How do I fund a new boiler with bad credit rating???

Just_Me_4

Hi I haven't posted for a while but thought I'd try for some advice. British Gas told us we need a new boiler although we can still use ours but it has "reached the end of its life". Anyway the sales guy came round and gave us all the information and the prices. Unfortunately we were both refused the credit - something I find a total disgrace seeing as we have been regular customers of British Gas for many years. How do we combat this then? Has anyone else found themselves in a similar situation.

We both work full time and earn good money therefore not entitled to any kind of benefits to assist.:mad:

tiff

I would get an independent gas safe engineer to have a look at it, British Gas just want you to buy something from them. It may be that theres still some life in the boiler and you wont need to spend any money until you have some saved.

princess*daisy

Hi,

Are you sure that your boiler definitely needs replacing and it wasn't just the salesman being clever with his words so that you will fork out for a new one? You say it still works, so does it need replacing straight away? Might be worth getting a second opinion, preferably a free one if you know anyone in the business?

If a new boiler is definitely needed, you could look into a crisis loan via DWP? I don't know much about them but you don't have to be on benefits to apply. Have a look here:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018856

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Just_Me_4

Thank you for your replies. It was actually the engineer who said it needed replacing but I wouldn't mind betting if I got another engineer round he would give a completely different story. As it happens I have a complaint going through with BG at the moment so I'm hoping to get something out of them anyway!

I will have a look at that link but don't hold out any hope.:)

Poosmate

Hi Just Me, luckily you shouldn't be needing your boiler for a good few months to come very soon so now is the time to get saving for a new one.

As you are both working and earning good money surely you should be able to save something each month? If not, then maybe you should look at where all your money is disappearing to. Try filling out a SOA (Statement of Affairs) from here:

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

It can be a right eye opener. If it tells you that you have loads of money left after all bills etc. are accounted for and you just haven't which is almost always the case, then you need to find where that money is going to. You'd be amazed how much disappears throughout the month.

Good luck

Poo

BlushingRose

I have heard that a boiler through BG is waaaaay more pricey than through an independent.
We use the BG homecare thing and it's been great but I know we wouldn't get our boiler from them when it packs up.

theoldcynic

BG told us we would need to replace our boiler 7 years ago as it had reached 'the end of it's life'. It is still ticking along quite nicely thank you very much!

It wasn't condemned, it has an annual service and there is nothing wrong with it at all. They admitted this but said it is best to replace to be on the 'safe side', and did exactly the same, the engineer booked an appointment with a boiler sales person (which I went along with to get him out of my house then promptly cancelled the appointment).

As others have suggested, if it is safe, keep using it but do start to put some money aside for if and when it does break down, hopefully by the time you need it, you will have no need for credit!

PS if you do need to replace it, shop around, BG are not the only boiler supplier/fitter or organisation to offer credit, you may get a better deal elsewhere.

DVardysShadow

Just_Me wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. It was actually the engineer who said it needed replacing but I wouldn't mind betting if I got another engineer round he would give a completely different story. As it happens I have a complaint going through with BG at the moment so I'm hoping to get something out of them anyway!

I will have a look at that link but don't hold out any hope.:)

The 'engineer' is not a proper engineer. Engineers do not do gas servicing.

The gas fitter in question is almost certainly on commission for identifying sales opportunities. You should ditch BG for servicing - it is well known that they will decide to stop keeping spares for a boiler which the manufacturer still supports - and then sell new boilers off the back of that.

theoldcynic

DVardysShadow wrote: »

The gas fitter in question is almost certainly on commission for identifying sales opportunities. You should ditch BG for servicing - it is well known that they will decide to stop keeping spares for a boiler which the manufacturer still supports - and then sell new boilers off the back of that.

Now that's interesting, I did not know that. I tried to cancel my contract with them as they sent me a letter saying that my manufacturer had stopped producing parts, and that they would do all they that they could to source them. Will have to check exact wording now, if that i misread it and it is that they have stopped keeping spares...

I explained to them that why would I continue a contract that they would potentially no longer be able to service (and I would be better off saving for a new boiler instead) and they 'assured' me that they would do all that they could to source the parts from elsewhere.

Now wondering if it is worth continuing after all, and what my rights would be if they made a claim they could not source parts if I possibly could? Mmmm....

jet9cat

I was in the same situation - had a service agreement with BG then after several yers they said they could no longer get parts for our type of boiler so I stopped the agreement and put the same amount of money I was paying them eachmonth into a savings account to save up for the new boiler. The boiler continued to work fine for several more years. About 8 months ago BG had a promotion off for a third off new boilers so I rang them to get a quote as ours was starting to sound dodgy. They quoted me over 3k :eek:, which they said was after the third discount. No way was I affording that. When the boiler finally packed in last January, my OH who works as a handyman/light builder, talked to guys he knew in the trade and we got a new boiler for a lot less, even before any mates rates kicked in and the savings just about covered it.

I would therefore keep using the boiler as long as it's safe to do so but start saving up for new one and when you need it get several quotes. If BG are best that's fine but I wouldn't go with them automatically.

Rob_192

As others have said, I very much doubt that it needs replacing this instant.

People tend to be a bit emotive when it comes to boilers - there's the fear factor that it could be dangerous - it's actually a very simple device and unless there's something fundamentally wrong with the flue arrangements, the worst that's going to happen is it's going to become unreliable, ie. break down.

Think of it like a car (although considerably less complex), when they get older they become less reliable and to some extent less efficient. Like cars, there's always going to be a new model with all the bells and whistles that is more efficient than the old model - that doesn't suddenly make the old model redundant (although, to see all the new cars bought to replace perfectly good older models, you do wonder sometimes).

Our oil fired boiler is 17 years old and the local engineer says it could do with replacing - total rubbish, it just needs a new jet every couple of years and it will go on for years to come. It's actually in remarkably good condition.

He did however manage to persuade one of our neighbours to get a new boiler (same age as ours to the month), but before the old one was taken away, I took the whole burner unit out of it and kept it for spares. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. A couple of weeks ago, the motor in ours failed, so I simply swapped it over with the spare one and it's back running perfectly - I'm not for one minute suggesting everybody starts mending their own boiler, far from it, but don't listen to these bloody salemen, because that's all they are.

R