seller lied about the boiler type

somethingcorporate

Was the tank not a giveaway when you were looking round the property?

A quick google says £4k is an absolute rip for installation of a combi boiler.

SplanK

Conventional boilers (especially older ones) just keep going and going and going as long as they are maintained well. There is less in them to go wrong!


However, the important bit here is, HOW were you told. If it was verbal then not a lot you can do, but if it was documented anywhere such as the PIF then you *may* have some legal leverage, however the chances of a suitable outcome maybe minimal as the seller might have thought 'combination' might have been that 1 boiler does heating as well as hot water, which is technically right. I think your solicitor is right in terms of, it would be far easier to claim on a broken boiler that the seller said was "in good working order".


But I do echo others, if this feature was an important option for you, then could I ask why you didn't pay more attention to it? If you were worried about age, then you could have arranged for an inspection of it prior to exchange.


Chances are it will be fine for many more years, my conventional boiler is >20 years old with no signs of issues and never ran out of hot water, you just need to time heating of the tank right and just be aware of it.


A 'good boiler' is usually the preference BUT its down to the individual as to what they want. To be honest, my preference is a conventional boiler with tanks however my next house has a combi. Its a new Worcester Bosch boiler so I relaxed my rule.


I would also see a boiler as a 'consumable' item to a house and would not stop me buying a house if it was the 'wrong one' assuming I ensured there was budget available to get it replaced or the exsting one had a good amount of life left, they can be changed at a later date for what ever you want.

cloo

Most likely it was just a mistake on their part, they perhaps just assumed it was combi boiler but didn't think it was that important. As people have said, if it's a larger house, a combi won't be suitable anyway.

halfabee

I had a leaflet drop out of a magazine the other day with a British Gas offer to replace your old boiler for a new one for £400. Not sure if you could get a combi installed on that basis, but it could be something to look in to.

MrsFingersCrossed

Halfbee, the British Gas offer is for £400 OFF the cost of a new boiler, offer open until the end of June.

Surrey_EA

Having looked into replacing a combination boiler fairly recently, you should be looking at around £1000 for the boiler itself, plus fitting, and the modification to adapt the system to suit a combination boiler. I would be amazed if you couldn't do this for less than £4000.

halfabee

MrsFingersCrossed wrote: »

Halfbee, the British Gas offer is for £400 OFF the cost of a new boiler, offer open until the end of June.

OH

Someone falls for marketing materials rather easily. :rotfl:

Gordon_Hose

Just changed my 15 year old combi for a new Worcester condensing combi boiler - £2k all in, that included re-siting the flue. About 6 hours work for the installer.

tom9980

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

Just changed my 15 year old combi for a new Worcester condensing combi boiler - £2k all in, that included re-siting the flue. About 6 hours work for the installer.

£1600 4 years ago for me so sounds right, the quoted 4k by British Gas is double what most independents would charge.

As for the OP i would suggest a combi on a large property is not appropriate, our boiler keeps a tank of water hot all day and it only comes on for 20 minutes at 6am.

pinkteapot

Does the boiler actually need replacing? Don't bother if not. Last year we moved to a house with a 25 year old boiler and it's working perfectly. Old boilers were built to last. So many friends with modern boilers have had problems and call-outs with them. I'm not switching to a newer one until I absolutely have to.