AIBU to think my boiler plan is unreasonable

[Mitzimayo]

Subject: Rip off Domestic Appliance Guard
Hi all - I’m fuming about a boiler service plan I’ve been paying for with Domestic Appliance Guard. I thought it was giving me 'peace of mind' — their words, not mine — but now I find out that because I missed an annual service, my plan is basically useless.
Here’s what’s really annoyed me:

• In October, they emailed to confirm automatic renewal and offered 'continued peace of mind.' But what they didn’t mention was that without the annual service (which I was paying them to do under the contract), I couldn’t make any claims.
• I missed their one and only email reminder about the service and got no follow-ups. Surely for something so important, they should send more reminders - especially at time of renewal when they offer 'continued peace of mind'?
• This means that for all the months I’ve been paying, I wouldn’t have been able to make a single claim. They kept taking my money, knowing the plan was essentially worthless.
• To make it worse, I told them I live with a vulnerable adult who has chronic lung disease, and they brushed it off as a matter of 'comfort,' even though there’s no heating in her room.

I get that I should have booked the service, but surely as I am paying for the annual service they could have sent another reminder or at least when the renewal came up! I honestly feel like they rely on people missing things so they can keep taking payments while excluding claims. AIBU to think this is unfair and that their 'peace of mind' promise is just marketing fluff? They get rave reviews but this is when they sign people up and promise everything! Has anyone else been caught out like this? I’m thinking about reporting them to Trading Standards or sharing my experience widely. Any advice?

I'm not sure on what basis you can complain to Trading Standards, they have done nothing wrong.

Service plans always state that an annual service must be carried out and the onus is on the owner to make sure that this is done. They did remind you, it isn't their fault that you missed it.

To be fair they sent a reminder and you missed it. They are clear in their terms and conditions and really it is on you to make sure you are getting the service done.

It would be nice if they followed up to make sure people were meeting the terms of their service but I don’t think it is a trading standards issue.

You have just reminded me that I need to get my car serviced though as this is a condition of my breakdown cover.

The have done their part of the agreement by sending a reminder.

Why should they send a follow-up on the reminder?

And a helpful hint: use the calendar on your phone. Set it for Fri. 13th boiler service, then have a reminder 2 weeks before, a week before and a few days before! Honestly, it works well for those annual things like boiler & car service, MOT l, pet booster jabs, ...

Not a trading standards issue, sorry OP. Just one of those things!

I don’t think they’ve done anything wrong. They sent you a reminder to book a service and you forgot. That’s on you.

Trading Standards will say what pp have said - the company have done nothing wrong. It will have been in the T & C AND they sent you a reminder.

Thanks - it is interesting that people think I ABU. I get what you say that it was my fault I missed the email - but to send a message to me saying I have peace of mind and that they are automatically renewing, knowing that I couldn't make a claim is, I think pretty harsh on their part. They were taking money knowing I would be unable to make a claim and I had paid for the service to be done. I do appreciate though I need to be on top of things but with so much going on this year, I just missed the email. Good to get others' views though.

On reflection - I think they could have said we are not renewing until you have the boiler serviced but to take my money without reference to this is, I think unreasonable.

These are all bollocks. Just find a good local man to service it and fix it when it breaks.

Actually @Mitzimayo I think that under the Consumer Duty (which came into force on 31 July 2023) they are required to view this as a foreseeable harm and take steps to avoid it happening.
Contact them and ask whether this product is covered by the Consumer Duty, it might not be. If it is then ask them whether their actions to prevent foreseeable harm by not advising you that the policy was invalid when they renewed it were compliant.

Initially I thought YABU, however I think you can argue they have misold you a policy as they knew you were unable to claim on it. Would you be able to argue this under the consumer rights act maybe? It's not fit for purpose? How are you paying? If on a credit card and over £100 then you may be able to make the credit card company jointly liable to refund your premium as the service promised is not being provided.

Does the service have to be done by them for the policy to be valid? And did the most recent renewal fall after the service would have been due? If the answers to both questions are "yes" then I personally think the policy provider is being unreasonable here. They knew the policy would never pay out and I'd have a good go at arguing that it was mis-sold on that basis.

If the answer to either question is "no" though, I think they're pretty safe. They can't see into the future to know you would miss a service, and they didn't know it had been missed as you could have had someone else do it.

A lot of companies use these underhand tactics to keep milking money out of people.

I'm with British Gas and they send regular reminders about the boiler service. Although, unsurprisingly, they don't state explicitly that, without that service, you're not entitled to any repairs (and therefore chucking your money into a black hole).

So you've been paying for nothing... I'd be bloody fuming too and would look further into this. (I'm sure I've had similar problems, in the past with British Gas.)

I can see your frustration, I’d be angry too.

On the other hand, they are not really offering you ‘peace of mind’- they are a business with the sole purpose to make money. It’s unlikely they go through all their clients to make sure they are compliant. After all, you’re the best kind of customer- blindly paying out the wonga yet they don’t need to fix your boiler! I suppose my car warranty is void if I don’t service it yearly, yet the payments keep rolling out.

Could you pay for a service and repair at the same time?

I don't think YABU at all.

Annual boiler plans as usually considered to be a type of insurance.

Did they renewed without telling you the plan was worthless as you hadn't had the annual service?

That could be misselling.

I would also argue that one email reminder is not treating customers fairly. They should also be taking into account the needs of vulnerable customers and doing more to support them and their needs, such as providing more reminders or reminders in different formats (eg post) as you are more likely to struggle to keep up with these things.

I would make a formal complaint with a view to progressing this to FOS. You may also want to consider making the FCA aware of these issues (they won't do anything for you individually but if they identify a systemic problem they may introduce further rules or guidance or lol into the practices of specific firms).

These things are madness. Why would anyone in their right mind agree to it? It’s a total scam.

Talking of confusing contracts, has anyone heard of BT Halo? Our broadband was extortionate (my husband signed up to the plan originally) and on renewal I asked why we weren’t paying the Black Friday rate that was half what our current bill was. ‘Oh but you have halo, and that’s why you pay so much’, I was told. What’s that then I asked, only to be told if the broadband breaks, someone would come to fix it. Well what if you don’t have halo, I asked. Do you just keep paying for broadband that doesn’t work? Well we might not come to your house to fix it was the perplexing reply.

Now that can’t be right can it? That’s really not the case, that you pay double the cost - and the agent agreed it would be the same coverage and speeds - for a wee man to come out if broadband breaks, in comparison to, well a wee man coming out of it breaks? What’s going on? Can anyone please explain?

OP D&G knew you'd not be covered because you didn't get an annual service and still chose to take money from you every month. They should have done 2 things in this circumstance. 1. Cancelled your policy straight away because you didn't get a service done 2. Offered a Boiler service asap and then fixed any issues. But as they are greedy so and So"s they let you pay and now not interested when an issue arises.

I am currently paying £37 a month to D&G for boiler Insurance. I have not had the Boiler serviced this year. To think I'm paying over £400 a yr to be told I'm not covered would be horrible. I'm actually thinking of cancelling and just putting £37 every month in a seperate bank account.

@CrazyAndSagittarius Consumer Duty hasn't replaced TCF but takes it further. If this is an FCA regulated product then the CD protection is more robust because it covers foreseeable harm, ie things that haven't happened yet but are likely to.
Continuing to take money when you can reasonably foresee someone isn't covered by the product you're taking money for is absolutely in scope.

I've always found these boiler insurance plans to be a complete rip off. You are much better off paying an independent corgi registered firm to carry out your annual service. The money you save from not paying out monthly can be used if you do have any boiler problems.
Even when you do try to get a repair under these schems they can say that some things are not covered in the plan and you still have to pay extra.