British Gas or Homeserve?

[runner2]

Our British Gas annual Homecare policy (covering central heating plus plumbing and drains) is up for renewal and even after haggling on the phone (which I do every year) the lowest increase I've got them to is another £6 a month. Meanwhile I've been offered (via our water supplier) plumbing and drains cover with HomeServe for just £6 for the first year, which is tempting. I want to stick with BG for central heating cover but do I cancel the plumbing and drains with them and take out a separate policy with Home Serve?
What would you do?

You can get boiler/central heating/electrics/plumbing cover etc with Home Serve as well as the drains. I'm very risk averse so insure all of these on one policy every year. I switch from one company to another most years to get the best possible prices. On the whole I prefer Home Serve because British Gas are a customer service nightmare.

I’ve been a British Gas homecare customer for several years and found them to be ok. When they tried to increase the monthly cost, I just leave them for a year or two then rejoin as a new customer.
However, I do have plumbing and drains cover. The last few days, I’ve noticed we have a leak coming from the waste pipe, from the kitchen sink. Not the main sink, the side dish one ( whatever it’s called!). It only leaks when we use that sink, so we stopped using it obviously. Not an emergency but needs sorting.
Anyway, if we call out BG, who I think use Dyno Rod, they will charge us an excess but will cover the parts/ labour.
However that’s still potentially cheaper than calling out a plumber, who’ll charge a call out charge then for parts and labour.
Is it worth calling them for a minor leak?

Have you read the reviews on Homeserve....they are a bunch of cowboys....the reviews are beyond shocking...i wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

We've gone for Hometree, after having an enormous quote from BG to renew last year. So far we're very pleased with them, and the cost is about half. We haven't had to use them for any emergencies yet, but the reviews on trustpilot are generally excellent, so we're keeping fingers crossed. The boiler service was certainly done promptly and following all the protocols you'd expect.

We used BG for years, I liked them as much boiler service was included which isnt the case with my current Homeserve.

With BG however the issue was when something did go wrong, the timescale for repairs was unbelievable. No working heating in October, the earliest they could do was in 10 weeks! After much complaining I got them out quicker. However when the fault reappeared on Xmas eve it was a bloody nightmare. Their next available date was mid march and like most folk we had family coming on xmas day (pre covid days) and in the end they came out that evening only because my dementia riddled Nan would be staying with us. Turns out the problem was unrelated to the part they replaced which just happened to also be on the blink.

Now I wouldnt touch them with a barge pole, I cant even begin to imagine their customer service during these covid days.

Meanwhile HS I reported an issue yesterday and they're coming today. Like a breath of fresh air

I have signed up for both Homecare (British Gas) and HomeServe (for water etc)
Unfortunately I have just noticed that HomeServe are signed up to Stonewall. My values which exclude the chemical castration of children do not align with that policy so I shall be leaving.
Meanwhile Homecare are about to massively increase my annual policy for repairs that have not taken place.