If I change my gas and electricity supplier from British Gas, do any of the other companies have the service contract which they have and are they worthwhile?

If you change to a new supplier you can keep your service contract with B Gas. Almost all the other main suppliers offer similar service contracts which include an annual service and safety inspection. There is considerable choice available with some of the suppliers offering a range of insurance based products. I suggest that you visit the home page of the supplier you are thinking of switching to where you will find to all the contracts that they offer.

Thank you very much for that Paul. We phoned British Gas and were told that if we switched we would not be covered, hence the question!

Clueless I also phoned British Gas and was told that you could retain your service contract with them regardless of which supplier you change to. Can you please tell me which service contract you have with B gas and I will take this up with them. Paul

The service contract is independent of your supply contract and it was probably a white lie to try and keep you as a customer. Have you used the contract much? I found that it was OK for routine servicing but when I came home on a winter evening and found the heating off they wouldn't call out until the next day despite what the adverts and leaflets say. They will only attend the same evening in certain circumstances... Vulnerability - If you are elderly or have very young children Safety - If you think there is a fault - but they will disconnect the appliance and call back the next day unless there is vulnerability, so don't bother lying!
Or serious leakage of water and they will stop the leak but may not complete the repairs unless you have ....wait for it...Vulnerability. So if you aren't elderly and don't have children it is an expensive next day service.

If there is a fault or you can smell gas call Transco they will come out within 2 hours and disconnect the appliance for FREE. The next morning use the phone book to find a local Corgi gas agent who will be a lot cheaper than Gritish Bass and will in all probability be an ex- employee of the same.

cheers AmIcrazy

I have had a British Gas Service Contract for 15 years. I took it out when i first brought a house and they did all the work. Was it worth it, yes at times, But....... wait for it................. It was not cost effective. Not only that, but over time, year on year they rolled the service forward by a month or tow. That worked out in my previous house that they got a years worth of money for nothing but thanked me with a no call out discount?????

I moved three years ago on the 1st November 2006. Called them in straight away to check and service and start the contract on the new property. Guess what? Next Service was carried out in February 2008. Next one April 2009.

Yes, over just three years and I am nearly 6 months out of sync with the start date. Got a call yesterday asking if i wanted further cover for my plumbing for an extra £2.60 a month or something. When I tackled the situation of rolling forward, flogged off yet again. I am going to telling them where they can stick their contract and I am looking to take action against them. All I will say is watch teh dates if you do take one out.

If they're rolling forward (i.e increasing the date between inspections) it can only work in your favour. Generally you should have an inspection once a year (not excactly one year between inspections), your service contract will specify that for your supplier to be bound to service/repair you system you will need to have it serviced. This means that if they roll the inspection forward one month you are still covered dispite the 13 or 14 month time frame between appointments, the only one loosing out is your supplier.

That said from all reports I've read (which I admit is far too limited to give an accurate view on) you can get better service and cheaper prices elsewhere. I would highly recommend you check other providers, for prices and packages.