Boiler and Central Heating Cover

[MILLE_RIDER]

Helping my 89 year old mum with her admin today noticed she had a renewal letter for her boiler and central heating cover which includes the annual service. The renewal was for 653 quid which I thought sounded a bit high to say the least so gave them a call and after 25 minutes sitting in their queuing system got to speak to their renewal's department. I remember her starting the policy a few years ago when she had a boiler fault and I thought it would be a good idea for her to have the maintenance contract. The guy I spoke to seemed almost embarrassed at the amount she was being charged especially when I asked how much it had gone up from the previous year and it turned out to be the same amount. After a few clicks and me confirming the make and model of boiler he managed to get the renewal down to 270 pounds for exactly the same cover, quite a different from 653. I know the legislation was changed so that if your car insurance auto renews you cannot be charged more than someone starting a new policy with that company, why can't this same method of premium calculation be applied to all types of insurance that auto renew

 

[Daffy]

They are crooks, we had BG cover which included a service and it all worked well until we had no heating or hot water one January, I was told it would be a week to get someone there unless I said there was a pensioner in the house (there wasn’t but I was encouraged to say there was - I didn’t)

Anyway after much fussing they came out after 4 days and the guy got it going, he was still sat in his van when it cut out again.

I went and told him but he told me he couldn’t come back in as he’d marked the job complete, so I had to call it in.

We went back to square one and I was told 4 more days - after much huffing and puffing they came back the next day and fixed it.

I cancelled my service contract and went to the local gas shop which turned out to be a family business, they told me that they won’t do contracts as someone always loses out and it’s mainly the customer, they do pay as you go and for service customers they aim to be out same day but it could be the next if the call was late in the day.

They have done my boiler for about 15 years now and turned out to many issues and have always managed the same day and I’ve always been surprised at the bill in a good way..

My advice would be to find a local family owned company who have a reasonable reputation and have a chat with them, for anyone in the Southampton area then you’d do worse than talk to Climate Gas in Totton.

 

[karlp]

Helping my 89 year old mum with her admin today noticed she had a renewal letter for her boiler and central heating cover which includes the annual service. The renewal was for 653 quid which I thought sounded a bit high to say the least so gave them a call and after 25 minutes sitting in their queuing system got to speak to their renewal's department. I remember her starting the policy a few years ago when she had a boiler fault and I thought it would be a good idea for her to have the maintenance contract. The guy I spoke to seemed almost embarrassed at the amount she was being charged especially when I asked how much it had gone up from the previous year and it turned out to be the same amount. After a few clicks and me confirming the make and model of boiler he managed to get the renewal down to 270 pounds for exactly the same cover, quite a different from 653. I know the legislation was changed so that if your car insurance auto renews you cannot be charged more than someone starting a new policy with that company, why can't this same method of premium calculation be applied to all types of insurance that auto renew

Because they are robbing bastards taking advantage of an elderly person

 

[Wapping]

…. so gave them a call…..

Who was the ‘them’ that you called?

The insurance company? They’ll be named on the policy.

A broker / intermediary, selling the insurance backed service plan? If so, their name.

A power / water company, selling the insurance backed service plan? If so, their name.

Somebody else? If so, whom?

Are you sure it’s actually an insurance policy (issued by an insurance company) as opposed to a basic service contract between ‘them’ and your mother?



PS Have you raised a formal complaint? If not, then do it now. The ‘insurer’ or ‘intermediary’ has a legal obligation to respond to you with X days (I forget what the period is, but it’s not months). If you are not happy with the explanation, you can then escalate the complaint to the FCA / Ombudsman, who do take things seriously.

 

[MILLE_RIDER]

Who was the ‘them’ that you called?

The insurance company? They’ll be named on the policy.

A broker / intermediary, selling the insurance backed service plan? If so, their name.

A power / water company, selling the insurance backed service plan? If so, their name.

Somebody else? If so, whom?

Are you sure it’s actually an insurance policy (issued by an insurance company) as opposed to a basic service contract between ‘them’ and your mother?



PS Have you raised a formal complaint? If not, then do it now. The ‘insurer’ or ‘intermediary’ has a legal obligation to respond to you with X days (I forget what the period is, but it’s not months). If you are not happy with the explanation, you can then escalate the complaint to the FCA / Ombudsman, who do take things seriously.

Domestic and General. Not sure if they are the broker or the insurance company. I don't think there was a different insurance company named on the renewal notice. I'll check when next at my mum's.

Are you sure it’s actually an insurance policy (issued by an insurance company) as opposed to a basic service contract between ‘them’ and your mother? - It covers annual service and replacement parts if needed so could be a service contract as opposed to an insurance policy I guess. I haven't complained, this only happened yesterday, I was pleased to get the 'premium' down but pissed off that she had paid the higher rate for the previous 12 months

 

[MILLE_RIDER]

Because they are robbing bastards taking advantage of an elderly person

I think they are taking advantage of anyone who takes out a contract and then just lets it renew. I have had similar myself on my boiler maintenance plan where renewal premiums went up maybe 20% per year until it gets to the point that I decide to cancel and lo and behold they manage to reduce the premium to somewhere near where it started out at, and repeat

 

[Wapping]

Domestic and General. Not sure if they are the broker or the insurance company. I don't think there was a different insurance company named on the renewal notice. I'll check when next at my mum's.

Are you sure it’s actually an insurance policy (issued by an insurance company) as opposed to a basic service contract between ‘them’ and your mother? - It covers annual service and replacement parts if needed so could be a service contract as opposed to an insurance policy I guess. I haven't complained, this only happened yesterday, I was pleased to get the 'premium' down but pissed off that she had paid the higher rate for the previous 12 months

Thanks.

Domestic & General is a long established insurance company, that’s for sure. They specialise in ‘guarantees’ and other similar ‘warranty’ insurances.

When and if you look at your mum’s paper, I’m guessing that, either:

A. The D&G policy is sold through an ‘agent’, possibly her power / water provider, or

B. Sold direct by the insurance company

If, A, then there is a chance that D&G’s premium did not alter that much, year on year. Logically, it might go up a bit each year, as the boiler gets older and older, that’s all. What you are maybe seeing is the ‘agent’ cracking the price up…. Or, if the cover includes an annual inspection, it’s that cost that someone is ramping up. It’s impossible to tell at the moment.

If, B, then it’s D&G possibly playing fast and loose with the renewal premium.

A part of the answer might well lie in who you spoke to on the phone. This is important as, when and if you do make a formal complaint (I would, if I were you) you need to start with the entity that your mother bought the policy from and paid the premium to. A formal complaint will cost you nothing to make, do it!


A, in reality is little different to say, Carole Nash, an ‘agent’ or ‘intermediary’ on behalf of a variety of Motor insurers.

 

[MILLE_RIDER]

I will certainly take a look at her renewal notice when I am there next week. The guy in renewals that I spoke to was a Domestic and General employee.

I'm pretty sure the policy was arranged by the company (Ideal) that came out to repair her boiler on the first occasion a few years ago. For a long time I also had a maintenance contract with Baxi, arranged when they came to fix/ service my boiler, but the renewal notices came from Domestic and General. They must operate the scheme for a number of boiler manufacturers

 

[Wapping]

They must operate the scheme for a number of boiler manufacturers

That would seem logical.

From the news so far, all roads seem to lead directly to D&G.

Subject to a final check at your end, I’d be making a formal complaint to D&G. The ‘How do I complain/’ page on the company’s website, is easy to follow:

https://www.domesticandgeneral.com/_media/D&G%20Assets/PDF/complaints-handling-procedures-dgi.pdf

 

[MILLE_RIDER]

That would seem logical.

From the news so far, all roads seem to lead directly to D&G.

Subject to a final check at your end, I’d be making a formal complaint to D&G. The ‘How do I complain/’ page on the company’s website, is easy to follow:

https://www.domesticandgeneral.com/_media/D&G%20Assets/PDF/complaints-handling-procedures-dgi.pdf

Thanks for the link and your advice. I will dig out the relevant paperwork and will make a complaint. Can you tell me, the legislation that says an insurance company cannot charge an existing customer that is renewing a policy any more than if they were a new customer (i.e. give a sweetener discount to get new business), does this only apply to motor policies or any policy that auto renews?

 

[Wapping]

I’d be wary about quoting legislation, not least as you are not a lawyer.

At the moment you are making a seemingly legitimate and simple complaint about an inflated premium at renewal. Get your facts:

A. How many years the policy has been in force and rolling over for.

B. The circumstances around this year’s renewal.

In short, your complaint revolves around the inflated renewal premium and how, only after you had called, was it reduced to so significantly. Surely, to ‘Treat customers fairly’ the lower renewal premium should have been quoted, straight off the bat.

If you can find the past several years premiums paid, then you might as well add in that (based on the experience of 2025) it looks like D&G may well been over charging an elderly lady for X years. Assuming that is they have been jumping up disproportionately.

Then wait to see what their reply is.