Dispute with previous owner on boiler

DVardysShadow

nbr wrote: »

if the service paperwork shows that BG had warned them of some problems with the boiler and they have not acted on that

Nice try. But:

nbr wrote: »

I had pressed for that but they said (only in the property information pack) that they had no paperwork at all regarding the service. Which sounds strange since British Gas is now telling me they can't provide copy of the paperwork to me. If there were no paperwork, BG would have said "no paperwork" instead of coming up with data protection issues...

You accepted this situation. You only have redress if you got paperwork through your solicitor before exchange which told you it was all OK. You should have had your own checks done, once they became vague with you - and you could have negotiated. As has already been explained.

They outwitted you and are free to dance away into the sunset. Your signature on the contract for purchase was the signal for the credits to roll.

BitterAndTwisted

You haven't got a hope in hell of getting anything out of your vendors except hoots of laughter. And you'd deserve it, frankly.

They claimed the boiler was serviced. It probably was. Any indication on the paperwork that the boiler was in need of anything doing to it wasn't enough to prevent it working at the time of service or presumably the time of sale.

Suck it up and get over it.

KittyLady

Completed a month ago, spent a fair whack on a broken boiler, it's what happens. You buy a house as seen, sadly the boiler is your problem.

dollydiva

Why did you not insist on seeing the boiler working correctly prior to buying? The property we bought was empty, but we insisted on seeing it all working after our offer had been accepted...after all, the vendor had SAID it was, so what did he have to lose if that statement was true?

As said by OP, you don't have any proof that they lied and even if you had, it's completed now and you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who would have much truck with your case.

G_M

nbr wrote: »

I had pressed for that but they said (only in the property information pack) that they had no paperwork at all regarding the service. Which sounds strange since British Gas is now telling me they can't provide copy of the paperwork to me. If there were no paperwork, BG would have said "no paperwork" instead of coming up with data protection issues...

And this didn't ring alarm bells for you? No paperwork = get it checked yourself or take it as it is.

Milliewilly

nbr wrote: »

if the service paperwork shows that BG had warned them of some problems with the boiler and they have not acted on that

You could ring BG *ahem* as the previous owner and ask for a copy to be posted? Even so the cost of fighting it will outweigh the cost of getting a new boiler - and that's if you win and get any money.

The judge will probably view there was a warning sign that you didn't act on so tough luck.

In reality anyone selling with a service certificate from BG giving the all clear would have made sure the paperwork was provided..............but if they had a maintenance contract they wouldn't have been liable for the repair costs so would have had any faults fixed. This will be difficult to argue against on the balance of probability.

mrstinchcombe

Surely when you buy a house you dont expect everything in it to be brand new and mint condition. Its not a new build !!!!!!!

andthethreebears

We had to replace the boiler within months of moving in, we were assured it had been regularly serviced & was gas safe.
This was all true, however when we move in and read all the paperwork that had been left, the last service report said 'will need replacing before next service due'!

£2k - ouch!
Sounds like you might have to take it on the chin too

Landlord-Certificates

Its important to remember that a service isn't what it used to be.

The free British Gas inspections are just that are not the full services that they used to be.

I carry out gas safety inspections and boiler services and they are both very different things. The boiler in the photos clearly has NOT been serviced in my view for a very long time. It most probably has been inspected by a BG engineer but thats all he has done. The cover hasn't been taken off for a while. Most likely it was fitted on a dirty water system and wasn't filled with inhibitor or cleansed properly. A MagnaClean would have helped.

Alot of buyers contact me for pre-purchase home buyer reports which check the full central heating system including controls and radiators. The last one I did proved successful for the would be buyer. 6 of the radiators were luke warm after the heating had been on for 30mins, 2 of them didn't even warm up and some TRV's didn;t work. The room stat wasn't working and the flue terminal guard was cracked. All in all this would have been abit difficult or time consuming for the buyer to check but she got me in. I am sure I saved her alot more money than she paid me.

The surveyor would have advised you to check the heating and electrical systems in the property as this is what they always do - divert gthe risk on to you and make sure you do all the correct checks and dont blame him afterwards.

nbr

dollydiva wrote: »

Why did you not insist on seeing the boiler working correctly prior to buying? The property we bought was empty, but we insisted on seeing it all working

The boiler WAS working correctly when the had our viewings (the heating was on while we were viewing the property!) but the fault probably developed later.