British Gas pays for electric heaters as it struggles to repair customers’ boilers

BRITISH GAS is giving customers money for electric heaters as it struggles to fulfil call-outs over the winter.

The company apologised and was warned by the regulator last week after customers were left waiting for weeks in cold homes as it struggled to send engineers to help.

Customers are also being told to buy electric heaters, with up to £50 reimbursement offered.

Stuart Tweedie, 47, and his family, from Falkirk in Scotland, were without hot water and heating for a week after their boiler stopped working. They pay £286 a year for a HomeCare policy and have been told this will rise to £360 when it renews later this year. One appointment was missed and, after they complained, they were told they would be paid back for electric heaters. The boiler was finally fixed more than a week after it broke down. Mr Tweedie said: “That should be the first thing they do if they can’t come straight out, but it was only when I complained.”

They were still asked to pay the £60 excess but have been offered £65 compensation and a £30 “goodwill gesture”. They had previously been refunded because of missed boiler service appointments during the pandemic.

Another HomeCare customer, who didn’t want to be named, was given a heater from a British Gas engineer’s van after he came to her home but was unable to fix her boiler problem due to its complexity. Her gas had been shut off after a leak leaving her without hot water and heating. She had recently come out of hospital after a major operation but has still been told she will have to wait almost two weeks for a fix.

After a friend complained on her behalf, she was also told she could claim £50 for a fan heater. She pays around £23 a month for the HomeCare plan, which she has had for several decades.

“Fortunately I have friends who scooped me up and insisted I stayed with them for three or four days,” she said.

British Gas also has a policy of offering some customers to pay for their own contractor and be reimbursed by the company, when it can’t attend a job.

A British Gas spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to both customers for the wait for an appointment on these occasions, one of which has already taken place and is now fixed.”