When I received a higher than usual boiler insurance quote from British Gas, I used USwitch to find a better deal and took out an agreement with Coverheat. You certainly get what you pay for! Here is my cancellation email to them:
"I wish to cancel my policy P with immediate effect.
The reasons for this are as follows - it also speaks volumes to me that your customer service team didn't even bother to ask on the phone why I wanted to cancel my policy.
I took out my policy in good faith on 21st November 2008. I noted the terms and conditions which you suggested I should have 'particular regard' to. A reputable company would also have made sure customers took note of 2.3, where you state that customers bear responsibility for arranging their own annual maintenance visit. This, as you know, is vitally important - to not highlight this clause to customers is fraudulent and puts all customers, but particularly vulnerable ones, at risk. You chose not to do so. I wonder why?
When I phoned to report a fault with my boiler, on 13th January 2009, the operator recorded it and said that you would be in touch. A week later, on 20th January, I phoned to find out why I had not been contacted. The operator (Sarah) could offer no explanation for this, but informed me that 'head office' had requested my previous maintenance records. However, it seems no-one had ever arranged to tell me this until I complained. When I asked what would happen if I could not find these, she suggested I may have to pay for a repair, and said that this was because I should have arranged an inspection myself. Only then was my attention drawn to the terms and conditions.
From this moment on, I lost all confidence and peace of mind in your company. I actually found my service records, but decided to do a little research on your company to see if any other customers had had the misfortune of being deliberately misled from the start. What I found horrified me. I am just the latest in a long list of customers who are dissatisfied by the shoddy way Coverheat do business. I decided there and then to take out a protection policy with a more reputable company, who arranged a maintenance inspection from the start.
I am very concerned at the way you conduct business, and would request that in future you draw attention to this clause in your covering letter to customers, to avoid accusations that you set out to deliberately mislead them, particularly the more vulnerable. I will be contacting my MP, Watchdog, Trading Standards and the Insurance Ombudsman at the FOS to lobby for this.
In the meantime, I would like you to refund my 39.99, but having read previous customers' attempts, I shan't hold my breath."
And here you can find all the other complaints warning about them.
And yes, I know I sound like an arse in my email, but I was cross