RIP-OFF REPAIRS: PENSIONERS PAY EXTRA IN EMERGENCIES

• Over 55s face higher prices for repairs to boiler, gas, locks and roofing

1 May 2008

Pensioners facing emergency repairs in their home are in danger of being charged inflated prices by opportunist tradespeople, according to new research from Homeserve.

The home emergency experts say people aged over 55 routinely pay higher bills for boiler repairs, central heating problems, gas leaks, door and window lock replacements and even roof repairs.

The Homeserve figures show older homeowners - defined as people aged over 55 - pay on average £382.33 more for a simple boiler repair than people aged under 55. Typically over 55s will be charged around £1,015 for an emergency callout to fix a boiler, whereas under 55s pay on average £632.68.

And the same is also true of gas or heating repairs, with older people paying a typical £681.67 to fix their gas or central heating in an emergency. According to Homeserve, under 55s are charged an average £481.75 for the same service - some £199 cheaper.

Jon Florsheim, Chief Executive of Homeserve Membership, said: "Older people can be an easy target for rogue tradesmen and unfortunately the statistics seem to show that many are still victims of overcharging.

"You could argue that older homeowners may have larger houses and therefore more to repair, but we're talking about basic jobs like fixing a boiler or attending to a gas leak. In many cases these are standard emergency callouts but the prices charged across age groups vary, particularly when you split older people from the rest."

The Homeserve poll of 2,000 homeowners also revealed that some 80 per cent of pensioners who experienced a home emergency last year did not have insurance to cover the unexpected expense.

Jon Florsheim added: "At a time when many homeowners face escalating costs for other household bills such as mortgage repayments, petrol and energy, people do not want to be surprised with additional costs.

"But for many pensioners a large outlay to mend a boiler is just not an option because their disposable income is already so low. Older people facing an emergency at home are extremely vulnerable and it is unfortunate that they end up paying over the odds for a tradesperson to come and fix a problem.

"We would therefore urge homeowners to ensure they have adequate cover in the event of an emergency, whether it be a separate emergency policy or part of their home insurance."

Homeserve offers a wide range of emergency insurance cover for, among other things, plumbing, drains and electrical wiring and pest contamination and handled over 1.2 million home emergencies last year alone. Homeserve's 'complete cover' emergency policy includes issues with heating, plumbing and drainage, water and gas supply pipe, electrics, locks as well as pest contamination, emergency roofing, glazing repairs, plumbing maintenance, all for £324 a year.

Ends

Editors Notes

• Calculations: Number of homeowners in the UK today: 24,479,439 (Office National Statistics), 63% suffered a home emergency (15,422,046 households). 79% of these households had no insurance (12,183,416). Average cost of an emergency was £494. For 12,183,416 houses, this is a total cost of £6,018,607,984.
• Fieldwork was undertaken in February 2008 by ICM Research

For further press information please contact:

Holly Clark/ Lisa Ward
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel: 0207 282 2917 or 020 7282 2854

About Homeserve

Every forty seconds a Homeserve engineer comes to the rescue of a British household.

With over 3,000 directly and indirectly employed engineers Homeserve offers the UK's only national emergency home repair service backed by a 24 hour claims handling and repair network.

Homeserve also offers insurance cover for plumbing, drains, electrical wiring and gas central heating. It has over 5.8 million policy members in the UK and a further 1.2 million in the USA and France.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,141 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 15th - 17th October 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+)