Gas boiler query

marksoton

Kynthia wrote: »

I still don't understand where the idea that the vendors have been less than candid has come from and how limited building insurers is relevant?

If you want the boiler checked then get someone to check it. It's 11 years old though so it might need replacing at some point so have sone money set aside in your savings. Not many houses are sold with a new boiler and not many homeowners service them regularly. That's not suspicious but part of the realities of buying a home.

Because i'd expect a boiler to have been serviced in the last 11 years and for there to be supporting paperwork. Coupled with the fact the stated install date is exactly the year before the new legislation came in.

BI is relevant because it's a leasehold flat. In the unlikely event the boiler blows etc i'd imagine the onus would be on me to make good any repairs on the building. Even though i'd have no building insurance to claim on.

You may well be right and i'm over thinking it, hence the reason for posting. But i can only ask the question of the vendor and see what response i get back.

Yolina

I have my boiler serviced regularly but I don't keep "supporting paperwork".

You are overthinking it by all means have it checked and serviced (preferably by an independent who isn't going to try to flog you a new boiler just because this one is 11 years old) but the lack of paperwork wouldn't particularly concern me

martin.cat

There will be building insurance I'm sure that will be a condition of your mortgage. This will most like be paid for by your service charge to the management company whom will procure it

You can get a service carried out before exchange and I'd only worry if it was condemned. As to who pays the cost it will be negotiable between you or the vender

As others have said expect to replace in the future

A new boiler uses at least a third less gas so the pay back is only a few years

I certainly wouldn't plan to run an older boiler for any length of time. In your case I would just want some reassurance that it's in serviceable condition and likely to get me through this winter. Other than that you have the option to revise your offer accordingly and the vender may or may not oblige

Kynthia

marksoton wrote: »

Because i'd expect a boiler to have been serviced in the last 11 years and for there to be supporting paperwork. Coupled with the fact the stated install date is exactly the year before the new legislation came in.

BI is relevant because it's a leasehold flat. In the unlikely event the boiler blows etc i'd imagine the onus would be on me to make good any repairs on the building. Even though i'd have no building insurance to claim on.

You may well be right and i'm over thinking it, hence the reason for posting. But i can only ask the question of the vendor and see what response i get back.

I don't think we are assigning the same meaning to the word candid as I can't see that they've hidden anything from you and they've volunteered the fact they haven't had a service.

You find the installation date and the fact they haven't had a service suspicious. I think that unless you have info to show otherwise there were many boilers installed that year so why couldn't theirs be one of them. Also I believe, rightly or wrongly, that the majority of homeowners don't have their boilers serviced so I don't find that suspicious.

To be honest I wasn't aware that a boiler in use, as opposed to one in a old unused property for example, could explode. I can see that it's extremely rare but obviously it's something you want to be insured against. I'd be very surprised if any buildings insurance, whether leasehold or freehold, wouldn't cover it. Considering that boiler services aren't a legal requirement then you don't have to have one.

marksoton

Thanks all, All points duly noted and yes i concede maybe i have over thought this.

Anyway, as pointed out the vendor can either say yes or no to a service pre-exchange. Failing that i'll stump up. I guess i'm really just concerned about the ambiguity ( probably on my part ) about where my responsibility finishes and where the leasehold insurance might start should anything happen.

white-sage

Two of my sons are gas engineers and they have never heard of boilers exploding. The most common problems with boilers are PCB failiures, gas valves or fans. There was, allegedly, a problem a few years ago with Ideal boilers when the heat exchanger failed and houses were flooded as a result - but they have heard of nothing like that since. Between then they service thousands of boilers a year so they see it all!


If the boiler is eleven years old it will probably be less than A rated so less efficient than the new boilers today and personally I would be putting money aside to cover the cost of its eventual replacement. Interestingly though I know of someone who has got a gas fire back boiler that is getting on for 30 years old and is still going strong so you never can tell.

G_M

marksoton wrote: »

.... and yes i concede maybe i have over thought this.

.... I guess i'm really just concerned about the ambiguity ( probably on my part ) about where my responsibility finishes and where the leasehold insurance might start should anything happen.

The building will (almost certainly) be insured. It will (almost certainly) be a condition of the lease that the leaseholder pays the freeholder (or his managing agent) for a proportion of the total buildings insurance premium, frequently via an annual service charge but perhaps by specific one-off annual payments.

Part of the conveyancing process will be checking the lease for such details, and the accounts of the management company etc to ensure such insurance is in place.

If the boiler explodes destroying the building, or leaks flooding the building, the buildings insurance will thus cover the re-build/repair cost.

You would have to cover your contents/possessions via a separate personal contents insurance policy (or take the risk of uninsured loss if you choose).

Hence my comment which you somewhat rudely responded to back in post 14.

I repeat, and echo others: if you have concerns about the condition or safety of the boiler, pay an engineer to inspect it. While you're at it, why no concern for the electrics? Far more likely to start a fire! The solution is...... pay an electrician to inspect......

marksoton

G_M wrote: »

The building will (almost certainly) be insured. It will (almost certainly) be a condition of the lease that the leaseholder pays the freeholder (or his managing agent) for a proportion of the total buildings insurance premium, frequently via an annual service charge but perhaps by specific one-off annual payments.

Part of the conveyancing process will be checking the lease for such details, and the accounts of the management company etc to ensure such insurance is in place.

If the boiler explodes destroying the building, or leaks flooding the building, the buildings insurance will thus cover the re-build/repair cost.

You would have to cover your contents/possessions via a separate personal contents insurance policy (or take the risk of uninsured loss if you choose).

Hence my comment which you somewhat rudely responded to back in post 14.

I repeat, and echo others: if you have concerns about the condition or safety of the boiler, pay an engineer to inspect it. While you're at it, why no concern for the electrics? Far more likely to start a fire! The solution is...... pay an electrician to inspect......

Firstly, and most importantly if i was i rude i apologise. And correct, all is as you said.

The reason i homed in on the boiler is because i read it that will be mine. In other words my responsibility. The electrics will not.

Even after reading the lease extensively i can't fathom what seems to be a blurred line. I work in utilities myself so i don't believe the boiler would blow up for one minute. My concern would be water damage as it's a first floor flat.

Regardless your input is appreciated.

Hoploz

How will the electrics not be your responsibility?

Yolina

marksoton wrote: »

The reason i homed in on the boiler is because i read it that will be mine. In other words my responsibility. The electrics will not.

The electrics inside your flat will be your responsibility just as much as the boiler.