Mis-sold boiler cover

Mitonski

For the past 2 years we have had our boiler under service contract. First by British Gas and now by EON. We had our first EON annual service visit yesterday and the engineer told us he could not service the boiler. We are in a 2nd (of 3) floor flat and the engineer told us that because he could not inspect the flue (which goes into the loft above the upstairs flat) he could not service the boiler. He told us that this has been the regulation for years and as such we should not have been sold the policy if the flue could not be inspected. We still have the initital EON inspection document that says everything is fine and the boiler can be put under the agreement. It seems clear that we could complain to *try* and get our money back as we have been paying for something we should never have been sold. The issue now is that last winter the pump on the boiler was replaced by EON and since we were under the care agreement it was not chargeable... Where would we stand on this issue if we complained now? Could they charge us for the pump if we ask for our money back on the mis-sold cover? Or would they swallow the cost of the pump as it was their error in setting up the agreement in the first place?

I think it might be time to start gathering quotes for getting a new boiler!

bengasman

As you had your money's worth when your pump was replaced, I recommend you just consider yourself even, cancel the contract and live happily ever after.

Harryo

It has been a requirement within the Gas Safety in Use Regulations that boiler flues should be accessible for inspection. However, with the advent of fan assisted boilers which could support long flue runs the Regulation was sadly generally ignorred (including by CORGI inspectors who carried out checks on such systems). After numerous accidents, CORGI issued a Technical Memorandumm TB200 on 11 June 2007 which was a wake up call to all installers and stipulated that all new installations from that date must have flues which can be inspected. The TM acknowledged that there are thousands of existing installations which were signed off as being ok prior to that date, which did not comply. The TM basically stated the flues should be made accessible by the customer if practical but if not a Risk Assessment by the responsible CORGI technician should be carried out, the Customer informed of the Risk and a carbon monoxide alarm(s) be fitted. If that was carried out the boiler could remain to operate. TB200 has now been replaced by Gassafe Technical Bulliten 008, which continues to allow for the alternative approach. I would take this further with the company. There is no reason why they should disregard TB008, unless they think they are wiser than HSE, CORGI and gaseSafe Experts!!!

SYNERGY

Harryo wrote: »

It has been a requirement within the Gas Safety in Use Regulations that boiler flues should be accessible for inspection. However, with the advent of fan assisted boilers which could support long flue runs the Regulation was sadly generally ignorred (including by CORGI inspectors who carried out checks on such systems). After numerous accidents, CORGI issued a Technical Memorandumm TB200 on 11 June 2007 which was a wake up call to all installers and stipulated that all new installations from that date must have flues which can be inspected. The TM acknowledged that there are thousands of existing installations which were signed off as being ok prior to that date, which did not comply. The TM basically stated the flues should be made accessible by the customer if practical but if not a Risk Assessment by the responsible CORGI technician should be carried out, the Customer informed of the Risk and a carbon monoxide alarm(s) be fitted. If that was carried out the boiler could remain to operate. TB200 has now been replaced by Gassafe Technical Bulliten 008, which continues to allow for the alternative approach. I would take this further with the company. There is no reason why they should disregard TB008, unless they think they are wiser than HSE, CORGI and gaseSafe Experts!!!

There is no reason why they should disregard TB008, unless they think they are wiser than HSE, CORGI and gaseSafe Experts!!!

Hmmmmmmm, it is EON we are talking about here :rotfl: :cool:

Mitonski

Thanks Harryo, we will look into this further, though I'm not quite sure what the process would be to debate this with them. I found a copy of the TB online and the risk assessment process seems fairly thorough. I think we'll still collect a few quotes for boiler replacement (though will be a major job ) but if we continue with this boiler we may switch back to BG for boiler care.