Quote for the fitting of a new boiler

Sid_in_Oz

Newbie here, so be kind.

I own a flat in Oxford, which is rented out as I currently live in Australia.

Unfortunately, it appears that the boiler (no idea the make) has died a death and requires replacing. My letting agent's contractors (a wholly owned subsidiary company) have quoted for the job. They detail it as following:

"To supply and fit a Vaillant ecotec 415 condensing boiler situated within the same location as the existing boiler. (In the kitchen within a wall cupboard and including a magna clean unit)
£2,640.00 (£3102.00 incl VAT)

* Additional/ upgrading of TRV’s is also not included."

Within two minutes of searching I found the stated boiler for sale online for £550 + VAT, so I queried with them why the remainder of the job would cost five times the value of the boiler (although I understand that the extra parts required will probably cost a few hundred). They then 'reduced their fees', bringing the cost to £2,649.63 incl VAT.

So, my question is this: is the above a fair quote for replacing a boiler? The old boiler was more than ten years old, so a connection to the kitchen waste will also need to be installed. Even so, I wouldn't have expected the cost to be shooting past two grand.

And they didn't quote for the power-surge clean thing (such a plumbing noob)! How much should that cost?

Cheers,
Simon

P.S. As an aside, do any legal-eagles know if my agents refusal to tender competing quotations from companies other than their internal contractor is a legal practice, or if they may be breaking some sort of restrictive practice law. Whatever, it does beg the question; do they work for me, or am I just a cash-cow for them?

Canucklehead

Sid_in_Oz wrote: »

Newbie here, so be kind.

I own a flat in Oxford, which is rented out as I currently live in Australia.

Unfortunately, it appears that the boiler (no idea the make) has died a death and requires replacing. My letting agent's contractors (a wholly owned subsidiary company) have quoted for the job. They detail it as following:

"To supply and fit a Vaillant ecotec 415 condensing boiler situated within the same location as the existing boiler. (In the kitchen within a wall cupboard and including a magna clean unit)
£2,640.00 (£3102.00 incl VAT)

* Additional/ upgrading of TRV’s is also not included."

Within two minutes of searching I found the stated boiler for sale online for £550 + VAT, so I queried with them why the remainder of the job would cost five times the value of the boiler (although I understand that the extra parts required will probably cost a few hundred). They then 'reduced their fees', bringing the cost to £2,649.63 incl VAT.

So, my question is this: is the above a fair quote for replacing a boiler? The old boiler was more than ten years old, so a connection to the kitchen waste will also need to be installed. Even so, I wouldn't have expected the cost to be shooting past two grand.

And they didn't quote for the power-surge clean thing (such a plumbing noob)! How much should that cost?

Cheers,
Simon

P.S. As an aside, do any legal-eagles know if my agents refusal to tender competing quotations from companies other than their internal contractor is a legal practice, or if they may be breaking some sort of restrictive practice law. Whatever, it does beg the question; do they work for me, or am I just a cash-cow for them?

Good morning: Welcome to MSE. I can't comment on the legalities (I'll leave that to the experienced landlords over here).

In regard to the boiler, I'd avoid the Vaillant 415 (not their finest hour). On the face of it, the quote is steep for a straight swap. More quotes are in order...find someone here. A powerflush would be in the area of £300 and up (depends on number of rads on the CH system).

HTH

Canucklehead

Sid_in_Oz

Canucklehead wrote: »

In regard to the boiler, I'd avoid the Vaillant 415 (not their finest hour). On the face of it, the quote is steep for a straight swap...

A powerflush would be in the area of £300 and up (depends on number of rads on the CH system).

When you say the Valliant 415 is not 'their finest hour', what do you mean? Will it break, or will it just not work terribly well?

And when you say steep, what do you think in your experience may be a more appropriate costing to be looking for? If you'd rather not say, that's fine.

There are a total of 8 radiators in the flat, although only 7 have thermostats on them; the hall one is the temperature regulating one... or at least that is what I supposed it to be.

Thanks for the link, I'll use it, although it is a right sod trying to do this from the wrong side of the world. My agents are going to be getting an earful later on, the swine...