Insurance cover

[Bomber99]

hi all
i purchased insurance cover for my central heating system boiler plumbing and electrics from Your Repair on a 3 year contract
At the beginning of March this year our boiler stopped working and your repair sent out a engineer and his report stated the breakdown was due to sludge in the system. Your repair informed us that due to sludge damage they could not cover the repair and we would have to have this fault rectified privately. We employed the engineer who diagnosed the fault to do a power flush on the system. He gave us a report saying he re-pressured system vented tested and left boiler working. We sent this report to Your Repair and they reinstated the insurance. 3 weeks later we had to report another fault and again Your Repair sent out the same engineer and he diagnosed another fault on the boiler. He returned the next day with the part that needed replacing but when trying to remove the part that he had to replace he unfortunately broke it in such a way it could not be replaced and therefore effectively writing the boiler of. He said he would put his report into the insurers. I contacted the insurers after a couple of days and explained what had happened and they unturned spoke to the engineer and informed me the would get the makers to come and have a look. Makers of the boiler turned up but wouldn’t do any work due to the damage the engineer had done. Now the insurers are saying I have to get the engineer to replace the boiler because they don’t know when the boiler was damaged. They are saying the damage may have been caused when I employed the engineer to do the power flush. I do have some messages saved after the engineer broke the part where I have asked him if he had reported the damage and although he does not admit outright he broke the part/ damaged he infers in his reply’s he had
where do I stand legally, should I demand your repair should sort this problem out . The engineer was a sub contractor to your repair
thank you for any help given

[des8]

WRITE (email will do) telling them that if they don't indemnify you as per the policy conditions you will initiate a court claim for breach of contract and you will be looking for performance of contract. Give them 10 days.
Point out that you have notified them of the claim and how and when the damage occurred
Therefore they do know when and how as you told them
If they believe the claim is fraudulent the onus is on them to prove it. To say the damage "may have been caused" at another time is not proof.
If they cannot prove the claim is fraudulent it is their contractual and fiduciary duty to meet it in a timely fashion.

[Bomber99]

Hi DES8
thanks for advice
will send them email tomorrow and will also give them a call
It’s no fun having no hot water, been like this since 17th April although weathers warmed up it’s still cold in the evenings and because the wife is diabetic she does feel the cold and having no c/heating doesn’t help
thank you again for your advice

[Bomber99]

Hi Des8
just a update
They are sending another engineer out

[Bomber99]

Hi all just a update
engineer came out and replaced broken part but the boiler was still not working correctly. The engineer pointed out the flexi pipe connected too the boiler was the problem and would be beneficial to change the flexi pipe for copper pipping. He advised YourRepair about this. When I contacted YourRepair regarding this problem they said the engineer informed them the flexi pipe is the problem and to solve the problem the flexi pipe needs replacing with copper pipe and YourRepair will not cover the cost of this work as it is an upgrade to the system. They informed me I would have to cover the cost. I asked them just to replace the flexi pipe which worked perfectly well for over 8 years but they are refusing as they are saying the engineer does not think this will resolve the problem. I have now had no hot water for around 4 weeks and YourRepair are not budging on there opinion.
Any of you good people know what my options are now. I have asked about getting out of the contract but been told I have 2years left on my contract at £24 per month and they would require full payment before releasing me from the contract

[ostell]

What flexi pipe was this? There is frequently a flexi pipe in the fill circuit of a pressurised system but it plays no part in the actual heating. If they are still bitching about it then you will be happy to accept a replacement of the flexipipe. That should get the heating going again, or not.

[des8]

Tell that shower that you are not looking for an upgrade but to be put back into the position you were before the breakdown occurred.
Insurance is a contract of indemnity, and the insurer is contractually bound to cover losses of the insured.
The engineer might make a recommendation, but that does not relieve the insurer of his duty.
If they don't wish to replace the flexipipe but insist on copper they should at least contribute to the cost to the extent they would have if they replaced the flexipipe

[Bomber99]

Thank you all for your advice. I will be contacting insurers with some stern words.
they are happy to take your monthly payment but when it comes a time to claim they find any excuse not to do the work.

[des8]

Just had a look at their website and found this interesting statement
"As we aren’t an insurance company, we’re not regulated - so you’re not delayed by underwriters or lengthy paperwork when you make a claim."

Means you only have standard consumer protection.

Their contracts make interesting reading.
I particularly like their cancellation clauses which include "We may cancel Your Contract in the following circumstances:At Our discretion"

[Bomber99]

Thank you DES8 for taking the time to look this up. To be honest I wish I had never heard of them, but unless I can find some way out of the contract it looks like I am stuck with them for another two years. :-(

[Bomber99]

Hi all just a quick update
Your Repair are sending out a fourth engineer on Thursday, one thinks they may run out of engineers shortly lol

[des8]

No one else has picked up on this but I believe the contract you have contains unfair terms.

In post 9 I drew attention to one of their cancellation clauses viz "We may cancel Your Contract in the following circumstances:At Our discretion"
Consumer Rights Act 2015 schedule 2 "Consumer terms which may be regarded as unfair"
Part 1
7 A term which has the object or effect of authorising the trader to dissolve the contract on a discretionary basis where the same facility is not granted to the consumer, or permitting the trader to retain the sums paid for services not yet supplied by the trader where it is the trader who dissolves the contract.

It is also unfair to demand excessive charges if the consumer does cancel:

5 A term which has the object or effect of requiring that, where the consumer decides not to conclude or perform the contract, the consumer must pay the trader a disproportionately high sum in compensation or for services which have not been supplied.

6 A term which has the object or effect of requiring a consumer who fails to fulfil his obligations under the contract to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.

Any future correspondence with them needs to be in writing (email will do)

[Bomber99]

Thank you DES8
will see what happens when the engineer turns up on Thursday

[Bomber99]

Latest update
YourRepair sent another engineer out on Thursday. He reported back to your repair and informed them the breakdown with the boiler could be down to 3 problems?
This is the same engineer who visited previously and diagnosed the problem as the flexi pipe.
Yesterday YourRepair ring me up and told me the boiler is uneconomical to repair. They have offered a contribution to the cost of a repair, but would not say how much and another option was to make a contribution towards a new boiler so long as I have it supplied by Ideal
All I can say is after having no hot water for 10 weeks, their offer seems to good to be true