Families who pay hundreds of pounds to British Gas for boiler cover are being left with no heating or hot water for days.
Around 3.4 million HomeCare customers pay the energy giant to insure and service their boilers, with some paying extra for plumbing and home electrics cover.
But as winter approaches HomeCare customers are struggling to get broken boilers fixed quickly and finding they cannot book a service for weeks.
Delays: British Gas HomeCare customers are struggling to get broken boilers fixed quickly and finding they cannot book a service for weeks
Appointments are also postponed or rescheduled with very little notice and some engineers don’t turn up.
Iain Morris assumed an engineer would be with his mother Marion, 87, within hours when her boiler broke down last week.
The widow pays £38 a month for her HomeCare policy and has had boiler cover with British Gas for decades.
But when Iain, 59, called HomeCare he was informed that no one would be able to visit his mother’s home in Little Witcombe, Gloucester for four days. Iain says: ‘I found it unbelievable they couldn’t help an elderly woman who lives on her own sooner.’
Customers also report that boiler services have been postponed due to an ‘unexpectedly high number of emergencies’.
Skye Curtis, 33, had to wait six days to get her boiler fixed.
The personal assistant, who lives in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, with her two young children, says: ‘I had no idea we would be left without heating or hot water for such a long time.’
Martyn James, of complaints site Resolver, says firms must ensure they have enough engineers to respond to emergencies at any time of year. He adds: ‘It’s irresponsible to leave people without vital services — particularly those who might be vulnerable.’
British Gas insists there is no backlog and says it is busy at this time of year because families are turning on the heating for the first time. It says it attends 98.7 per cent of emergencies within 24 hours and always ‘prioritises vulnerable calls’.
