Gas Service Record - House Purchased

adamsmyth

Hi,


I've recently purchased my first home and as part of the sale asked for the gas boiler to be serviced (there was no record of the install and the owners claimed they had never had it serviced since it was installed - 8 years ago allegedly). Paperwork provided which says the appliance was serviced by a Gas Safe registered engineer - it's a Glowworm Micron boiler so probably about 12/13 years old.


Taken out British Gas Homecare as soon as we moved in and first service visit was carried out by the British Gas engineer. However, about a minute after he started, because of how the boiler has been installed with pipework in front of it, unless the system is completely drained down to remove this pipework, the casing for the boiler will not come off, and therefore cannot be serviced.


The plan was to replace the boiler in a year or 2 and move it (located in a bedroom and ideally want this in the kitchen) when I'd saved up a little more money. With no assurances of how long the boiler will last and my wife and I having a 3 month old baby we can't run the risk of this boiler failing in the middle of winter so going to have to replace it, in it's current location. We didn't do this when we moved in as we had the house re-wired, had to decorate, replace all the carpets, replace all the fixtures and the moving costs and was seen as more important.


Is there a legal challenge against the person who serviced the boiler? Unless he drained the system down, removed the pipework, serviced the boiler and then put it all back as it was, I don't believe it has been serviced. I wouldn't have bought the house at the agreed price if the boiler wasn't serviceable. I've been advised to take this up through small claims court, but don't know what I'd be claiming for compensation wise?


Solicitors who dealt with it washed their hands of it saying it wasn't a conveyancing issue.


Any thoughts?


Thanks,


Adam

nidO

Have you looked at asking someone else to come and service it?

At the moment you have one person saying "I serviced this boiler" and someone else saying "Servicing this boiler is hard".

You're assuming that the latter person is correct and then further assuming that because it's hard it must not have been done. Those are two assumptions that will stop you dead in any attempt to seek redress, because the person who provided the paperwork saying they serviced it will just say, basically, "I did service it and you can't prove otherwise".

For all you know, the British Gas engineer you had in is just incompetent and couldn't figure out how to get at the boiler.

Your next problem is saying that you wouldn't have bought the house at the price you did if the boiler wasn't serviceable. From everything you've said, the boiler is serviceable, it's just (if true) difficult to do.
If what you're then saying is that you wouldn't have bought the house at the price you did if the boiler wasn't *easy* to service, the vendor is going to tell you that you should have checked for yourself how easy or difficult the boiler is to service.

bouicca21

With no assurances of how long the boiler will last and my wife and I having a 3 month old baby we can't run the risk of this boiler failing in the middle of winter so going to have to replace it, in it's current location

How on earth do you think parents of babies managed to keep them warm in the days before boilers and central heating? I'd stick to the original plan and replace it as and when you can put the replacement in the place that you want it to be.

Gigervamp

bouicca21 wrote: »

How on earth do you think parents of babies managed to keep them warm in the days before boilers and central heating?

They were kept in the room with a fire. Very few houses these days have open fires or stoves.


OP, I would get another gas safe engineer round. There was a thread on here a few weeks ago where the OP had had a British Gas engineer round to do a service, who told them that the cupboard surrounding the boiler had to be removed before he could do the service. They got another guy round (not from BG) who did the service without them having to take apart the cupboard.

AlexMac

adamsmyth wrote: »

Hi,..
Taken out British Gas Homecare as soon as we moved in ... (but) casing for the boiler will not come off, and therefore cannot be serviced....The plan was to replace the boiler in a year or 2 and move it

Is there a legal challenge against the person who serviced the boiler? .... I wouldn't have bought the house at the agreed price if the boiler wasn't serviceable. I've been advised to take this up through small claims court, but don't know what I'd be claiming for compensation wise?
Solicitors who dealt with it washed their hands of it saying it wasn't a conveyancing issue. Any thoughts? Thanks,
Adam

Sympathies. In answer to your 'legal challenge?' question, I strongly suggest the answer is 'no'. That Engineer would have been contracted by and accountable to the previous owner, not to you, so they might have had a case if there was any evidence of failure to deliver what was paid for, but the change of owner and the passage of time mean that you'd be wasting time and energy trying to pursue them.

And I assume that in responses to written pre-sale enquiries the seller merely said that the boiler 'had been serviced' rather than that it was in perfect order, so no claim for misrepresentation, whether or not that engineer was competent (as your solicitor's reply indicates).

Regrettably, probably best to learn the lesson (boilers only have a design life of about 7-10 years I believe) swallow it, buy a new boiler with a 2year guarantee (like my 2013 Vaillant) or even better , a 5 year one (like the Glowworm I had installed last year in a holiday flat by a fully accredited fitter who could offer that extended warranty).

I speak from experience having replaced six boilers in six properties (all my homes, 2 BTL's and 2 holiday flats) over the past 15 years, so I now assume the worst. The £2k you'll pay may be hard to find but will give peace of mind (only one of my new boilers has had a fault in the 1st few years and one is going strong after about 12 yrs).

I doubt that the BG engineer was incompetent- every one I have encountered was extremely well-trained; maybe they were too 'by the book' whereas the earlier service guy was happy to do a bodge- after all, most annual checks are perfunctory- as much about gas pressure, leaks and safety as the inner workings of the box!

You should get your premiums to BG back though? I did after I inherited a boiler which was obviously problematic, as there was a leak, but which had been covered by BG right up to the sale. I took out their then 'repair and service' or 'fix and maintain' package (£100 for the fix then about £15-20pm on the grounds that while I knew it was dodgy, that wouldd give me a year's grace for £300 outlay. But when it proved un-mendable after six- yes six - visits in one week by guiys who really knew their stuff, they agreed my suggestion to refund the £100-odd I'd paid.... and I went to a cheaper contarctor for the new one!

Good luck; replace it (or at least get another gas safe contactor to come in on a 'service or quote to replace' basis) and move on!

societys_child

With no assurances of how long the boiler will last

Having it serviced is no assurance of how long it will last.
Could last 10 weeks/ 10 months/ 10 years . . .

AlexMac

Hang on... further to my ramble, above. I've just re-read your post, and see its not actually broke yet... Dunno how risk averse you are, but why not chance it, and then, if it dies in the next 4 months, rush out to Argos (or a hire shop) for some cheap blow heaters. I bet it will last the winter!

bouicca21

They were kept in the room with a fire

No in pre central heating days there would be only one heated room (unless you were enjoying a Downton Abbey type lifestyle). Babies were well wrapped up. Trust me, I'm old enough to remember. If OP's boiler breaks over the winter (and really, what is the risk, given that it clearly has been serviced?) it will be inconvenient and unpleasant; it won't be a disaster.

adamsmyth

bouicca21 wrote: »

How on earth do you think parents of babies managed to keep them warm in the days before boilers and central heating? I'd stick to the original plan and replace it as and when you can put the replacement in the place that you want it to be.

Thanks.... but that doesn't help the question being asked. If I had the capital to do it with no complaints, I wouldn't have asked for it to be serviced (in the hope it would last the winter and would not be such an issue in the summer) and would have had this done when the re-wiring of the house was being carried out.


It's not a simple job, there's an immersion boiler, CT pumps and a new flue to replace so not just as simple as replacing 'like for like'.

stokesley

Gigervamp wrote: »

They were kept in the room with a fire. Very few houses these days have open fires or stoves.

No they weren't. They were parked outside in prams during the day, then slept in unheated bedrooms at night. I still have the frostbite scars...


Sorry for the digression...

adamsmyth

AlexMac wrote: »

Hang on... further to my ramble, above. I've just re-read your post, and see its not actually broke yet... Dunno how risk averse you are, but why not chance it, and then, if it dies in the next 4 months, rush out to Argos (or a hire shop) for some cheap blow heaters. I bet it will last the winter!

I'm not risk averse. Very much far from it, hence asking for the boiler to be serviced. The gas fire in the living room was done so too and failed an emissions test due to a faulty part which was replaced at the vendors expense.