Npower launches boiler care cashback scheme
The four million British Gas customers who pay for HomeCare boiler servicing and repair cover could save at the least 63 12 months by switching to npower after it unveiled an adversary service priced identically to British Gas, though with a cashback incentive.
The deal, called hometeam50, has the same terms as the HomeCare Flexi 100 deal from British Gas C for instance an annual boiler service and safety check and unlimited call outs C but features a promise that half the premiums will likely be refunded if no call outs will be required.
Npower will likely be offering its boiler cover as a flat-rate deal C this means that it will cost 126 each year irrespective of where you live. This contrasts with British Gas HomeCare that is certainly priced depending on location. Households inside london typically pay 180 a year while homes in other cities pay 156 per year. So Londoners could cut back to 117 annually by switching to hometeam50.
But the most important savings will probably come for households that are fitted with previously made claims on British Gas HomeCare policies and subsequently seen their premiums soar. A few weeks ago, Guardian Money writer Jill Papworth saw her annual premium for HomeCare200 (consisting of heating cover) jump to 359.64 after she produced a series of claims.
British Gas HomeCare is surely an insurance product, same goes with risk-rated in the same manner as vehicle insurance: if someone makes a claim, the premium will improvement in the next year. But npower promises to not ever raise premiums in this way.
A spokeswoman said: “Because it’s actually a care plan and not just an insurance plan, you won’t notice any eligibility criteria and your premium won’t elevate should you claim. However, should you choose claim you obviously won’t receive 50% within the price of here is the plan back by the end of Twelve months.”
Obstacles and alternatives
Hometeam 50 isn’t npower’s first foray into boiler cover. It already sells an insurance-style policy, again called hometeam, coming in at 131.88 12 months. Even so doesn’t offer an annual service for the boiler, that amounted to one more 74. If you’re existing npower customer using this deal it can probably add up to vary to hometeam50, but the truth is will need to pay a cancellation fee against your existing policy.
An npower spokeswoman said: “Current npower customers can wait for renewal date to modify to hometeam 50 or speak to Homeserve [which runs hometeam for npower] directly and have to cancel.”
It is really a similar story for British Gas HomeCare customers. Customers on HomeCare Flexi face cancellation fees up to 124, and people with no Flexi option might be charged about 265.
For most existing British Gas customers it will probably pay to wait until the renewal date before considering other options and switching. But beware the terms and conditions: “If it will cost by direct debit we shall automatically renew your agreement(s) annually soon you notify us otherwise.” So make a note of your renewal date, if you may switch you should definitely cancel the arrangement and, crucially, the direct debit mandate also.
The other factor to weigh will be the expertise of the service. The trouble with many on the providers in this particular lucrative industry is they generally use local contractors, a handful of whom can be the perfect but plenty usually are not. And so they are inclined to end up very busy through the first serious cold snap of winter when everyone turns their boilers on full blast.
You can however just stop buying insurance. It’s wise to ask friends and neighbours to recommend a nearby engineer. Give your boiler a good check in September (this typically costs 80-100), and after that keep your money which you were planning to pay for insurance for repairs instead.
The cheapest alternative could be to add “home emergency” cover upon your property auto insurance policy. This usually costs just 50-60 annually and provides households protection for emergency call outs, including labour for the home along with the expense of parts, though an established limit of approximately 500.
