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Home heating oil leak... what to do??
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BatCat
Posts: 474 Forumite
in N. Ireland
Hi Folks,
This is a bit of a long one...
We have just finished a long renovation project which involved replacing nearly everything in a 3 bedroom semi including the boiler. Before we began the renovation I ordered 500 litres of home heating oil for the house in order to help dry out the damp (it had been unoccupied for 3 years and only heated for one of those). The boiler then ran for about a week (day and night for at least 2 of those) before it died (May 2009 it was a 20 year old boiler on its legs which has now been replaced). For various reasons the full renovation didn't begin until May of this year.
The heating worked perfectly for 2-3 days and then stopped. When we called the boilerman back we found there was no oil going from the tank to the boiler (there was some at the bottom of the tank, but because the tank was poorly angled this wasn't getting to the boiler). I was suspicious, because there had been 500 litres in it and should have plenty left over. Boilerman and plumber looked at the tank and assured us it was sound.
We got a test fill of 200 litres on Saturday and while the boiler ran perfectly we noticed a patch of oil had appeared in the soil and where the ground met part of the patio.
We stopped the boiler, closed the valve and did some light excavation where the patch was and discovered that during the course of laying the electrical cable out to the garage, the builders had bent and pierced the pipe from the oil tank to the boiler.
So... it looks like 400 litres of oil (give or take) has sunk into the soil about 1-2 metres away from our house (:(:().
We've dug around the spot and located what looks like the extent of the spill away from the house, but can't obviously see where it is under the patio.
I've checked the insurance policy we had at the time (we needed unoccupied house insurance) and we do appear to be covered for oil leaks and they had been made aware that there was renovation work going on. I've also checked the insurance policy we have now (now that we are living in the house) and we're covered for oil leaks on that too.
Boilerman is coming on Tuesday to repair the pipe.
We are not near any sources of water or places of natural interest. Only a small amount of grass appears to be dead but it's hard to tell because there's been scaffolding and general building rubbish on the site. I don't honestly think we will get anything out of the builders because they are a small firm though we did sign up to the building guarantee scheme.
No idea what the best way is go here. Reckoned we should talk to the people who insured the house when the building work was being carried out, but obviously we are no longer insured with them and I'm not sure what the best thing is to say (I work for an insurance company and so am aware they will try and get out of paying for ANYTHING if they can).
I am no longer recommending the firm of builders.
Help!
BatCat
(cross posted in 'In my home')
This is a bit of a long one...
We have just finished a long renovation project which involved replacing nearly everything in a 3 bedroom semi including the boiler. Before we began the renovation I ordered 500 litres of home heating oil for the house in order to help dry out the damp (it had been unoccupied for 3 years and only heated for one of those). The boiler then ran for about a week (day and night for at least 2 of those) before it died (May 2009 it was a 20 year old boiler on its legs which has now been replaced). For various reasons the full renovation didn't begin until May of this year.
The heating worked perfectly for 2-3 days and then stopped. When we called the boilerman back we found there was no oil going from the tank to the boiler (there was some at the bottom of the tank, but because the tank was poorly angled this wasn't getting to the boiler). I was suspicious, because there had been 500 litres in it and should have plenty left over. Boilerman and plumber looked at the tank and assured us it was sound.
We got a test fill of 200 litres on Saturday and while the boiler ran perfectly we noticed a patch of oil had appeared in the soil and where the ground met part of the patio.
We stopped the boiler, closed the valve and did some light excavation where the patch was and discovered that during the course of laying the electrical cable out to the garage, the builders had bent and pierced the pipe from the oil tank to the boiler.
So... it looks like 400 litres of oil (give or take) has sunk into the soil about 1-2 metres away from our house (:(:().
We've dug around the spot and located what looks like the extent of the spill away from the house, but can't obviously see where it is under the patio.
I've checked the insurance policy we had at the time (we needed unoccupied house insurance) and we do appear to be covered for oil leaks and they had been made aware that there was renovation work going on. I've also checked the insurance policy we have now (now that we are living in the house) and we're covered for oil leaks on that too.
Boilerman is coming on Tuesday to repair the pipe.
We are not near any sources of water or places of natural interest. Only a small amount of grass appears to be dead but it's hard to tell because there's been scaffolding and general building rubbish on the site. I don't honestly think we will get anything out of the builders because they are a small firm though we did sign up to the building guarantee scheme.
No idea what the best way is go here. Reckoned we should talk to the people who insured the house when the building work was being carried out, but obviously we are no longer insured with them and I'm not sure what the best thing is to say (I work for an insurance company and so am aware they will try and get out of paying for ANYTHING if they can).
I am no longer recommending the firm of builders.
Help!
BatCat
(cross posted in 'In my home')
0
Comments
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did builder have insurance .Has he admitted it was his fault ."Do not regret growing older, it's a privilege denied to many"0
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Careful who you ring - a friend of a friend of mine had a leak in her oil tank and for environmental reasons she had to get her WHOLE garden:mad: dug up and they kept digging until they could find no more traces of oil - her garden was left a TOTAL mess - she doesn't live near any nature reserves or rivers etc, but the insurance insisted this was done and it took weeks - just warning you in advance!!!If my post helps you, please click the 'thanks' button. :T0
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Hi Folks,
Thanks for the replies.
@Old Git it's a fairly small firm of builders, I hope they should have insurance. We haven't contacted them yet, but basically you can see in the stratigraphy that there's the oil pipe, then the electrical cable for the garage they installed right on top of it. Oil pipe is bent and pierced just below where the electrical cable is. You can tell it is a new cable because they had to dig a hole through the patio to install it.
@julie
Sigh... I don't want the house to suffer, there's a heck of a lot in the garden at the moment but we have just been through 5 months of building and I'm utterly fed up.
Thanks!
BatCat0
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