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Here is a true tale of woe from a customer of Direct Line's Home Response 24, a home emergency insurance scheme that promises "one call" is all it takes to solve a problem; reliable and qualified tradesmen; a rapid response; and an end to large bills. Let the buyer beware—because you might need to make many calls; suffer incompetent tradesmen; be left without heating for days and wait months for your complaint to be acknowledged; and still end up forking out to get an independent tradesman to actually fix the problem.

Customer Support,
Direct Line Home Response 24,
PO BOX 300,
Leeds LS99 2LZ

04.06.04

Dear Sir/ Madam,

RE: Poor service from Direct Line relating to call-out 31.05.04 (Total Response policy no. xxx)

Chronology

Evening, Sunday 30 May: We arrive home after two weeks abroad, during which time the central heating was switched off. Before going to bed we turn it back to timed, looking forward to a morning shower (we had been travelling all day; one of us had diarrhoea).

0910, Monday 31 May: We phone Direct Line, as the Low System Pressure warning light on the boiler is lit, and despite repeated attempts to bleed & re-pressurize the system, it does not restart. Direct Line say that despite published standards of service they are very busy, and couldn't arrange for anyone to attend until the following day. A contractor telephones to arrange an attendance for Tuesday 1 June, specifically before 3 pm (after which time nobody would be in to grant access).

Tuesday 1 June: One of us waits in all morning & afternoon, until 3 pm as arranged. No contractor turns up. We telephone Direct Line just before 3 pm, who would "sort it out and someone would call back". There is no message on the answerphone from Direct Line or from the contractor.

Wednesday 2 June: Late morning Powerminster leave a message on the answerphone, asking us to contact them to arrange a call. Late afternoon we speak to Powerminster, who say they were not the contractor who should have attended the previous day, as they had only received a fax from Direct Line this morning. They would attend the following day, but could not be more specific as to the timing of the call than "should be before 1200", requiring one of us to wait in to grant access.

Thursday 3 June: Contractor arrives at 0900 (72 hours after we reported the fault), leaving at 1030. His worksheet records that for the problem "No heat or hot water, low pressure light on" we were assigned a priority of "24 hours". Work carried out was documented as "Drained combi. Recharged empty pressure vessel. Cleaned water pressure switch. Recharged system and vented. Found water pressure gauge faulty, new one requested." We are told that Powerminster would be in direct contact when the replacement part was in, to arrange fitting. The boiler is returned to a "timed" setting. At 1600 we notice the Low System Pressure warning light is again lit, and we notice the boiler's metal cover was left hanging loose/ partially attached. Mindful of Direct Line's apparent 3-day response time, we report the fault as soon as it is noticed, and do not attempt to correct the apparently persisting fault ourselves. At 1830 Direct Line telephone to say nobody will be attending, that they have determined the boiler needs three replacement parts (a gas valve, pump, pressure gauge) such that it is beyond economic repair (no costs mentioned) and thus excluded under our policy, and that we need a new boiler. We are stunned. We added water pressure to the system and it restarts.

Friday 4 June: We telephone DSC (08707583100) and receive a quotation for parts as above & labour, inclusive of VAT, of £523.13 (gas valve £220.54, pump £162.34, gauge £58.00, 1 hour labour £82.25). We speak with Jacqueline in Direct Line Customer Relations via 0845 246 2056, going through the above chronology & service issues. Jacqueline says she is making notes and would make enquiries and phone back within the hour. Jacqueline phones back a short time later (10.40 am) to say Home Response have their own Complaints Department, and she had passed on her notes to Jason on 0845 246 2530, who would contact us within the hour. Jason phones at 1315.

Service issues

• Response time & "4 hour" claim: The notes we made when we became members, pertaining to a telephone conversation with the Membership line, record the promise of "free call-out within 4 hrs". The welcome booklet states "When you have a home emergency we'll be there to help—fast" (p.2) and "one call from you is all it takes" (p.2, 4) and "we will sort out your home emergencies efficiently and effectively" (p.6). When speaking to Direct Line on 31 May, we were told that this "4 hour" claim refers to an appointment within a 4 hour "window" on any given day, and not a response within 4 hours. We feel that this is ambiguous and liable to falsely inform the customer as to the expected response time. If this does refer to a 4-hour "window", then this did not apply to us either, as we were not able to specify the "window". Your website ("Ask a question") states "Our aim, for all of our callouts, is to be with you 2 hours, however, customers experiencing a heating emergency will be offered a 4 hour time slot for their appointment—at a time of the day or evening that is convenient for you and deliverable by us." We feel that 3 days is an unacceptable wait in the case of a heating emergency.
• No 24-hour service: On your website ("Welcome") you state "you're ensured a reliable and qualified professional to fix your problem 24 hours a day, 7 days a week". We feel that stating someone will be available "24 hours a day" to fix problems is misleading, when your service to us offered appointments only during normal working hours.
• Failure to attend appointment: Your website ("Welcome") refers to "tradesmen not turning up" as an alternative to a policy with yourselves. We feel that in reference to the non-attendance on 1 June, your service to us was likewise deficient.
• Inconsistent problem assessment: We consider it odd that our problem has been re-graded from "nothing found" (call-out on 27.04.04) to "needs a new pressure gauge" to "beyond repair", when the problem hasn't changed, and not one part has been replaced.
• Repair costs: "Beyond Economic Repair" is defined in the Membership Booklet (p.3) as "the point at which the cost of repairing the boiler/ appliance exceeds the value of replacing the boiler/ appliance. The decision will be based on our scale of valuations that take into account the age and type of the boiler/ appliance." Our £198.70 membership fee entitles us to £1000 labour and parts per "emergency" (p.3 of welcome booklet), which is turn is defined as [protection from] "any breakdown which, if not dealt with quickly will: (c) leave the home with a total loss of its main source of heating, lighting or hot/ cold water." (Membership Booklet p.3). We feel that the independent quotation of £523.13 parts & labour raises questions about the apparent inadequacy of our £1000 parts & labour cover.
• Quality of work: The welcome booklet states "We'll always ensure a good service and that you are completely satisfied with the quality of work" (p.4). We feel that leaving the boiler cover hanging off does not meet this pledge.

The Membership Booklet states "We promise that we will always be fair and reasonable whenever you have the need of the protection of this service and we will act quickly to provide that protection. Should there ever be an occasion when you feel that we have failed to honour our promise, we will do everything possible to ensure that your complaint is dealt with quickly and fairly." We anticipate that the service deficiencies we have encountered to date will not continue in relation to this promise.

Yours sincerely,

Postscript

Friday 2 July: We have a leaking radiator valve in the living room. Having no confidence in Direct Line and wishing for a rapid response, we pick a plumber at random from the phone book. The plumber arrives within two hours. Having drained the heating system in order to repair the leak, he is initially unable to restart the system. We tell him of our troubles and the plumbers sent out by Direct Line. He asks to see the circuit diagram for the boiler (none of his predecessors did) and determines that there is a problem with the water pressure valve, causing low pressure light to activate when there isn't low system pressure. He demonstrates how disconnecting the circuit to the valve turns off the low system pressure light and allows the boiler to restart. He phones a plumbing centre who say they have the required part in stock for our particular boiler as they sell a lot, this being a common fault. Diagnosing this problem incurs an extra hour of premium-rate labour—but finally sorts the problem. We know who we'll be calling in future...

Response from Direct Line

Following two more faxes requesting a response (the last asking for a Final Notice in order to involve the Financial Ombudsman), Direct Line replied on 16.08.04—over 10 weeks later. They sated that "on this occasion, the incident was not handled as smoothly as we would have liked" and made an apology backed up by £100 in compensation (plus £133.25 for the third-party service on 2 July). They chose not to respond to the specific grievances clearly listed as above. Instead, unlikely as it seems, they blamed one of their Control Centre coordinators for recording details of another incident (where the boiler was deemed beyond economic repair) onto our incident details. This leaves several unanswered questions.

You be the judge: in a home emergency, who are you going to call?

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