Do I have a case for Mis Sold Boiler from British Gas

CyMadigan

Hi,

I believe that I may have been mis-sold a boiler from British Gas and would like some advice if possible.

Background
I had a yearly homecare agreement where I had been having my boiler serviced by BG for the last few years. In Aug 2015 I had my yearly service. On Sep 22 I called BG to report that I had a problem in that I believed that the boiler was cutting out the electrics. As I only had a service agreement I believed I would need to pay a fee for the visit (for which I never got charged) and for which I have no dispute.

The engineer that visited quickly decided that it was the PCB on the boiler that was the problem so he replaced it and it seemed that that fixed the issue of the electrics cutting out. During his visit I got chatting with him about the boiler (8 year old ICOS), and as I only had a service agreement asked him about whether I would be potentially paying out for further visits like this one. To which he replied that ICOS boilers were known to be problematic and once they started going wrong they would keep going wrong. To which I asked him would it be advisable for me to consider replacing the boiler should I have further problems, as I had noticed the boiler scrappage advert on tv. He replied that, that would be what he would do.

After a quick test it seemed that the replacement PCB solved the problem.
We then went on holiday and upon our return realised that the electrics had again cut out. Thinking back to the conversation I had had with the engineer and realising that potentially I would again be paying out for another visit, I decided to arrange for a HSA to come and advise me on the way forward.

The HSA seemed to do a thorough inspection of my system from looking at the boiler, checking the number of radiators, sinks, showers and baths etc. in order that he had all the information he needed to give me the correct advice. During this inspection he noted that I had an airing cupboard with a hot water cylinder. I remember him commenting something like “should keep that as it was worth its weight in gold”, as we were discussing different types of boilers and their suitability. I informed him that I had a current issue where the electrics had cut out and we had had an engineer come to attempt to resolve the issue (see above), and how his advice was essentially if I were to have further issues it would be advisable to change the boiler and hence the reason for him being here. He also advised that I would need a new boiler and also mentioned that ICOS boilers were problematic and were prone to having problems once they were repaired. He then proceeded to quote me for a replacement boiler and included a scrappage discount in the quote. He left me with the quote to consider.

Having listened to the advice from both the HSA and the engineer I came to the conclusion that as they were experts and representing British Gas that I should probably follow the advice and have my boiler replaced, so I decided to go ahead and have the boiler replaced based on the advice and quote from the HSA, so I paid a 10% deposit to secure the deal and waited for a suitable installation date.

Installation
On the day of installation the old boiler was decommissioned, new boiler installed (some minor damage happened during installation – drilled through to adjoining room to where the boiler was mounted) and then it was time to reconnect everything up to the electrics etc. for testing. Unfortunately things didn’t go well the electrics were again cutting out (my original problem that kicked off this series of events), it took the engineer and the electrician about 90mins to realise that there was actually a problem with the hot water cylinder. There was many calls made between the engineers and management where they were trying to decide what to do. They agreed to then replace my hot water cylinder as it was this leaking and was the root cause to the problem. So I have had a new boiler that I probably did not need in the process losing potentially 7 years lifetime.

My Dispute
British Gas do not seem to accept any responsibility for the advice I received was on balance not correct. I am happy that I need to pay British Gas something for the work as they did eventually make good on the hot water cylinder, however I believe that they mis-diagnosed the problem initially, then advised that I needed a new boiler which mis-led me to believe I needed a new boiler, and therefore them mis-selling said boiler. I relied on the fact that these were experts in their field and helped me in making my decision. I have at this point in time held off paying the full amount of the boiler quote as BG have decided not to uphold my complaint.

Any advice you can give on this matter will be much appreciated.

footyguy

CyMadigan wrote: »

Hi,

I believe that I may have been mis-sold a boiler from British Gas and would like some advice if possible.

Background
I had a yearly homecare agreement where I had been having my boiler serviced by BG for the last few years. In Aug 2015 I had my yearly service. On Sep 22 I called BG to report that I had a problem in that I believed that the boiler was cutting out the electrics. As I only had a service agreement I believed I would need to pay a fee for the visit (for which I never got charged) and for which I have no dispute.

The engineer that visited quickly decided that it was the PCB on the boiler that was the problem so he replaced it and it seemed that that fixed the issue of the electrics cutting out. During his visit I got chatting with him about the boiler (8 year old ICOS), and as I only had a service agreement asked him about whether I would be potentially paying out for further visits like this one. To which he replied that ICOS boilers were known to be problematic and once they started going wrong they would keep going wrong. To which I asked him would it be advisable for me to consider replacing the boiler should I have further problems, as I had noticed the boiler scrappage advert on tv. He replied that, that would be what he would do.

After a quick test it seemed that the replacement PCB solved the problem.
We then went on holiday and upon our return realised that the electrics had again cut out. Thinking back to the conversation I had had with the engineer and realising that potentially I would again be paying out for another visit, I decided to arrange for a HSA to come and advise me on the way forward.

The HSA seemed to do a thorough inspection of my system from looking at the boiler, checking the number of radiators, sinks, showers and baths etc. in order that he had all the information he needed to give me the correct advice. During this inspection he noted that I had an airing cupboard with a hot water cylinder. I remember him commenting something like “should keep that as it was worth its weight in gold”, as we were discussing different types of boilers and their suitability. I informed him that I had a current issue where the electrics had cut out and we had had an engineer come to attempt to resolve the issue (see above), and how his advice was essentially if I were to have further issues it would be advisable to change the boiler and hence the reason for him being here. He also advised that I would need a new boiler and also mentioned that ICOS boilers were problematic and were prone to having problems once they were repaired. He then proceeded to quote me for a replacement boiler and included a scrappage discount in the quote. He left me with the quote to consider.

Having listened to the advice from both the HSA and the engineer I came to the conclusion that as they were experts and representing British Gas that I should probably follow the advice and have my boiler replaced, so I decided to go ahead and have the boiler replaced based on the advice and quote from the HSA, so I paid a 10% deposit to secure the deal and waited for a suitable installation date.

Installation
On the day of installation the old boiler was decommissioned, new boiler installed (some minor damage happened during installation – drilled through to adjoining room to where the boiler was mounted) and then it was time to reconnect everything up to the electrics etc. for testing. Unfortunately things didn’t go well the electrics were again cutting out (my original problem that kicked off this series of events), it took the engineer and the electrician about 90mins to realise that there was actually a problem with the hot water cylinder. There was many calls made between the engineers and management where they were trying to decide what to do. They agreed to then replace my hot water cylinder as it was this leaking and was the root cause to the problem. So I have had a new boiler that I probably did not need in the process losing potentially 7 years lifetime.

My Dispute
British Gas do not seem to accept any responsibility for the advice I received was on balance not correct. I am happy that I need to pay British Gas something for the work as they did eventually make good on the hot water cylinder, however I believe that they mis-diagnosed the problem initially, then advised that I needed a new boiler which mis-led me to believe I needed a new boiler, and therefore them mis-selling said boiler. I relied on the fact that these were experts in their field and helped me in making my decision. I have at this point in time held off paying the full amount of the boiler quote as BG have decided not to uphold my complaint.

Any advice you can give on this matter will be much appreciated.

Any "advice" provided by British Gas was done so on a non-regulated basis.

In contrast, "advice" given by say an independent financial advsior is regulated. They would term the "advice" you were given as "guidance"

You were free to seek a second opinion before you splashed the cash.

As a result, caveat emptor applies.

I wish you well in your complaint. Any resolution will only be offered on a goodwilll and without liability basis.

mike_the_bike_2

Who are HSA please?

Sterlingtimes

footyguy wrote: »

Any "advice" provided by British Gas was done so on a non-regulated basis.

In contrast, "advice" given by say an independent financial advsior is regulated. They would term the "advice" you were given as "guidance"

You were free to seek a second opinion before you splashed the cash.

As a result, caveat emptor applies.

I wish you well in your complaint. Any resolution will only be offered on a goodwilll and without liability basis.

Are you sure?

A duty of care can arise with respect to careless statements that cause pure economic loss.

The Hedley Byrne test has 5 general requirements:
→ 1. There must be a duty of care based on a “special relationship” between the representor and the representee.
→ 2. The representation in question must be untrue, inaccurate, or misleading.
→ 3. The representor must have acted negligently in making said misrepresentation.
→ 4. The representee must have relied in a reasonable manner, on said negligent misrepresentation.
→ 5. The reliance must have been detrimental to the representee in the sense that damages resulted.

The case seems to fit.

CyMadigan

I believe HSA = Heating Sales Advisor

mike_the_bike_2

So basically a salesmen trying to flog you a new boiler, is that a fair description?

macman

And don't forget the original RGI gets a commission for supplying the lead too...

C_Mababejive

Perhaps the core of the problem is that you believed that a fault on the boiler was causing trippage of whole house electrics. You mentioned this to BGs person and for whatever reason, he chose to accept what you said rather than considering the possibility that there was a fault elsewhere in the house and that it wasnt the heating system at all.

What led you to believe that it was the boiler that was causing the trippage and do you have a split load consumer unit with individual mcbs?

CyMadigan

After a few further conversations between BG customer relations (Thanks Ivonne), BG have written off the charges for the replacement boiler. The case is now closed.:j:j