Another recommendation request

[andrewducker]

I have gas boiler insurance with British Gas HomeCare. They charge me a tenner a month to fix my boiler when it breaks.

It broke.

I phoned them.

The next time they can get a person to me is Tuesday morning,

Frankly, this doesn't strike me as great, considering I have no heating and it's January in Scotland.

Anyone care to recommend a better company to go with?

Comments

[pisica.livejournal.com]

it's January in Scotland.

Finally, I am living in the future!

[blackmanxy.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's just so cold in Scotland that even time froze.

[pisica.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, you see, I'm from Chicago, so I always make my saving throws against cold. :)

(Actually, that's a lie, because Scotland doesn't have the same defenses against cold weather, so sometimes less cold temperatures = more shivering in the house.)

[vereybowring.livejournal.com]

My personal choice would be not paying a monthly fee, but finding a reputable service engineer who gives fixed quotes.
These pay monthly schemes are a bit of a rip off unless you move into a place and know the boiler is dodgy - then it breaks and they have to fix it. Then ditch them and go for the aforementioned method.
When buying a place you should make sure you have the service records for the boiler/heating so you know how old it is and when it was last tinkered with. If the boiler is more than 5 years old you can just about bt it will go wrong in the near future as even the best designed ones available to the general public are only designed to last 10 years before total replacement.
I know all this because when I worked in the hotel I used to chat to the service engineers who were quite open about the whole "we could make them better but then we wouldn't make as much money out of it." I also have a friend who is Corgi registered although alas he lives in the Highlands.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

These pay monthly schemes are a bit of a rip off unless you move into a place and know the boiler is dodgy

What they said. Even without the actual rip-off of poor service, you are almost guaranteed to lose out. British Gas plans to make real money on the deal. They are banking that the amount you pay them every year will, on average, be more than the amount they have to pay engineers to fix your boiler. Plus a profit. They have better data than you about all this.

I am firmly of the opinion that it is only ever worth going for insurance like this if a) you absolutely could not stretch to paying out for someone to come round or b) you are for some reason unable to ring round for quotes should disaster strike. In which case you're probably not going to ring round for quotes for the insurance, either, and will get a crap deal on that too ...

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

I only got it because I was at other end of country, having rented flat out and not via an agency..

[vereybowring.livejournal.com]

P.S. you'd better nip along to argos and get some cheap electric heaters for your rooms. I assume this means you have no hot water either in which case a giant pan for the cooker could be in order too for washing stuff.

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

That's so crap!! I got Home Care too and sort of assumed that always meant you got someone within 24 hours. have you checked the contract?

[vereybowring.livejournal.com]

I believe it will run along the lines of we will try to get you an engineer by next day where possible.
They don't tell you what constitutes "try" and where possible is vague.
Forget trying on the weekend as they no doubt have a reduced staffing level, indeed I think many of the engineers are actually free-lance working under a contract for British Gas and probably don't want to get out of bed at the weekend.
Monday rolls in and there's a whole weekend backlog to deal with and then it just depends how many people called in front of you.

[dreema.livejournal.com]

I've got two delonghi dragon oil heaters you're welcome to borrow, just getting them to yours'd be a pain in the rear

Have you at least got an immersion for hot water, or is yours a combi boiler?

[andrewducker]

It's a combi.

And don't worry about the heaters - I'm not going to freeze to death. We have decent insulation.

[vereybowring.livejournal.com]

The cats will hate you, they love heat.

[andrewducker]

They're covered in fur! And will no doubt just snuggle up to us.

[drainboy.livejournal.com]

I would stick with British Gas personally. When my boiler broke down the only people I could get out that day were ridiculously expensive and you have to pay for parts. In fact the amount I'll be paying British Gas for the year is less than the amount the parts worked out to, never mind the hours of labour. Luckily the guy was so rubbish that I managed to get out of paying them anything and immediately went back to BG who didn't manage to get the parts that day, but fixed it reasonably quickly and competently.

[paddie-gal.livejournal.com]

Wish I could recommend someone, but I don't know any - my sister's boiler packed up on Dec 23rd, and the earliest she could get someone out was Jan 10th. that's ludicrous, but she couldn't find anything better. she got an air-heater from B&Q for about 40 quid, seemed fine, and not too expensive to run. That said, she lives in Kent, so it's not Scotland - big difference. She did say though that the heater REALLY dried the air, and her skin went to fuck because of it. So moisturise!!

[perceval.livejournal.com]

We had similar problems. Except that it was three weeks until they could get the parts fixed.