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British Gas fails to pass on benefit of boiler grants

British Gas is profiting from the Government’s boiler scrappage scheme by failing to pass on the full value of the grants. The company is refusing to offer its usual discounts to customers who apply for a £400 grant.

Some homes could be better off ignoring the scheme and negotiating a discount with an installation company.

The Prime Minister announced the scrappage scheme yesterday at the company’s training centre for boiler engineers in Kent. He claimed that the scheme could be worth up to £800 for households taking part because some companies, including British Gas, had agreed to match the £400 offered by the Government. Mr Brown did not mention that British Gas operates an unsubsidised scheme under which all customers could get a £752 discount on a new boiler This offer comprises £300 off the price of the boiler, radiator controls worth £248 and free servicing and repairs for a year worth £204.

A customer adviser at British Gas’s call centre said anyone applying for a scrappage grant would not be eligible for these discounts: “It’s much of a muchness whether you go for the scrappage grant or the savings we already offer. But you can’t get both.”