central heating not working on completion

zombiecazz

Can anyone offer advice?

Tale of whoa.....
On completion of house buying found out our central heating was broken. Informed our solicitors straight away. They contacted the sellers solicitors. Our solicitors told us to get it repaired and bill sellers. Got repairmen in. Spend day working on it, but boiler was officially dead (and sellers knew this!!!!!). Were advised that if we got a new boiler it couldn't go back into the same position as the flume came out directly below our kitchen window.
Informed sellers they replied that they would not cover the cost of improving the central heating.

Several months later after trying to get quotes, trying to get someone into to the work we now finally have a fully working central heating. it's now outside, so a little improvement. total cost = £2900

So my question is can I still ask for some refund? If so how do I go about it. I am no longer in contact with the solicitor that helped us buy the house.

lynzpower

From what I know the answer is no. the property "sold as seen" and if you wanted them to make good, you do it before exchange. Not much use to you now Im afriad. However, someone might tell me im wrong, not got any direct experience of this im afraid.

Red_Elle

Same thing just happened with us. Moved in a week last Monday and the boiler was broken. My solicitor told us to send the bill to her and she would send it to the sellers solicitor. She did say there was probably little they could do as it was too late to stop the money going to them as it was bank transfer and not cheque. Otherwise she would have tried to claw something back.
She said they may pay the repair bill, but if they contest it and simply say 'we're not paying' I would have to take them to court, which is more trouble than it's worth for my amount of money. For you though, I would consider it, as that's a few grand.

crossleydd42

Your solicitors should take it up with the vendor's solicitor. Your solicitor, as part of the buying process, should have sent out a 'preliminary enquiry' and got satisfactory answers on many facts, including the CH. You are, therefore, in a strong position to get reimbursed for some of the cost. However, 'betterment' (after repairs/replacement, being in a better position than you would have been in had the CH been working when you moved in) would reduce the amount.

livinginhope

Agree with Lyzpower here,unless you have something in writing to say the boiler was in a safe and working condition,then I would think you have no comeback.The fixtures and fittings list only state what is in the house,not the fact that it works or not.
I would contact your solicitor again and see if they have had any more luck,the vendors may have had an attack of guilt and maybe give you something,wouldn't hold your breath though!

ukbondraider

They are not liable. As the buyer you should have paid for a gas and electricity inspection just like you would a building survey.

Lil_Dee_2

It's a while since I completed my sellers pack, but I'm sure there was something in there about the CH being in working order, and details of any servicing I'd had done. We did have a problem with it, between acccepting an offer and selling, but we had it repaired. It cost us about £250.00, which I know is a lot less than the OP has had to pay, but even if it had been far more, I'm sure we'd have had to put it right, or completed a new sellers questionnaire ? A new questionnaire would have highlighted the problem, and possibly put the sale in jeopardy, plus, I'd have hated the thought of selling someone a house in Nov with no heating (it wasn't much fun for us, either!)

crossleydd42

ukbondraider wrote:

They are not liable. As the buyer you should have paid for a gas and electricity inspection just like you would a building survey.

Many purchasers ask for these inspections to be carried out before they complete, nowadays.

johna999

ukbondraider wrote:

They are not liable. As the buyer you should have paid for a gas and electricity inspection just like you would a building survey.

This is not true.

My sister went through the same issue but from the otherside - Selling the house. Exchanged contracts for completion 2wks later. Week before completion the boiler failed.

Feedback from the solicitor is that in these cases you commit to selling the house with working central heating (brother in law fedback it was fine in that Q&A paper thingy). Sister had real trouble getting a plumber in, the buyers wanted about 6k in compensation ie for moving into a cold house etc. In the end my sister offered to pay 1k extra for it to be fixed intime, but the plumber was really good and only charged for the extra labour.

My advice would be get a few quotes, ask for the seller to choose one. If they drag their feet, give them a deadline or you will choose one yourself. Then get it done and start proceedings to take them to court. Their solitor will advise paying up as the court will come down on your side and should award you costs as well.