British Gas Homecare 400 - A Total Con (British Gas HomeCare)

Member Name: Gavin Cooke

Product:	British Gas HomeCare
Date:	21/07/09 (369 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The illusion that you are covered in an emergency.. until you try to claim.

Disadvantages: Pay your premiums, get nothing in return, unless you enjoy spending hours on the phone.

I was sold Homecare 400 with the promise that the outside water pipe between the house and stopcock would be covered, the British Gas Homecare salesperson kept reiterating how important that sort of cover is and how valuable it would be to me etc etc
Lo and behold, in the recent cold spell, I got a burst pipe. I didn't realise I had the leak for a few weeks, as the water supply did not completely stop, we just had lower pressure but we still had water.
Then the neighbours asked if I had a leak because they had water coming up through their garage floor. Turns out there was a big leak and the floor void was saturated.
Now comes the British Gas Homecare lies and dishonesty. After spending hours on the phone trying to make a claim, I was told I was not covered because the leak had been in place for a few weeks so it was not an emergency. They refused to let me even start the claim process. So if you have a leak and don't have x-ray vision so that you can see through the floorboards or into the ground and see the leak straight away, you are not covered! Unbelievable!
It cost me £650.00 to commission a commercial contractor to sort the leak out. I have tried to complain to British Gas by phone, but they say someone will phone back, and nobody does. And each time I contact them I have to spend ages waiting on the phone.
Homecare will do anything to wriggle out of their obligations. Any advice on what I can do next?
Another thing.. if you read the terms and conditions, there are a lot of exclusions (for those with older houses, beware! If you try to claim they will say you are not covered if you have the old style lead or iron pipes!!).

Summary: I cannot believe that Trading Standards have not shut them down. TV Watchdog please help!