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Hi
I am in England and the company I’m dealing with is called Plus Heat.
I have a rental property that I bought 2 years ago, the boiler was old and so I insured it with Plus Heat. I have a custom plan for £13 a month and a £95 excess. The deal is if anything with the boiler/heating goes wrong, my tenant can ring the company direct and get a plumber out to fix it, I pay £95 excess and they promise to get it up at running again. Been with them for 2 years, had maybe 3 call outs to fix the boiler plus an annual service and gas safe certificate.
This custom plan that I am on includes “boiler replacement”, which means that if the boiler is beyond economical repair and it’s under 7 years old they supply and fit a new boiler, if it’s over 7 years old they supply a new boiler and I pay to install it. All sounds good to me.
So recently my tenant rang me because she had no heat or hot water. Rang Plus Heat, they came and fixed it, charged me £95 excess, all good. Tenant rang a few days later, same problem had come back. Rang Plus Heat again, they said that due to age etc it was beyond economical repair and would need replacing. I thought this was coming, boiler is old and that’s why I had insurance.
However, they then told me I was not covered for boiler replacement as I was not on the “premium plan”. I went back saying I am covered, I’m on a custom plan with boiler replacement as an “add on”. (This is shown on all my invoices I get from them, on my online portal, in my renewal email I received earlier this year etc. For info, the “premium plan” is on their website for £9 a month, I pay £13).
They said this was an error and that I was not covered for boiler replacement. Went back and forth for nearly 2 weeks with no progress. Best they could do was get their plumber to supply and fit new boiler for £1799. I tried to argue but they weren’t budging. My tenant is a single mum with a young kid and as she was without heating or hot water for nearly 2 weeks I bit the bullet and rang a local plumber who supplied and fitted a new boiler for £1600.
I went back to Plus Heat to complain and basically said to them that I had been paying for 2 years for boiler replacement and they didn’t deliver. I told them I wanted my 2 years worth of payments back and I wanted them to give me the £1600 I had to pay for a private plumber to do the job.
They basically said “Your plan is the custom plan and whilst there is an error in the boiler replacement being written as being part of it - you were certainly not being charged for having the boiler replacement even as a add on to the plan. The boiler replacement as an add on option on its own is £8 extra each month - on your cover you were only paying for the boiler and controls, boiler service on a £95 excess plan. at 12.90 a month - should the boiler replacement had been added it would have been 20.90/ monthly. This confirms what was advised to you on the chat - that the boiler replacement can be added to other plans but at an extra charge and this was not the case for yours. Thus, in all this is why the boiler replacement is not being offered- we admit responsibility that is written on the portal, and invoices in error - however you certainty were not paying for the boiler replacement on your plan.”
I went back with “if your website says the premium plan is £9 and I have a custom plan that says it includes boiler replacement and I’m paying £13 for it, how am I supposed to know I’m not actually covered for it?”
I haven’t heard back from them.
I feel like I’ve been scammed and not sure where to go from here or whether I can legally do anything about it? I definitely asked for boiler replacement because I knew the day would come when it needed replacing. The fact that everything they’ve ever sent me says I am covered for boiler replacement surely means they should pay out?
Any advice greatly received. Thanks
I am in England and the company I’m dealing with is called Plus Heat.
I have a rental property that I bought 2 years ago, the boiler was old and so I insured it with Plus Heat. I have a custom plan for £13 a month and a £95 excess. The deal is if anything with the boiler/heating goes wrong, my tenant can ring the company direct and get a plumber out to fix it, I pay £95 excess and they promise to get it up at running again. Been with them for 2 years, had maybe 3 call outs to fix the boiler plus an annual service and gas safe certificate.
This custom plan that I am on includes “boiler replacement”, which means that if the boiler is beyond economical repair and it’s under 7 years old they supply and fit a new boiler, if it’s over 7 years old they supply a new boiler and I pay to install it. All sounds good to me.
So recently my tenant rang me because she had no heat or hot water. Rang Plus Heat, they came and fixed it, charged me £95 excess, all good. Tenant rang a few days later, same problem had come back. Rang Plus Heat again, they said that due to age etc it was beyond economical repair and would need replacing. I thought this was coming, boiler is old and that’s why I had insurance.
However, they then told me I was not covered for boiler replacement as I was not on the “premium plan”. I went back saying I am covered, I’m on a custom plan with boiler replacement as an “add on”. (This is shown on all my invoices I get from them, on my online portal, in my renewal email I received earlier this year etc. For info, the “premium plan” is on their website for £9 a month, I pay £13).
They said this was an error and that I was not covered for boiler replacement. Went back and forth for nearly 2 weeks with no progress. Best they could do was get their plumber to supply and fit new boiler for £1799. I tried to argue but they weren’t budging. My tenant is a single mum with a young kid and as she was without heating or hot water for nearly 2 weeks I bit the bullet and rang a local plumber who supplied and fitted a new boiler for £1600.
I went back to Plus Heat to complain and basically said to them that I had been paying for 2 years for boiler replacement and they didn’t deliver. I told them I wanted my 2 years worth of payments back and I wanted them to give me the £1600 I had to pay for a private plumber to do the job.
They basically said “Your plan is the custom plan and whilst there is an error in the boiler replacement being written as being part of it - you were certainly not being charged for having the boiler replacement even as a add on to the plan. The boiler replacement as an add on option on its own is £8 extra each month - on your cover you were only paying for the boiler and controls, boiler service on a £95 excess plan. at 12.90 a month - should the boiler replacement had been added it would have been 20.90/ monthly. This confirms what was advised to you on the chat - that the boiler replacement can be added to other plans but at an extra charge and this was not the case for yours. Thus, in all this is why the boiler replacement is not being offered- we admit responsibility that is written on the portal, and invoices in error - however you certainty were not paying for the boiler replacement on your plan.”
I went back with “if your website says the premium plan is £9 and I have a custom plan that says it includes boiler replacement and I’m paying £13 for it, how am I supposed to know I’m not actually covered for it?”
I haven’t heard back from them.
I feel like I’ve been scammed and not sure where to go from here or whether I can legally do anything about it? I definitely asked for boiler replacement because I knew the day would come when it needed replacing. The fact that everything they’ve ever sent me says I am covered for boiler replacement surely means they should pay out?
Any advice greatly received. Thanks
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