British Gas is a well-established energy supplier, and they also offer insurance to their customers. Managing their cover is easy, thanks to online self-service.
They have four levels of home insurance – HomeCare One, Two, Three, and Four. They also provide a 24-hour helpline and boiler breakdown cover.
British Gas
British Gas is one of the UK’s biggest energy providers, and they also provide a range of other services, including home insurance. They offer buildings and contents insurance that protects your home’s bricks and mortar, as well as any fittings that can’t be removed.
A typical British Gas home insurance policy will cover both buildings and contents, with policies starting from PS500,000 for buildings and up to PS65,000 for personal possessions. In addition to this, they offer a variety of optional extras, including accidental damage, emergency repairs, personal possessions, and legal expenses cover.
While there are some negative reviews on the British Gas website, most of these complaints have been resolved and are not representative of how the company treats customers.
There are four different levels of British Gas HomeCare cover, and each plan comes with unlimited call-outs and all parts and labour costs. However, it is worth noting that repairs to central heating systems are considered separate and incur an excess charge on top of the standard monthly premium.
Hometree
If you are a landlord, you may want to consider Hometree’s boiler and heating care plans. These can help you keep your property safe from cold-weather disasters and avoid paying hefty last-minute bills for repairs.
A recent study showed that Hometree was much faster and cheaper than British Gas when replacing a home’s boiler. According to the study, Hometree’s services were PS1300 cheaper than British Gas’s, and they could complete a new boiler installation in as little as three weeks.
Hometree’s cover is available to landlords and homeowners and offers comprehensive protection against various common heating, plumbing, and electrical problems. They have a UK-based helpline and engineers who are punctual and friendly. They also offer a Welcome Pack that explains their plans and answer frequently asked questions.
Home Serve
Home Serve is a reputable UK-based home emergency cover provider that offers numerous policies that can be combined to create flexible coverage. It also deals with tenants directly, which makes it an excellent option for landlords.
The first level of cover is HomeCare One, which covers your gas boiler, controls, thermostat and programmer. It doesn’t include the wider central heating system such as radiators or hot water cylinders, which requires HomeCare Two.
Alternatively, you can choose HomeCare Three which protects all of the things in Plan One, but includes repairs to your plumbing, drains and waste pipes. Lastly, you can go for HomeCare Four, which covers everything in Plans One to Three but also repairs your mains electrical system and wiring.
British Gas has an average rating on Trustpilot, but many customers complain about the company’s customer service and long call waiting times. They have a live chat service online, but some people find it ineffective.
HomeCare
HomeCare is a range of British Gas insurance policies that provide cover for your boiler, central heating system, plumbing and drains as well as home electrics. The policies are available to both domestic and landlord customers.
There are four levels of cover – named HomeCare One, Two, Three and Four – which all include an annual boiler service as well as unlimited call-outs and parts and labour costs for the boiler and controls. They also come with a UK-based helpline and a 24 hour claims notification line.
The most basic level of cover is HomeCare One and it protects your gas boiler, its controls, thermostat and programmer. This does not include repairs to your wider central heating system, such as radiators and the hot water cylinder.
The more comprehensive cover is HomeCare Two and this includes everything in HomeCare One as well as covering repairs to your heating system, central heating pumps and the hot water cylinder. It also covers repairs to your mains electrical system and wiring.
