Review of Homeserve Boiler Insurance

Like other reviewers I bought Homeserve insurance from Wessex Water, although more recently I notice that Wessex's name disappeared from the insurance policy. We have had a running battle with Homeserve about our boiler cover, where they claimed that the heat exchanger was broken but the problem was not covered as it was due to hard water damage. However that was never included in the original policy details - probably because Wessex Water were well aware that this is a hard water area! I eventually got Homeserve to accept liability under the Financial Services Act by accusing them of mis-selling - which carries a very hefty fine!

They then argued that it was uneconomical to repair the boiler due to age and were only prepared to offer £300. As the boiler was old and we had been without heating for 7 months at that point, I gave up and used that to get a power flush and service. Amazingly enough the heat exchanger now works perfectly - and the engineer told me that there was no scale damage as the original plumber had fitted a scale inhibitor because this is a hard water area.

Frankly I wouldnt touch this lot with a barge pole as the clear intention is always to avoid liability wherever possible. Do not bother wtih any form of insurance if you live in a hard water area - most of the water companies use Homeserve and they are likely to use the same excuse, whatever the actual problem.