Terms and conditions for your British Gas HomeCare Service agreement

Our promise to you

We aim to provide a safe, high-quality service to repair and maintain the equipment included in this agreement. If you have any questions or concerns about your agreement, please contact us on 0845 7 365 100.

Summary of your agreement

What the agreement provides

• Labour and parts for repairs, depending on the level of service you have chosen.

• One Safety and Maintenance Inspection in every year of your agreement for Central heating, Boiler and controls, Gas Appliance Care and Gas Appliance Check. Please read the section called ‘Safety and Maintenance Inspection’ for full details.

• No limit to the number of call-outs to carry out work included in your agreement.

• Priority service (every day of the year).

• Getting to your system (where shown).

• A customer helpline available 24 hours a day, every day.

• Advice about your system from our engineers.

British Gas HomeCare options

We base your agreement on the British Gas HomeCare options you choose (listed and described below). The diagram in this leaflet will give you guidance on what you can expect from each service option. You should also read the ‘General exclusions’ section in this leaflet.

There are four levels of HomeCare

HomeCare 400 – central heating, plumbing, drains and electrics

Includes Central heating , Plumbing and Drains Care and Home Electrical Care

HomeCare 300 – central heating, plumbing and drains

Includes Central heating and Plumbing and Drains Care

HomeCare 200 – central heating

See ‘Central heating’

HomeCare 100 – boiler and controls

See ’Boiler and controls’

Services you may choose

1 Gas services

A What is included

1 Central heating

This service is for maintaining and repairing a single wet (using water) or warm-air gas central-heating system (or an electric system if we installed it) in your home and includes the following.

• A Safety and Maintenance Inspection of your boiler and system (except electric boilers and parts of the system that aren’t easy to get to). Please read the section ‘Safety and Maintenance Inspection’ for full details.

• Labour and parts if your system breaks down

• If we agree that your boiler is less than seven years old, we will provide a replacement boiler if it is not possible to repair it because, for example, spare parts are not available, or we decide that it would cost more to repair the boiler than to replace it with a suitable new boiler we have approved.

• If your boiler is seven years old or more, and it is not possible to repair it or you choose to replace it at any time (however old it is), as a Central heating customer, you are entitled to a discount on the cost of installing a boiler if you choose us to replace it.

• All necessary PowerFlush work after your initial PowerFlush (which we charge you for). See the ‘PowerFlush’ section in this leaflet.

If you have not had any repairs carried out and you have had an agreement for more than two years, you will qualify for discounts. This does not apply if you have a specific agreement of two to five years on a new British Gas boiler.

There is no age limit on your boiler and it does not matter who installed it, as long as all the essential working parts are available and we have approved it.

2 Boiler and controls

This is the same as Central heating , except that the labour and parts are for the boiler and controls only

3 Gas Appliance Care

This service is for maintaining and repairing fires, water heaters, wall heaters and cookers in your home

The service includes:

• one Safety and Maintenance Inspection of your appliance in every year of your agreement; and

• labour and parts, if your appliance breaks down.

4 Gas Appliance Check

This service is for maintaining boilers, fires, water heaters, wall heaters and cookers in your home.

The service includes one Safety and Maintenance Inspection of your appliance in every year of your agreement. However, it does not include labour and parts for breakdowns.

You can choose to have extra work done, but you will have to pay for it.

5 Internal gas supply

We will repair all gas-supply pipework inside your home, between your meter and any appliances as long as you have Homecare 400. (You cannot buy the internal gas supply service on its own.)

6 Property Care

This service is available to landlords who let out properties for domestic purposes and is the same as HomeCare 200 plus it includes a Gas Safety Record. You cannot buy the Gas Safety Record without a HomeCare agreement.

Legal requirements

By law, landlords must have gas appliances in properties they let checked for safety every 12 months. They should also hold a Gas Safety Record as proof.

B What is not included

• Removing sludge or hard-water scale from the boiler or system (see the ‘PowerFlush’ section under ‘Customer information’).

• Replacing your boiler if it is seven years old or more.

• Repairing or replacing appliance flues that aren’t part of your boiler.

• Repairing or replacing parts of your central-heating system and controls that are specifically designed for piped or electric underfloor heating (other than warm-air systems).

Please also see the ‘General exclusions’.

2 Plumbing services

A What is included

1 Plumbing and Drains Care

Part A

Plumbing

Under this service, inside your home we will provide materials and labour to repair or replace:

• hot- and cold-water pipes from the mains stopcock leading to your taps (including garden taps);

• your cold-water storage tank;

• leaking overflow pipes;

• standard ball valves and toilet siphon;

• pipes that burst as a result of cold weather;

• central-heating water pipes if there is a water leak;

• radiator valves;

• hot-water cylinders and immersion heaters; and

• washing-machine and dishwasher hot and cold flexible pipes (as long as they are installed to the manufacturer’s instructions).

This service includes a Maintenance Inspection to check for water leaks on your internal pipework, valves and hot- water cylinder once in every continuous two-year period in which you hold this agreement with us.

If you are a HomeCare 300 or 400 customer, this service includes a check for water leaks on on your internal pipework, valves and hot- water cylinder every year (at the same time as your Safety Maintenance Inspection for your central heating system).

Part B

Drains

This includes our cost of materials, labour and repair (up to £1000 including VAT for each job) for:

• unblocking, repairing and getting to waste drainage pipes, or rainwater drains, inside your home (for example, unblocking sinks) and within the boundary of your property (up to where it is connected to the public or shared drains connection, if you are responsible for this) to restore flow.

2 Plumbing Care

See part A ‘Plumbing’ above.

B What is not included

• Repairing or replacing taps and washers in taps.

• Repairing or replacing the mains cold-water stopcock, water softeners, shower pumps and mixer valves, mechanical pumps, water filters, radiators, swimming pools, decorative garden features, rainwater pipes and guttering, macerators such as Saniflo, and electrical units for toilets.

• Repairing or replacing soakaways, septic tanks, cesspits, treatment plants and their outflow pipes.

• Regularly cleaning your drains.

• Repairing or unblocking drains shared with another property or properties.

• Repairing or unblocking drains which are just used for commercial purposes.

• Repairing or replacing any lead or steel pipes. Please also see the ‘General exclusions’.

3 Electrical services

A What is included

1 Home Electrical Care

This service is for maintaining and repairing electrical wiring and electrical fixtures inside your home It is for:

• the fixed electrical wiring system (inside your home and inside outbuildings as long as it has been correctly installed); and

• fuse boxes, light switches, wall sockets, light fixtures, circuit breakers and transformers.

This service includes:

• labour and parts for repairs;

• one Maintenance Inspection in every continuous two-year period in which you hold this agreement with us;

• fitting standard replacement parts, for example, we will replace a brass switch with a standard equivalent such as a white plastic switch; and

• a 10% discount off the full cost of any electrical home improvements when you use our Electrical Home Improvement service.

B What is not included

• Repairing controls, pumps, detectors, timers and programmers.

• Repairing or replacing the mains supply.

• Repairing the power supply between your home and the outbuildings on your property.

Please also see the ‘General exclusions’.

2 Kitchen Appliance Care

This service is for maintaining and repairing gas and electrical appliances inside your home. It is for:

• automatic and tub washing machines;

• automatic washer-dryers, spin dryers and dishwashers;

• fridges, freezers, fridge-freezers; and

• cookers, ovens, hobs and microwave ovens (but not cooker hoods and extractors).

We can only include your appliance if:

• it was bought in the United Kingdom; and

• it is in good working order at the time we process your agreement.

The service includes labour and parts if your appliance breaks down and:

• one Maintenance Inspection in every continuous two-year period in which you hold this agreement with us (on the appliances on your agreement).

If it is not possible to repair your appliance, for example, because spare parts are no longer available to carry out the repair, we will give you a refund as follows.

• If your agreement relates to one appliance, we will refund the actual amount you have paid to us under this agreement for the appliance we are not able to repair (up to 12 months’ payments).

• If your agreement relates to more than one appliance, we will refund the amount you have paid to us under this agreement for the appliance we are not able to repair (up to 12 months’ payments). For details of the refund value for each type of appliance, please call 08457 365100.

If you have paid us in advance for 12 months ‘but the affected appliance has been part of the contract for less than 12 months, we will refund your 12 months’ payments relating to that particular appliance as set out above.

General exclusions

Your British Gas HomeCare agreement does not include the following.

Design or existing faults

We will not include the cost of repairs needed because of design faults (unless we are responsible), or faults which existed before you entered into the agreement and which we could not identify on our first inspection of that particular system or appliance using reasonable care and skill.

Third-party or accidental damage

We will not include the cost of repairs relating to damage caused by you or someone else.

Consequential loss

Unless we are responsible for it, we will not include loss or damage to property, (including any cleaning needed) caused by the appliance, boiler or system breaking down or leaking (for example, damage to furniture caused by water leaks).

If we have to dig on your property, we will fill in any holes and leave the surface level but we will not necessarily replace the original surface or construction. Any redecoration that may be needed following our work is your responsibility, unless we have been negligent.

Normal insured risks

We will not include the cost of repairing faults, or damage caused by freezing weather conditions (except certain repairs included in ‘Plumbing and Drains Care’), subsidence, structural repairs, accident, fire, lighting, explosion, flood or storm. You should check your household insurance to make sure you have enough cover for these risks.

Under all British Gas HomeCare options

We will not include the following.

• Replacing appliances, bathroom fixtures, showers and sanitaryware (apart from boilers as described earlier).

• Improvements including work that is needed to bring your system up to current standards. Examples of improvements include system upgrades, such as adding thermostatic radiator valves, replacing parts such as flues or vents which do not meet current standards, and replacing working radiators with improved models. (These are examples only, not a complete list.) You may need to have improvements carried out before we are able to complete other repairs to your system.

• Replacing or repairing parts which do not affect how the system or appliance works or decorative or specialist parts.

• Resetting controls (for example, thermostats and programmers following changes due to winter or summer).

• Repairing faults or clearing physical blockages (blockages such as rubble, sludge and scale, but not air locks) if we have told you permanent repairs or improvements are needed to make sure your appliance or system works properly. We will only tell you this if, in our expert opinion, it is necessary.

• Removing asbestos associated with repairing the appliance or system. When you have had any asbestos removed, you must give us a clean-air certificate before we will do any further work at your property. By law, the person who removes the asbestos must give you a clean-air certificate.

• Cash alternatives for repair or maintenance.

• Repairing any damage caused by our work or redecorating, unless we or our agents have been negligent or broken this agreement.

• Repairing or replacing any lead, steel or central heating iron pipes (other than for internal-gas-supply customers where the gas-supply pipe from your meter to the appliance is included).

• The cost of repairing damage or breakdowns caused by changes to, or problems with, the gas, electricity or water services.

About your agreement

Domestic use

British Gas HomeCare agreements are only available for appliances used inside your home for domestic purposes. If you own a domestic property which you let out, we will offer you a Property Care agreement.

Service coverage

There a few areas of Great Britain where we do not provide British Gas HomeCare agreements. If this affects you, we will tell you when you apply.

Period of agreement

Your agreement runs until you tell us that you would like to cancel, or if we cancel the agreement (see ‘Cancellation’). You may cancel the agreement at any time. We will write to you to tell you about any changes to the terms and conditions or prices.

Please read the section ‘Minimum charges’ below.

Start date

Your agreement begins when we process your application.

Initial safety inspection

If you choose HomecCare 100 to 400, we will inspect your gas central-heating system or gas appliance (or both) to make sure they are safe and in good working order. Your British Gas service engineer will fill in a safety inspection checklist to show you what he or she has checked. We will normally do this inspection within 28 days of the beginning of your agreement where possible. However, as we give priority to breakdowns, it can be later if there is a lot of demand for our services. If the inspection reveals a problem, we may:

• tell you what work is needed and what it will cost you for that work to be done;

• offer you an agreement from the section ‘Gas services’, which will not include the parts causing the problem; or

• cancel the agreement and refund your money.

We will not carry out an initial inspection if we have already carried out a Safety and Maintenance Inspection at the property within the last 12 months.

Safety and Maintenance Inspections

We will normally carry out the Safety and Maintenance Inspection for gas options at the same time as the initial inspection. If we do not carry out an initial inspection because we have already carried out a Safety and Maintenance Inspection at the property within the last 12 months, we will normally arrange for your first Safety and Maintenance Inspection 12 months from the date we last inspected the system or appliance.

After that, for the gas options, we will carry out a Safety and Maintenance Inspection once in every year of your agreement. We will aim to carry out the Safety and Maintenance Inspection around the same time each year where possible. This will depend on our workload and your preference for an appointment. As long as we can get into your home, we will always make sure we check that your system or appliance is safe. You can also call us at any time to arrange or rearrange your Safety and Maintenance Inspection.

For electrical and plumbing options we will aim to carry out a Maintenance Inspection once in every continuous two-year period of your agreement. This will depend on our workload and your preference for an appointment.

Landlord’s safety records

We can carry out the inspections that are needed at the same time as the Safety and Maintenance Inspection. We will only check and issue a Gas Safety Record for the appliances that are included on either your HomeCare 100 or 200, Gas Appliance Care, or Gas Appliance Check (whichever applies) agreement. We can inspect for safety or service any other gas appliances in the rented property for an extra cost. After the inspections on the gas appliances, we will then give you a Gas Safety Record showing that we have done a safety inspection, which will include details of any faults we have found and any repairs that are needed. (You will need to pay a small fee for this unless you have Property Care.) If you or we cancel your agreement after we have provided a Gas Safety Record, we will not refund our fee for providing the Gas Safety Record.

Gaining access to your property

It is your responsibility to let us into your property. If we cannot gain access to your property to carry out the necessary work, we will tell you so that you may arrange an appointment. If, after several attempts, we still cannot gain access, we may cancel your agreement. We will tell you in writing if this is the case.

Cancellation

We may cancel your agreement in the following circumstances.

• If you have given false information.

• If you do not make an agreed payment.

• For gas options, if:

  • we find something wrong at the initial safety inspection; or

  • we have advised you that permanent repairs or improvements are needed to make sure your appliance or system works properly, and you do not follow our advice within a reasonable period. This advice may include replacing your boiler or system.

• If we are not reasonably able to find parts to keep your system or appliance working safely.

• If circumstances arise (including health and safety issues) which make it inappropriate for the contract to continue.

• If we give you reasonable notice that we are going to cancel.

If we cancel your agreement, we will:

• for gas options, give you a full refund if we find something wrong at the initial safety inspection; or

• give you a refund based on how long is left of any 12-month cash, cheque, credit-card or debit-card payment you have already made.

If we cancel your agreement because we have told you that permanent repairs or improvements are needed, we may offer you another agreement with us, for example one which will not include the parts causing the problem, or does not include the cost of repairs to your system or boiler.

You may cancel your agreement in the following circumstances.

• If it is within seven working days starting from the day after you receive written confirmation of your agreement with us and you will receive a full refund of any money paid (unless we have carried out an inspection or repair, in which case minimum charges will apply. Please read the section ‘Minimum charges’ below).

• If it is within one month after us letting you know about changes in prices or terms and conditions or if we fail to do something which we should have done.

In this case, you will receive a refund based on how much time is left of the relevant 12-month period or, if you agree, we will put things right and continue the contract. If you cancel in these circumstances, the ‘Minimum charges’ below do not apply.

If you pay each year in advance (by cash, cheque, credit card or debit card) instead of by monthly direct debit and cancel the agreement during that year, we will give you a refund based on how long is left of any 12-month advance payment. This will depend on any deduction we may make need under the ‘Minimum charges’ below. If you pay by monthly direct debit, you will not receive a refund of any payment you have made, and your agreement will run until your payment runs out. If we have given you a Gas Safety Record, we will not refund our charges for this record.

Minimum charges

Unless you cancel your agreement as described in the ‘Cancellation’ section above, if you cancel your agreement, we may charge you an amount to bring your payments, in the last 12 months, up to the amount set out in the table. This will depend on when you cancel. The minimum charge covers the costs we have had to pay but which we have not yet reclaimed at the point you cancel. It includes things such as our costs of carrying out inspections, dealing with breakdowns, our organisational costs and/or the costs of dealing with your agreement with us (or all the above).

For HomeCare 100-400™ customers	Minimum charge
If you are in the first year of your agreement, and we have carried out an initial repair at the beginning of your agreement.	Up to £207
If you are a customer in the first year of your agreement.	Up to £143

Spare parts

If we do not carry the spare parts your repair work needs on the day, we use a central stock of 30,000 parts. This means we can get hold of most items the following working day. Otherwise, we will do all we reasonably can to find parts from our suppliers. We may use other approved parts or parts that have been reconditioned by the original manufacturer.

Labour

One of our engineers will usually carry out the work. In some cases we may authorise a suitably qualified contractor to carry out the work.

Approved equipment

We provide service options for appliances, energy-management systems and plastic pipes which are on our approved list.

Getting to your system – all British Gas HomeCare options and internal gas supply in your home

We include our cost of getting to your system (materials and labour) up to £1000 (including VAT) for each job, for example, pipes or wiring buried in walls or ‘built-in’ appliances. (This does not include work on drains where this also includes any inspection or repair costs.)

Using personal information

Information you provide or we hold about you (whether or not under our contract or contracts with you) may be used by us or our agents to:

• identify you when you contact us;

• help identify accounts, services and products which you could have from us from time to time (we may do this using an automatic scoring system, which uses the information you have provided, any information we hold about you and information from other agencies, including credit-reference agencies);

• help run, and contact you about the improved running of, any accounts, services and products we have provided before, or provide now or in the future;

• carry out marketing analysis and customer profiling including with transactional information and create statistical and testing information;

• help to prevent and detect fraud or loss; and

• contact you in any way (including mail, e-mail, phone, visit, text or multimedia messages) about products and services offered by us and selected partners. We will only contact you in this way if you have previously shown your consent.

Transactional information means what you buy from us and how you pay for it, for example, usage rates and any discounts we have offered you. (These examples only, not a complete list.)

We may allow other people and organisations to use information we hold about you:

• to provide services you have asked for;

• as part of the process of selling one or more of our businesses;

• if we have been asked to provide information for legal or regulatory purposes; or

• as part of current or future legal proceedings.

From time to time, these other people and organisations may be outside the European Economic Area in countries that do not have the same standards of protection for personal data as the UK.

We may also allow your information to be used by other Centrica Group companies (including those using the British Gas, Scottish Gas, and Dyno-Rod brands) for them to carry out any of the above purposes.

We may pass your address, property and postcode, and details of your gas appliances, flue, hot-water cylinder, system controls and electrical installations (including details of any repairs or removals), to competent person scheme operators and other appropriate organisations, including CORGI (Council of Registered Gas Installers) and the ECA (Electrical Contractors Association). These operators and organisations may pass this information to local authorities to meet Building Regulations. They may also use this information to contact you to inspect appliances or systems, recall faulty products and carry out audits, and for Health and safety purposes. Where appropriate, we will give you or the property owner (or both) a certificate to show that your appliances and so on meet Building Regulations.

We may monitor and record communications with you (including phone conversations and e-mails) for quality assurance and to make sure that we are meeting our legal and regulatory requirements.

We may check your details with one or more licensed credit-reference and fraud-prevention agencies. We and they may keep a record of this search and the payment details from your account, and share it with other organisations. If a person provides false or inaccurate information and we suspect fraud, this is also recorded. This information may be used by us, and other organisations may search these records to:

• help make decisions about credit and credit-related services for you and members of your household;

• help make decisions on motor, household, credit, life and other insurance proposals and insurance claims for you and members of your household;

• trade debtors, recover debt, prevent fraud, and manage your accounts for insurance policies;

• check your identity to prevent money laundering, unless you give us other satisfactory proof of your identity; and

• carry statistical analysis about credit, insurance and fraud.

We, and other credit and insurance organisations, may also use technology to detect and prevent fraud.

If you need details of those credit agencies and fraud-prevention agencies from which we get, and with which we record, information about you, please write to our Data Protection Manager, British Gas, 3 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge UB11 1BG.

If you give us information on behalf of someone else, you confirm that you have given them the information set out in this document, and that they have not objected to their personal information being used in the way described in it. If you give us sensitive information about yourself or others (such as health details or details of any criminal convictions of members of your household), you agree (and confirm that the relevant subject of the information has agreed) to us processing this information in the way set out in this document.

If you are making a joint application or you have told us about some other financial association with someone else, a ‘financial association’ between you and that other person (or people) will be made at credit-reference agencies. This will link your financial records with that other person (or people) so that both (or all) your records will be taken into account in all future applications by either or both (or all) of you. This will continue until one of you successfully files a notice with the credit-reference agencies asking that you are no longer financially associated with that person.

Third-party rights

Nobody other than you will be able to benefit from this agreement, which cannot be passed to someone else without our agreement.

Our responsibilities

We will meet our responsibilities under this agreement within a reasonable time unless it is impossible for us to do this because of circumstances outside our reasonable control.

Customer information

Mains water pressure

You may experience difficulties with your central heating or plumbing system due to a loss or reduction of the mains water pressure in the incoming mains supply. This is not a fault with your system. If this happens, you should contact your local water supplier.

Replacing your boiler

The Energy Savings Trust recommends that gas central-heating boilers are replaced every 15 years. While boilers older than this can often still work properly, their effectiveness and efficiency becomes reduced. Technological advances mean that today’s boilers, if regularly serviced, have significantly improved efficiency, performance, reliability and safety features. Every new boiler we sell is at least 76% efficient (‘A’-rated condensing boilers are over 90% efficient). This compares with boilers over 15 years old, which have an average efficiency of around 65%.

PowerFlush

PowerFlush is a way of removing sludge and other waste from central-heating systems. We may also suggest you correct any design faults which might cause the problem to return. This work can increase the life of your system, and improve efficiency.

When a repair is needed due to sludge (for example, damage to the pump, valves or radiators), we will carry out this job, at no extra cost, as long as we have not already told you that you need a PowerFlush or similar procedure. Our engineer will also tell you what other work is needed to avoid further problems, or offer you a different British Gas HomeCare option.

If we recommend that you carry out a PowerFlush, we will charge you to carry out this work. Once it is finished, there will be no charge for any future PowerFlush work that may be needed as long as you keep a continuous HomeCare 100, 200, 300 or 400 agreement with us at that property and as long as we carry out any work to correct design faults.

PowerFlush is a trademark.

Guarantees

Any guarantees do not affect your legal rights under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. You can get advice about your rights from a citizens advice bureau or trading standards department.

To receive advice about the gas-safety requirements for letting property, call us on 0845 300 0303.

Customer benefits

British Gas Home Insurance

As a HomeCare customer you will receive a 5% discount on British Gas Home Insurance as long as you are eligible for this product – some conditions apply. Phone 0845 850 3508 and remember to quote BS01 to claim your discount.

‘*British Gas Trading Limited is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd, registered no 2791889, registered office, Trinity Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX1 2RG which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. All references to British Gas apply equally to Scottish Gas.’

Upgrading the system and energy-efficiency improvements

If you ask us to improve your system (for example, by adding new controls), we will give you a two-year parts and labour guarantee. We can provide energy-efficient products at a reduced VAT rate of 5%. To arrange for an engineer to visit, ring 0845 9 500 400.

Electrical Home Improvements

As a HomeCare customer you can receive 10% discount off the full cost of any electrical home improvements when you use our electrical home-improvement service.

Replacing your boiler

If your boiler is seven years old or more, and it is not possible to repair it or you choose to replace it at any time (however old it is), as a Homecare 100-400 customer you are entitled to an extra ‘customer’ discount. This will be available on a new or replacement boiler you have bought from us. The customer discount may vary, on top of any offer available at the time. You can ask us for full details.

Summary of changes to your terms and conditions

For existing customers, this section summarises the changes to the terms and conditions since last year.

For all British Gas HomeCare Agreements

We have updated the section in these terms and conditions headed ‘Cancellation’ as the minimum payment has increased to reflect our costs.

You are now entitled to a discount off the full cost of a replacement boiler we install. Our technical sales advisor will explain this when they visit. This replaces the fixed 5% discount.

For HomeCare 300 and 400

From now on, HomeCare 300 and 400 customers are entitled to a check for water leaks on your internal pipework, valves and hot- water cylinder to help identify any problems. We will carry this out every year at the time of your Safety and Maintenance Inspection on your central-heating system.

For HomeCare (100 to 400)

We have replaced our low-usage discount with a no-usage bonus for customers who have HomeCare 100 to 400, or Property Care. This means that you are now entitled to a discount after two years if you have had no repairs carried out in any of the previous 1,2,or 3 years of your agreement.

For HomeCare 100

From now on, HomeCare 100 customers are entitled to an extra customer discount on the cost of installing a boiler, on top of any offer available at the time.