Boiler broken on new purchase

Anew

Hi everyone, quick enquiry. We moved in just over a month ago and 2 weeks ago we tried to get the heating started, long story short it did not work and after trying to get a man into fix it (3 visits) via the insurance they have now informed us that is it beyond economical repair and we are not covered.


So we are faced with the prospect of a new boiler to buy which will completely wipe us out of all savings we have leaving us flat broke.

I know the answer is probobly "tough luck" and if thats the case then so be it - but if there anything we can do here? Thought I would check in MSE fashion before forking out over a grand for a new boiler.

We only had the basic valuation done and did not try the boiler on the viewings... lesson learnt there, also it was 2 weeks before we tried the heating (again - FTB lesson learnt!)
Thanks for any input. I know we've not gone about this in ideal fashion regarding pre-testing etc - I'm beating myself up enough over that! But anything we can do dispite the fact we should really have done things sooner?

Thanks again.

pinkshoes

Did you ask if the boiler worked when viewing? Did it say anywhere in the information that the boiler worked?

Saying that, even if the did say it worked, as you have taken over a month to test the boiler, you would have problems proving that it was broken the day you moved in.

If you didn't even enquire about the boiler, then there really is nothing you can do.

How old is the boiler?

Anew

The paperwork we have states that the boiler is in working order. Also it was advertised as gas fired central heating via the EA - but I know this is not much to go on.

But we didn't ask directly no.

We're not entirely sure on the boilers age but I would estimate between 7-12 years old.

I realise that taking longer to test it was very foolish - when moving in when it was not so cold it was the last thing on my mind - could be a very expensive lesson I know. I feel terrible, I should have checked and now I face wiping out mine of my gf's last remaing savings.

ariba10

Try getting a local Plumber/Heating engineer to have a look at it before you do anything else.

Anew

I'm going to contact several and get some quotes, I have reason to beleive the contractor sent underestimated the job and this has lead to the insurace halting work, he thought it was an easy fix and now it seems its more than a days work,

The worse news is that before he came we had hot water but no heating, now after being there 2 full days we have more warning lights on the thing and now we have lost our hot water! So it's actually worse now than when we started and now direct line will not pay for the remaining work.

bryanb

ariba10 wrote: »

Try getting a local Plumber/Heating engineer to have a look at it before you do anything else.

Yes it's amazing how things become repairable when you're paying someone direct, rather than through insurance.

Anew

After some thought expect them to offer to come fix it for a price. No idea what that will be but Npower offer a no fix - no fee deal for £170ish so if its more than that we will ditch them. I at least want them to come back and put it as they found it (i.e - put our hot water right) any chance do you think?

Worry slowly turning to anger towards insurance/contractor... but really the fault lies with me for being flogged a duff boiler in the first place!

ILW

Brisish gas do some sort of fixed price repair deal for about £150.00
Used them and then took out a contract and they discounted the repair and did a full service. They added the price of the repair to the first years contract so only pay about £10.00 per month.

Anew

I've just been reading up on these and it seems our best bet. I am convinced this boiler is fixable - I just think Direct Line would rather give us £400 for a new one than pay £600 for this guy to come fix our old one (although we're not sure exactly how much he's asking for)

What's economical for them is certainly not whats best for us!

Thanks for all the input guys, step one is going to be to get this guy to come back and put our boiler back how he found it! Surely that's only reasonable? Coming to fix something and instead breaking something else is a bit our of order right?

Then we'll get either british gas or n power in to fix it on a no fix, no fee deal, if all else fails I'll close the savings account!

blckbrd

Life expectancy of boilers questions are similar to the one about ‘a piece of string’. I once had to respond to a query about a kaput communal boiler and found info on the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) website. Can’t post a link but Google them and put in ‘life expectancy’ as a key word. Then click the link under ‘Knowledge Bank’ and then the ‘reivsed table’ link.
CIBSE reckon about 10 years of ‘economic life’ but do remember averages allow for extremes in data. Sadly you are probably going to have to stump up for a new boiler. Might be some recourse to the contractor who left the boiler in a worse state than when he arrived - bless him though for keeping his industry colleagues in work in these difficult times…
At least with no heat you can wrap up warm. Don’t envy you boiling loads of kettles for a 3 inch bath or doing the cold shower thing!:eek:

Anew

Thanks for the map to the link, much appreciated. I knew it was getting on a bit but I thought we would have a couple of years to get some extra cash behind us before we had to stump up the cash.

I'm incredibly angry that the job is half done, if they could not complete the work within the budget set by the insurance they should never have started. We are now faced with no hot water which means we can't wash! Like you said we could life with no heating for a couple of months - we have been given some electric heaters by my parents and could manage - but no hot water is completely unacceptable.

I realise my thread has gone from asking about the sale of the house to the insurance.. but I think it was decided that there's no recourse I can gain from pursuing the valuation, EA or vendor?