Well a further series of phone calls yesterday to both the insurance company and the engineer established the following facts:

1) Using the boiler in its current state wasn't actually dangerous. At some point in the near future the fan would fail, at which point the boiler would simply stop working.

2) If we waited until that point, the insurance company would pay the full costs of repairing the boiler (both parts and labour).

3) If we wanted the fan replaced before then, it would cost us £170 for the fan, plus labour.

We spent some time debating what to do about that. As I said in my previous post, I instinctively dislike the idea of intentionally running failing machinery to destruction. But on the other hand, why shell out well over £200 that you don't have to?

As it happens, the boiler appears to have resolved our dilemma in a timely fashion. We tried turning it on to do a bit of heating yesterday evening, and after lighting a few times (with a nasty noise) and then cutting out thirty seconds later (with the red override light coming on), it then settled into a routine where when you turn it on, you get no noise, just an instant red override light. I tried it again this morning, and got the same result.

So now maybe we can phone the insurance company back up, and say, "Now it really has broken, so now will you actually come and fix it?"

Tags: bastards, insurance

As those of you who've read my last "Tweets Of The Day" post will know, our boiler is currently not working. Actually, strictly speaking, it is actually working (a fact that will later be revealed to be crucial) but when you turn it on it makes such a ear-splitting racket that it sounds like a helicopter about to explode. So we turned it off. And as Corgi (the UK's national gas safety watchdog) have spent the last thirty-eight years reminding us:

You don't fuck with gas.

(Actually, I don't think their adverts quite say that, but it's basically the jist of their message).

Now, a little history. A year or so ago, aided by incompetence, carelessness, and a three-month introductory offer, I managed to sign us up for some home emergency cover insurance offered by the people who do my car insurance. It covered us for emergency repairs/callouts for gas, plumbing etc. Basically, if it stops working, they'll contact a "qualified local tradesman/woman" and get them to come and fix it.

When it came for renewal last November we didn't plan on renewing it. In fact, to be totally honest, until they started bombarding us with repeated pleas via both post and phone to renew, I had rather forgotten that it existed. But when we looked at what it offered (admittedly without reading the small print too much - yes, yes, I know!) it seemed like a pretty good deal at a pretty good price: only £8 something a month.

I had, of course, forgotten one of the primary principles of insurance:

If insurance is cheap, it's because in the event of the insured event happening, they won't actually pay up.

Initially all seemed good. First thing yesterday morning my other half called the "report a problem" phone line, and within a couple of hours an engineer had arrived and: diagnosed the problem (fan not working properly); expressed strong surprise that the boiler was even working given the state of the fan; given a strong impression that it was best not to use it until it was fixed (if for no other reason that it could damage other things); and had then departed, promising to order the replacement part.

Then... nothing. And this is for a total loss of heating and hot water during a spell of weather so cold it's bought chaos to the country. (Luckily, we have a gas fire in the living room and good insulation, so it hasn't been too bad).

So this lunchtime, my other half phones the engineer to be told:

1) when he got back to the office, they told him that we weren't covered for him to actually repair the boiler; so

2) they sent a message to our insurance company to tell them this; who

3) then did nothing. (Well they certainly didn't phone us. It has been suggested by the guys here at work that they probably popped a letter in the post. It's amazing how reversing the flow of money causes them to forget the existance of the telephone.)

Now, I wasn't necessarily expecting us to get it all fixed for free. I would have been quite happy if they said that they'd pay for labour but we'd have to pay for parts. But what really pisses me off is that they've just dumped us - and haven't even bothered to tell us that we're now on our own.

So my other half phoned the insurance company, and the gist of it apparently was:

- we're not covered because it is actually still technically capable of producing hot water (in the same way as a car with one cylinder out is still capable of forward motion);

- if we want them to fix it, we have to keep using it until the fan completely self-destructs and the boiler totally stops working, at which point they will pay for it (and they'll supposedly pay for any other damage that is caused by us continuing to use it - although I'd trust that commitment about as far as I could throw it);

- they are unable to explain why they haven't told us that they're not going to fix it, and unable to state whether or not they were going to inform us of this (I think she asked something like, "Why didn't you tell us you weren't going to fix it? Were you ever going to tell us?" and got only an embarrassed silence in response).

So basically, we could have shivvered for days waiting for a repair that would never come. At least we're young, fit and assertive. What if it had been an old person this happened to?

Needless to say, I'm not going to keep using a clearly unhappy boiler to the point of destruction just to fulfill the twisted, exemption-ridden policies of my insurance company.

We won't be renewing.

Tags: bastards, gas, insurance