British Gas Homecare Review

HomeHeatingGuide.co.uk Reviews British Gas HomeCare

The Application Process

British Gas's home maintenance plan, HomeCare, boasts a total of eight plans ranging from HomeCare Flexi 100 (lowest cost) up to the premium HomeCare 400 which, in the words of British Gas, "offers worry-free maintenance and repair for virtually every household system you rely on". David Holmes of HomeHeatingGuide.co.uk takes a closer look...

It's a cold November morning and I wake up in my warm house – never really stopping to consider that I owe my morning comfort to my boiler. But what if it went wrong? On a Sunday morning, for example? Who would I call? I don't know of any friendly plumbers willing to come out on Sunday morning and I don't have emergency cover for any part of my boiler or central heating system, let alone the electrics, plumbing or drains.

This is where British Gas Service come into the equation. They say they have more than 6,900 Gas Safe registered engineers on hand to cover such eventualities, and provided you're armed with their emergency Home Care cover, they'll despatch an expert to take a look at the problem. If their claims are anything to go by you've got an 80 per cent chance of seeing an engineer the same day. I thought I'd put them to the test.

HomeCare 100 covers your boiler and central heating controls increasing to HomeCare 400 which covers boiler and controls, radiators, hot water, plumbing, drains and electrics which British Gas and DynoRod cover together, both owned by Centrica. I decided on HomeCare 200 which is the most popular insurance plan and at time of writing costs £17 per month (now £16 p/m). For this I get my boiler covered, the controls (i.e thermostat and timer), radiators and also the hot water, which I felt was essential. British Gas do offer an emergency 'priority response' repair service which operates on a fixed price per repair, I however prefer to have the complete cover offerd by HomeCare.

The Application Process – 19th November

The application was carried out online at britishgas.co.uk which, I learned, is the cheapest and most secure method. I thought I'd try the online process and put their newly launched website to the test.

As previously mentioned I opted for HomeCare 200. After selecting that option I was asked for my postcode, I also noted it said 'from £17' and after a little digging I found out that postcodes within the M25 pay £1 more, which to a certain degree is understandable due to the higher labour costs in London. Fortunately I live outside of the M25 and was presented with the £17-per-month price I was expecting.

The second part of the process entailed entering the following details...

Title
First Name
Surname
Email
Telephone
Postcode

All pretty straightforward and it even selected my address for me, so very little effort on my part required, exactly how I like it.

Thirdly, I was given the option to select a different billing address and for customers with multiple properties this is a good feature, it would have been nice if I was given the option to use the address I had already entered, but it didn't, effort required.

The next steps involved being asked if I already had an existing contract (which I didn't) and then the upsell: would I like to upgrade to HomeCare 300 for just another £5? I declined. Finally, I was given the choice of an annual credit/debit card payment or monthly direct debit.

I opted for the monthly direct debit and dutifully entered my bank details. After confirming everything was in order I clicked submit and committed my house to a year of HomeCare. Next I received the following 'Order Complete' screen as well as an email confirming my order outlining the next steps. Let's just see if everything arrives within 10 days as promised.

The Agreement Arrives – Wednesday 28th November

As promised, a letter from British Gas arrived outlining my HomeCare 200 agreement. But it referred to 'the enclosed Terms and Conditions and HomeCare guide' – only problem was, there was nothing enclosed.

I called the membership department and after just a minute's wait was put through to an agent. Impressed, I told him about the omission and was assured that the missing terms and conditions would be with me within five days, and that my cooling-off period will be extended as a result.

They did indeed arrive as promised, and I was pleased by how promptly and politely British Gas were able to correct their mistake.

Find Out What Happens When We Call an Engineer Out