilities towards homeserve and state my money is paid to homeserve not them.

Argued the toss with halifax stating my direct debit says otherwise and they recommend homeserve and the fact they are virtually using homeserve as subcontractors.

 

Also said they had no means of lodging a complaint about homeserve.

 

In the end they put in a complaint to homeserve for me.

Have had two letters so far Yippee.

Boiler not fixed yet though.

 

I wasnt going to put this much detail in but its good to vent now and then.

ps.can i get a written transcript of phonecalls and work done from homeserve.

[sir_gilmour]

Fedup1962 welcome to The Consumer Action Group community.

 

You haven't received any replies to your problem yet so you might be better off posting your story again directly in the sub-forum which deals with your kind of situation. You will get lots of support there.

 

Also, spend some time looking round the forum. Once you understand the layout, you will be able to get best use from this Consumer Community. It is a big forumm and may take some time. But it will be worth doing.

Good luck.

[dx100uk]

urm...

i wonder if a reclaim [like PPI] could be put in to halifax as the introducer?

 

might kick some butts!!

 

dx

[Fedup1962]

Thankyou for your advice,still looking around at moment,but do not know how to find sub forums or repost to them yet.

Will keep looking and learning hopefully.

[Fedup1962]

Could be worth a try,will let you know how i get on.

[kurvaface]

Send a Data Subject Access Request to get the transcript of phone calls.

 

I have recieved a letter from Homeserve, convincingly dressed up as a letter from Vaillant, my boiler manufacturer, offering a tempting boiler breakdown cover etc. It is extremely misleading as I assumed it was from my boiler company. I rang them to confirm the quote they offered, and they went on to try and collect data from me (obviously for the purposes of marketing) and after a while it became clear who they really were. I then rang Vaillant, who offered me the same policy for nearly half the price.

 

As a cagger, I have learned that I should expect to recieve what I am sold and no less. Just spending a little bit of time poking around Homeserve online shows that your story is not unusual - infact it appears to be the norm. Of a turnover of over £350 million last year, the company made a profit of £100 million and this staggering result will in part be down to their ruthless extraction of money from customers while minimising the service provided.

 

There is a very good article in the Guardian about this company (and similar) in which they quote Which. 90% of households would be better off putting the money in a bank account each month rather than using Homeserve as the service they provide is poor and the cost of their premiums is very high.

[Honestly]

yes you can ask for a SAR, they may charge. But dont worry by the sounds of it they could be facing some steep compo. The letters are pretty much system generated and it is easy for them to fob you off with non compliant resolutions. You have a letter of resolution, best bet is get it fixed at your own cost, fill in FOS application form, mark down all facts of inconv no heating or hot water for the amount of days. There will be a charge of £500 to the business (dont let Homeserve know you know this) write down how many days off work, forwrd copies of your own engineers reports and Homeserves. Write a letter of complaint to Halifax aswell. they are also regulated so they dont know what they are on about. Over time you will see that Halifax will pursue. As a rule its about £400-£500 per month for no heating or hot water. around £50 for days taken off work. The truth is they dont have enough contractors to complete the work. Also email [email protected] of your intentions to go to the regulator or phone up the complaints dept direct and demand to activate your escalultion rights. Ask to speak to the Head of the Department. You will be suprised with the threat of legal action, they have circa 9000 complaints and wont want the media and legal attention.