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Mum paid British Gas £7,000 for a boiler on the blink

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The new boiler kept failing but, to be fair, British Gas sent someone out promptly. Eventually, an engineer from manufacturer Worcester Bosch fixed the problem. British Gas paid £400 compensation.

Now my mother has been advised that the guarantee on her new boiler expired in April and she must pay £136.38 cover in addition to the £12.33 a month she pays to cover plumbing and electrics. However, Worcester Bosch says it provides a two-year guarantee. Mrs J. C., via email.

I, too, gasped when I saw how much your mother had been charged — and immediately contacted British Gas for an explanation. It says that her existing boiler was 37-years-old and was beyond repair.

Because of its age, work was needed to bring the system up to specification. The cost of the new heating system was actually £5,211.56. This included a Worcester Greenstar efficiency boiler, pipework, thermostat, upgrades to the flue, a radiator flush and installing a new electric fire.

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British Gas acknowledges and apologises for the problems with the boiler and did pay £400 compensation in addition to the £400 it had taken off the cost of the boiler in a sales promotion.

Your mother has a two-year guarantee for parts and labour on her boiler. However, she has also had a free year’s cover on its HomeCare 200 scheme, which also protects the controls and the rest of the central heating system.

As well as this, there is an argument that she should be covered by the Sale Of Goods Act for a reasonable time — in this case, I’d say you could expect a new boiler and system to last at least three years.

Your mother was also paying a £12.33 top-up to upgrade her to HomeCare 400, which covers drains, plumbing and electrics. The extra £136.38 from April reflected the fact the free HomeCare 200 had ended.

British Gas apologises for not explaining this clearly when you called. It has now extended the HomeCare 400 cover free for the rest of this year, which is worth £174.16. It is also sending your mother a bouquet of flowers as a further apology.

 

British Gas admits it is not the cheapest, but argues that it does provide good follow-up customer care for people such as your mother.

For instance, following the installation, your mother called several times for help understanding several aspects of the new system.

On a wider issue, you tell me in your full letter that your mother is frail, has poor hearing and can find it difficult dealing with these sort of issues.

I think it might be in both of your best interests if you suggested to her that she gives you lasting power of attorney so you can run her financial affairs.

I paid £70 for dental treatment on holiday, and now my insurer says I wasn't covered

I have annual multi-trip travel insurance with Axa. On January  19, I visited the dentist in Gran Canaria. I contacted Axa on my return and sent off the form and receipts for €83.25.

I chased them in March and at the beginning of April. When I called a third time, they told me my policy had finished in April 2012, so they could not process my claim. Axa took £201.32 from my bank account for the policy on April 12, 2012, so I know I was insured. S. B., Manchester.

Once I got my teeth into this problem, Axa investigated and confirmed you do in fact have a valid travel insurance policy. This is something you knew all along.

Apparently, there was a ‘technical fault’ on the electronic claim form, which resulted in the correct procedures not being followed.

Axa has paid the full claim of £69.71, waiving the excess, and adding £50 compensation. They’ve also written to you to apologise.

STRAIGHT TO THE POINT

I have some spare money and want to use it to clear my mortgage with Nationwide. What is the most I can overpay on the loan? G. A. W., Stamford, Lincs.

Nationwide customers who took out a mortgage before May 29 can pay back up to £500 a month, or £6,000 a year, more than the agreed amount. Customers who took out a mortgage after this date can give back up to 10 per cent of the loan over the course of a year, in addition to their scheduled repayments. This means someone with £100,000 debt outstanding can overpay by up to £10,000 in a 12-month period.

Our dog knocked a tin of paint on to our living-room carpet. Cleaning products haven’t worked and it’s ruined. I rang my insurer Direct Line, who said my policy didn’t cover it. It’s £800 to get a new carpet. K. R., Kent.

Accidental damage cover is an extra on most home insurance policies. This isn’t always clear. In your case, the pricier Direct Line Plus home insurance does cover such mishaps. Its ordinary policy, which you have, does not.

I’ve lived in the U.S. for 20 years and am moving back to the UK in a few months. I have joint citizenship. Can I transfer my credit report with me? N. P., by email.

Unfortunately not — even though two of the biggest credit reference firms in Britain do much of their business in the U.S., UK and U.S. reports hold different information. You could add a note to your British record to say you have been living in the U.S..

I took out boiler cover a couple of years ago. Last winter my heating broke down and I tried to claim. I was unhappy with the service I received but I’m told I can’t complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service because I have a maintenance contract and not insurance. Is this correct? E. L., Liverpool.

Your case is sadly becoming increasingly common. Many boiler cover policies are not insurance but maintenance contracts. This means you can’t take your complaint to the independent Financial Ombudsman Service.

We bought a £75 second-hand games console from a listings website for our grandson. When we got it home from the seller’s house, it seized up within minutes — and hasn’t worked since. The seller says it was fine when he owned it. Do we have any rights? D. B., Weston-Super-Mare.

When you buy second-hand goods from a private seller, your rights are nowhere near as strong as if buying from a shop. In a nutshell, it’s caveat emptor — let the buyer beware. Your only protection is that what you buy must be described properly to you.

So if your seller said very little to you about the console’s quality or condition, you won’t have any comeback. However, if you were told it was in good working condition, you have a right to your money back. If the seller is uncooperative, you face going to the small-claims court.


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