LloydsTSB Home Emergency insurance underwritten by Royal Sun Alliance (Lloyds TSB insuredirect)

Member Name: lauravienna

Product:	Lloyds TSB insuredirect
Date:	07/08/06 (1248 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Having no hot water or heating is NOT deemed to be an emergency.

I have been paying this insurance policy for 10 months. It is 'Home Emergency Insurance'. It is separate from home insurance (contents insurance) and comes off as a separate direct debit.

On Friday my boiler broke down completely - black ash came flying out, and I had (and still have) no hot water or heating. Bearing in mind that this was a Friday evening, it would have been tricky to find someone to repair it. But I thought I'd be covered with the Home Emergency Insurance - I thought wrong!

They said that they would not be sending anyone out, as I wasn't covered. At first they said it was because it was a 'summer month'. I said I'd check my policy. They phoned back and ADMITTED that there was no mention of non-insurance in summer, but the whole policy relied on what THEY deemed to be an emergency.

What is supposed to be covered is:

..."The most we will pay for any one emergency is:
• the tradesman’s attendance for two hours (including any
callout charge) and,
• £100 inclusive of VAT in respect of parts and materials."..

I quoted from their policy (Page 8 - under 'What emergency is covered')

"4. Heating system
Complete breakdown of the primary heating system.
ie. hot water and central heating"

but apparently this did not apply in summer (although this is NOT stated in the document.

I also stated that I was concerned that the boiler (due to the black ashes) may be omitting carbon moxoxide or poisonous gases and that I was susceptable as I am 4 months pregant. This made no difference. Being pregnant my skin is in a bit of a mess at the moment and I need to keep it clean with hot water to avoid infection.

Nothing I said made any difference - I spoke to 5 members of staff and got nowhere.

I questioned them on what exactly was a 'summer month' "if this had been in September would I have been covered?" - then he said it would depend on the temperature, so I asked him what temperature this would be - he said there was no set temperature. It may be that they don't even cover you at minus 10 (as they 'deem' that not to be cold enough to constitute an emergency!). And why mention the hot water at all in the policy? - as a kettle can be boiled at any time of the year!

What if you have a condition whereby you need the heating on all the time?

I had - what I thought was - a similar policy with DirectLine a couple of years ago and had no such trouble.

Stay clear of both LloydsTSB and Royal Sun Alliance

Further to what I said I since got my colleagues at work to phone up enquiring about the policy - their questions were direct "if my boiler breaks down leaving me with no hot water or heating, will you come out? Even in summer?". The answer in both the calls was 'yes'.

I took this up with a manager at Lloyds - they admit they have been mis-selling - the thought their underwriter would come out in this case. But even with this evidence, the decision wouldn't change and I am left, cheated.

Summary: A complete con!