[OurJud]

Whatever your opinions on Sky equipment cover, this is not what the thread's about, but I've just done a DIY upgrade from standard Sky, to Sky+ and now find myself with a dilema regarding my equipment cover.

In that my cover was set-up for my standard system, I'm now wondering whether or not to contact them and ask if I'm still covered, and what I need to do if not. The other alternative is to say nothing, because in my experience communication between the people you report the fault to on the telephone and the engineer that comes out is non-existent - why else would the engineer's first question when he gets to your house be, "So, what's the problem?" regardless of how much detail you went into on the telephone when you reported it?

Do you think it's worth risking keeping quiet, and hoping that in the event of having to call someone out, they'll just diagnose the problem and replace like for like (if a replacement is needed, of course)?

[Stevenage Neil]

Given, by the writing of your post, that you know what the majority of people here on this forum think about "equipment cover" are you really expecting an objective reply?

[OurJud]

Originally Posted by Stevenage Neil

Given, by the writing of your post, that you know what the majority of people here on this forum think about "equipment cover" are you really expecting an objective reply?

So just because people here don't agree with equipment cover, I'm not going to get any constructive help, is that what you're saying?

[RobM]

There is no harm in asking the person at the end of the phone what the situation is. They are likely to be the same person who answers the phone when you make a claim, so if they tell you now that by installing your own kit you've voided your cover, you'll get the same answer in the event of a claim. Especially if the hardware you're claiming against isn't what they have recorded in your account!

Also, your comment about communication between an engineer and the telephone operator... No engineer worth his salt will rely solely on the comments taken by the phone operator. They are not technical and may not be able to accurately reflect your problem in text. Therefore any decent engineer will always start from scratch and ask their own questions to work out your view of events and dig to the bottom of your problem.
They will also probably ignore you if you say you've already tried some troubleshooting and will try the same themselves. If they haven't seen it with their own eyes, it's not true....

In my experience, I paid for Sky+ and then installed my own SkyHD box. The box was brand new and well within warranty, but as it was technically second hand the warranty cover didn't apply. I bought protection via Sky and told them this (it was obvious though, given the fact they hadn't installed it!) and they said the would happily cover it but on 'out of warranty' terms... which meant a 30 day wait before cover began but otherwise similar cover.

So my point is call them and ask their advice, as you could well be covered still

[AndyCob]

Like you say an objective answer to your question is:

The cover you had almost certainly applies to (and only covers) the original install and work done by your installer. By modifying the install yourself you have almost certainly invalidated any cover you had (just like opening up a unit voids the warranty etc.). However it would require a trawl of your fine print to be sure and your expectation that who ever holds the cover might well not notice is valid but obviously not guaranteed.

As most would say on here given Sky will generally fix anything and everything for a one off £65 you need to have a lot of problems for the equipment cover to be of value. I would probably either just cancel or inform them and ask if still covered, if they say no then cancel, if they say yes get it in writing to avoid any future problems.

[OurJud]

Rob, Andy, thank you so much for your detailed replies - they've both been very helpful. Sorry it's taken until now to respond, but I've ben away for the weekend.