Has a Homeserve flyer made its way through your door?

I can’t comment on Thames Water but everyone in our area [Anglian Water] gets a Homeserve flier with their water bill and also on its own from time to time. I wouldn’t say they are preying on the elderly especially, but that age group might be more susceptible to the concerns over the cost and potential for underground service pipe repairs, particularly if they are exaggerated as might be the case.

It would be sensible to check what is covered in your parents’ buildings insurance – there could be an excess that would have to be paid in any event. Pipe damage to sewers and drains due to subsidence [for example] would be covered [subject to an excess] by the buildings insurance, as would any damage to service pipes caused by an extreme event; in general, underground service pipe breakdowns are rare. Accidental internal plumbing breakages are usually covered in buildings insurance policies or within a heating system maintenance contract. There is no point in taking out separate insurance for unlikely events and I would advise your parents to maintain a good insurance policy for their property, maintain the property to a good standard [especially during the Winter] and look out for any unusual occurrences, and to put away about £50-100 a year as an emergency reserve in case something happens.

It would help if you could tell us what you are seeking to be compensated for, Monson Man. Were you ‘cold called’ in 2007 or had you contacted Homeserve first?Were you not given a ‘cooling off’ period after the policy was issued? Or was the cover not as set out in the documents you will have received?

Another mis-selling scandal in the making? I wonder where the line is drawn between us making a considered choice, and being defrauded. Personally, I’ve looked at Homeserve and chosen not to purchase it because it offered poor value, compared to what I perceived as the risk and likely cost of me making a repair payment.

This highlights the danger of automatic renewal of insurance cover, Dave. Even at £43 per year, it might be more cost effective to save your money and pay for any repairs you need.

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You are (or were) paying for peace of mind and that does not come cheaply. Some will win but most will be losers. I had not called out a breakdown cover service between 1989 and the end of last year – just paid the annual premium. 🙁 On balance I think it’s worth having cover in case I have a problem on a motorway.

If you are paying for extended warranties on household appliances it might be worth taking the risk of not renewing the cover. Here again you are paying for peace of mind and the insurance company is not there to lose money.

True enough business is there to take our money. I would never do without breakdown cover just in case. But we have had a few tows home and home starts over the years so I don’t at all begrudge having it. HomeServe though I think are taking the Michael. If I have a problem I can afford to pay for it, especially as I am saving almost £260 a year I can put towards any bill. 🙂

As a caution to consumers, I would never rely on just a phone call or chat message, or even an e-mail, to notify an important change in a contract [like termination] – especially where there is a regular payment arrangement in place. It is always best to send a formal letter as a back-up in case the issue is disputed or the instruction ignored.

I cannot recommend it because I have no personal experience but I think that better than Homeserve is the appliance cover and other domestic repairs and maintenance cover that British Gas and others offer within a maintenance or service agreement. Homeserve relies on creating a sense of fear of a major and extremely expensive breakdown in your service pipes and then offering ‘peace of mind’ to cover it. In practice such incidents that cannot be pinned on another body such as the council or the water supplier, or are not covered by a home insurance policy, are very rare.

Yes, it is a case of looking at the cost and likely benefit. There is always going to be luck involved.

I could have spent a fortune on insurance cover on water supply pipes and extended warranties on household goods but might never have made a claim. It’s better in my opinion to be prepared to pay out for repairs and replacements, unless you are very unlucky.

The problem is you gamble a smaller annual premium for a potentially much larger bill, possibly when you don’t have the money for a repair or replacement.

The disciplined approach is to avoid insurance on domestic products and pipes (which may well be covered by your household insurance) and to put the premiums you would have paid into a separate account that you don’t touch – until you need to pay for a repair. But who does that?

I advised someone not to take out a multi-appliance policy, but since they did their dishwasher, a fan oven element,and a control panel on a washing machine were all replaced. It’s in the luck of the draw – and the likely quality of the appliances. These were supplied with a new build so were lower-end.

My undisciplined approach is to keep some money in instant access accounts and just top that up as soon as possible if it is used. It works for me.

At least I have the chat transcipt this time. 🙂

The problem is for those who are poor, and find it difficult to save spare cash just in case. More information to allow fault diagnosis and diy repairs would be helpful. The products belong to us to do with what we will, but under our own responsibility.
It would be useful if Which? did a full review of all the insurance / extended warranty options available and considered the types/makes of appliances most likely to benefit.

I have a contingency reserve, Malcolm, into which I pop the income from certain investments that I inherited from an uncle a very long time ago [I hope my nephew and niece are not reading this].

When I lived in London in the 1980’s I received a notice from Thames Water that the valve on the service pipe from the water main was leaking and that I was required by law to get it repaired. I decided to dig down to the valve and expose it leaving a large enough cavity for a technician to work in in order to replace the valve. I then arranged with TW to turn off the water supply from the street valve while the valve was replaced. I cannot now remember the cost of having the valve replaced but it was considerably reduced by my doing all the manual work [involving shifting and setting aside over a cubic metre of heavy London clay]. Nowadays a mini-digger would make light work of this operation. I do not know why the valve leaked but there had been subsidence in the area after a long period of dry weather and that might have put pressure on the pipework and dislodged the connection to the valve. A similar potential possibility could exist today in certain areas with clay soil so there is a lot to take into account in deciding whether or not to takeout special insurance. It is also wise to study the terms and conditions to make sure the policy covers the situations you might anticipate and whether there are any significant exclusions or excesses.

Being poor can be a self-perpetuating condition but there are many who could with a little self-control maintain a reserve to cope with unexpected bills.

Without legislation, companies are not going to provide the sort of information that would be helpful to those attempting to do DIY repairs and the introduction of integrated assemblies has made it more difficult to carry out cost effective repairs.

TMcGeary – Welcome to Which? Conversation. There are plenty of topics that might be of interest. You are right to keep a transcript of your ‘chat’. Not everyone does.

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Anglian Water are also associated with Homeserve which circulates information with the appearance of it coming from the water company. Presumably the water companies receive income from this kind of activity. Whether it actually helps relieve supply costs is impossible to say as the process is not transparent.

I think that’s common, John. I wonder how many customers already have insurance cover.