Islay's Scotland

 

The big smoke
Photograph by Islay McLeod

I thought I was
 
covered. The gas man

thought otherwise

 

Andrew Hook

 

This is a true story. Early in January the gas fire in my sitting room cut out. I switched it on again, but half an hour later it cut out again. No need to worry I thought. I have my HomeCare insurance deal with Scottish Gas. All I have to do is phone and arrange for an engineer to come and sort it out.
     I call in the morning and explain the situation. Let me check, sir. I'm afraid your HomeCare policy does not cover your gas fire. What do you mean I'm not covered? I cannot believe what I'm hearing. I'd renewed the policy last October and been told I could 'Sit back, relax and continue to enjoy expert service for another year'. The price of that relaxation was no less than £53.32 per month, covering my central heating, all my domestic appliances, plumbing, and a list of other areas.
     Now Scottish Gas is telling me that my £53.32 monthly payment does not cover – of all appliances – my gas fire. Yes. Well, wait a minute. I have here in my hand your booklet 'HomeCare Range Terms and Conditions' (with the heading 'In your world everything should be clear'). On page four it says 'Terms and Conditions for your Agreement'. 'What we can look after'. There follows a fancy, colour-coded diagram listing a large range of areas available for cover. And yes, there it is in bright orange, 'Gas Appliances'. Is, or is not, a gas fire a gas appliance? Yes, but gas appliances are only among areas 'we can look after'. You should have specified that you wanted gas fires to be included in your cover. (In fact I have absolutely no recollection of being asked to specify anything. At £53.32 a month, I reasonably enough assumed I was buying into the whole package.)
     Very well sir, I’ll pass your complaint along to our customer resolution team and they will be in touch. However, if you want an engineer to call, you must let me have your credit/debit card number before I can arrange an appointment. There is an automatic call-out charge.
     Still believing I'd be sure to get my money back, I agreed. A young man duly arrived that afternoon. He decided the problem was dust at the point where the gas supply reached the initial ignition switch. ('Repairs to internal gas supply pipework between your meter and any of your appliances' are covered by my HomeCare agreement.) That took all of five minutes. However the engineer found the re-assembling of the fire back into its original position a very lengthy business. When he had finally managed it, and entered all the details in his laptop, he told me he was sorry – nothing to do with him – but the deduction from my card would be £190. Again let me repeat that I'm not making this up. For a 'repair' that took all of five minutes, Scottish Gas was shamelessly charging me £190.
     A few days later I did receive a letter from Scottish Gas's head of customer resolution (Helen Emms), telling me to 'rest assured, my team is dealing with the matter you raised'. And once they had reviewed 'the issues you mentioned,' they would get back to me 'as soon as possible'. Well it took them until 14 February to do so. And guess what the letter from Janette Middleton (customer manager) finally said? They were right and I was wrong.
     Despite my paying the princely sum of £639.29 per year – so that I could 'sit back and relax' knowing that all my household appliances were covered – they were fully entitled to charge me a further £190 for a virtually non-existent repair to a gas fire in my home. As the letter I received so elegantly put it: 'It's your responsibility to check your renewal invitation as this confirms the cover you have chosen and the price. It's not British Gas responsibility'.
     Weasel words. I feel strongly that Scottish/British Gas mis-sold me a HomeCare insurance package. Anyone subscribing to this apparently comprehensive scheme would take it for granted that gas appliances – including gas fires – would be included. Why ever not?
     These days we hear a great deal about 'compassionate capitalism' and 'responsible capitalism'. Centrica (the multi-national actual owners of what they misleadingly call 'Scottish/British' Gas) have clearly not been listening. Instead they have been laughing all the way to the bank with their scandalous profits. My experience makes it clear that old-fashioned, sharp-practice capitalism is very much alive and well. What a surprise!

 

Andrew Hook is a former professor of English literature at
Glasgow University