The Lemon Fool

I keep getting mail from my local water authority offering cover against plumbing problems - 24 hour helpline, cover against burst pipes, blocked drains, etc. Up to £4,000 a time, all for 50p a month which seems very low!

Anyone any experience of this type of cover?

Is it a short term introductory offer to reel you in?

We had it once as a freebie when we moved, homeserve IIRC free for 3 months then you paid after.

Had a leak, phoned them up, chap came around, undid a joint, taped it and retightened it and left saying "You need to get someone in to sort that properly".

So we cancelled at the end of the free period and never bothered again.

It goes up after a year, but even at £26 for the year they probably only get a small percentage of customers making an emergency call so will not be losing money.

Paul

Dicky99 wrote:Is it a short term introductory offer to reel you in?

I've had the same offer from Homecare who seem to have an arrangement with my local water company. And you're right it's an introductory offer which will increase the following year.

RC

it's an introductory offer which will increase the following year.

I realize that, but was more concerned about how good the service is.

It looks like £3.50 a month:

https://www.homeserve.com/uk/insurance- ... comparison

DrFfybes wrote:We had it once as a freebie when we moved, homeserve IIRC free for 3 months then you paid after.

Had a leak, phoned them up, chap came around, undid a joint, taped it and retightened it and left saying "You need to get someone in to sort that properly".

So we cancelled at the end of the free period and never bothered again.

It goes up after a year, but even at £26 for the year they probably only get a small percentage of customers making an emergency call so will not be losing money.

Paul

I was visiting with a chum in their basement flat when the bath fell over and burst a pipe joint. The stop cock was in the flat above and they were away. The emergency call out was something like £100 so my mate agreed and the fella said he'd be there in 30 minutes. 2 phone calls later and over an hour waiting I'd stuffed a cork in the broken pipe and lashed it with gaffa. Meanwhile another friend, DIYer had got across London via B&Q with his tools. He cut the end of the damaged pipe and slapped one of those plastic ends caps on and a fix was in. The emergency guy turned up but was sent away for being so late.
Since then I have kept a pipe cutter and end caps in a bag for emergencies. Cost me about £20 back then. Like these.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/monument-too ... tter/298pg
https://www.screwfix.com/p/jg-speedfit- ... pack/94176

I've been on HomeServes site the £3.50 then goes up to £22.69 a month

We have Home serve cover. Started it with the offer price and kept it for another year. Let it lapse but took it out again when a new offer was available. Had a leak on our supply pipe a couple of years ago,it was leaking under our neighbours drive. Sorted in 2 days (with neighbours permission) We have kept the cover since, it's a long pipe...

Home serve were helpful and efficient.

i must get a letter from Homecare every couple of months trying to flog me this insurance, obviously endorsed by the water company - Yorkshire Water - as they have their logo on the envelope.

I had a new mains pipe within the last 20 years, when lead pipes were removed (before I moved here), and I cover the pipes in the home by adding emergency cover insurance to my house insurance. This is much cheaper than Homecare (after the introductory offer).

I am taking a chance on the mains pipe, with the knowledge it has been replaced relatively recently.

FD

They get excellent reviews on TrustPilot.

Our home was built in the 1960's and for some reason we have a shared stop tap with next door, something that has always puzzled me.

Now retired, we just want an easy life so I've signed up for this service:

https://www.homeserve.com/uk/insurance/ ... rics-cover

I took out boiler cover for a year from British gas as the cover came with included boiler service and the price was about what I paid for a boiler service.

Nemo wrote:I keep getting mail from my local water authority offering cover against plumbing problems - 24 hour helpline, cover against burst pipes, blocked drains, etc. Up to £4,000 a time, all for 50p a month which seems very low! Anyone any experience of this type of cover?

For exterior sewerage at least, check that the sewer your house drains into* is not a shared one with other properties. If so, the water company will very likely have responsibility for it from the point is becomes shared.

* i.e. one private land, perhaps your garden if you have one

kempiejon wrote:

DrFfybes wrote:We had it once as a freebie when we moved, homeserve IIRC free for 3 months then you paid after.

Had a leak, phoned them up, chap came around, undid a joint, taped it and retightened it and left saying "You need to get someone in to sort that properly".

So we cancelled at the end of the free period and never bothered again.

It goes up after a year, but even at £26 for the year they probably only get a small percentage of customers making an emergency call so will not be losing money.

Paul

I was visiting with a chum in their basement flat when the bath fell over and burst a pipe joint. The stop cock was in the flat above and they were away. The emergency call out was something like £100 so my mate agreed and the fella said he'd be there in 30 minutes. 2 phone calls later and over an hour waiting I'd stuffed a cork in the broken pipe and lashed it with gaffa. Meanwhile another friend, DIYer had got across London via B&Q with his tools. He cut the end of the damaged pipe and slapped one of those plastic ends caps on and a fix was in. The emergency guy turned up but was sent away for being so late.
Since then I have kept a pipe cutter and end caps in a bag for emergencies. Cost me about £20 back then. Like these.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/monument-too ... tter/298pg
https://www.screwfix.com/p/jg-speedfit- ... pack/94176

That's good advice. I should ensure that my toolbox always has one 15mm and one 22mm push fit end cap for emergencies.

Nemo wrote:I've been on HomeServes site the £3.50 then goes up to £22.69 a month

(Splutter. ) I'm still paying about £3.50 a month for the home breakdown insurance that my bank (Lloyds) sold me a long time ago. It doesn't cover boilers, but on the one occasion when an immersion heater packed up (three days before Christmas!), they sent round a self-employed contract plumber who replaced it promptly and cheerfully.

And who noted that our immersion tank was quite furred up, and that if we ever felt like getting it replaced, all we'd need to do was declare a fault and they'd get it done on the insurance. Have to say that I wasn't entirely sure whether he was speaking for the insurance company there, or for the benefit of his own business! We didn't take him up on it, though.

I still do smallish plumbing jobs myself (up to and including pumps and valves), and I installed most of our pipes and rads myself nearly 30 years ago when we bought the house, so I don't feel too vulnerable. Drain problems can be a different matter, though. I'm up for a bit of rodding and the occasional shot of heavyweight chemicals below ground, but anything worse and I'd be glad of the insurance.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:I still do smallish plumbing jobs myself (up to and including pumps and valves), and I installed most of our pipes and rads myself nearly 30 years ago when we bought the house, so I don't feel too vulnerable. Drain problems can be a different matter, though. I'm up for a bit of rodding and the occasional shot of heavyweight chemicals below ground, but anything worse and I'd be glad of the insurance.

Insurance is usually priced to make a profit, eventually.
Which means on average, the customer makes a loss.

Like me, you do a lot of your own plumbing. I would suggest this means you're LESS likely to have a problem resulting in a claim and the average cost of you fixing your own problems ought to be a lot lower than paying someone.

jaizan wrote:Like me, you do a lot of your own plumbing. I would suggest this means you're LESS likely to have a problem resulting in a claim and the average cost of you fixing your own problems ought to be a lot lower than paying someone.

Indeed. And I imagine we both know where the stopcocks are, and the gate valves, and the isolation valves at every appliance. And my goodness, we've even gone so far as to test them sometimes?

Worth its weight in ruined carpets.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:and the isolation valves at every appliance. And my goodness, we've even gone so far as to test them sometimes?

Aye, when I moved into this house there was a fair bit of work to do so I had the water off a few times and took the chance to add a few extra isolations valves like to the outside tap and basin. You make a good point about testing them I'll pop that on my list.

jaizan wrote:Insurance is usually priced to make a profit, eventually.
Which means on average, the customer makes a loss.

Is that necessarily true?

If the insurer makes its profit by putting the money to work, the payouts could equal or even exceed the premium income yet still leave them a profit.

That's in principle. Not necessarily in practice, and if I try to read an insurer's accounts to find out I'm sure to get bogged down in things I don't understand.