Almost there but.....

MORPH3US

Right, our house purchase is almost ready to go through (16th June hopefully) but not yet exchanged. I now have a worry:

When we viewed we were told that the gas boiler had recently been serviced. Our solicitor asked for proof of this many times and they sidestepped the question so now we finally get an answer from them:

"Our clients advise that this was checked by British Gas when updating the type of meter fitted, although they have no paperwork in this regard. We do however enclose a copy of the last boiler service prior to that, and our clients confirm that the boiler is in good working order at the date of this letter"

Should I be concerned about the above, or am I worrying unnecessarily?

The copy of the "last boiler service prior to that" appears to have been done in November 2003.

How often should gas boilers be serviced?

Should I contact British Gas and see if they keep reccords?

When their solicitor says it was "checked" by BG when they changed the meter, should I assume that "checked" is the same as serviced?!?!

Thanks for all help!

M

Debt_Free_Chick

How much is the property? Say, £200,000?

And a new boiler costs ..... £1,000 often less?

Suggest you simply get the boiler serviced when you move in. In the overall scheme of things, it's a "small thing".

MORPH3US

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

How much is the property? Say, £200,000?

And a new boiler costs ..... £1,000 often less?

Suggest you simply get the boiler serviced when you move in. In the overall scheme of things, it's a "small thing".

House = £126,000

£1000 may not be a lot of money in comparison but thought I would ask because its a lot to me and the girlfriend (like a new kitchen!!!)

Plus when I spend my days on here trying to save a few quid here and there, it just wouldn't seem sensible to think of a possible expense like that as a disaster!!

Thanks for the reply!

M

lynzpower

No, someone on here the other day was told "full working order" that involved throwing a lit bit of paper into the boiler somehow. that to me is hazardous, but it said full working order. You could negotiate for them to take the money for a service off of the F&Fs or whatever.
Shy bairns get nowt and all that

*Louise*

I was told a boiler should have a check every 1-2 years

silvercar

House = £126,000

£1000 may not be a lot of money in comparison but thought I would ask because its a lot to me and the girlfriend (like a new kitchen!!!)

£126,000 that's £1k over the tax threshold!

sunflower_2

a british gas meter man wouldnt have any authority to check or service the boiler
it just wouldnt happen

sounds like they have had a meter exchange and to do so had to turn the gas off at the mains (all old type gas meters are currently being updated)
the engineer has then simply re-lit the boiler

so it does seem that they may have been a bit dishonest here - and this would make me wonder why?

all they had to say was it was serviced back in 2003... and you could then make your own mind up on whether you wanted an independent engineer to go round and check it before you signed?

if its a combi boiler my plumber (family friend) advised me to get it serviced once a year

asandwhen

i would ask to take £1001 off the price before completion make it £124999 for obvious reasons.

Jorgan_2

Property could be in a Stamp Duty exempt area. Why not see if the seller will allow you to service the boiler, at your expense, before exchange of contracts. That way you will know what condition the boiler is in & if any re-negotiations are required.

MORPH3US

Thanks for the advice everyone!!!

RE: the stamp duty issue - thats a very sore point. We had the £126,000 offer accepted 2 weeks before they changed the threshold. By that point, it was too late as the ball was rolling.

I'm not sure what to do as the next step, us servicing the boiler sounds like an ok idea but I don't want to spend loads, anyone know how much a service for a gas boiler would cost?!?!

Will get on to our solicitor now and see what she says!

M

Wickedkitten

We just ended up signing for a year of Homecall 200 and they inspect it when you first sign up.