Boiler Finance Query

TabbyDoll

Hi,

Just looking for some advice! Me and my partner needed a new boiler in January of 2014. It was freezing and i was 6 months pregnant! British gas came out and said they could sort us a boiler, but as we couldn't pay in full, they referred us to a finance company, Hitachi. It was a 4 or 5 year payback, at a massive 19% interest- but at the time we felt like we had no choice. In September 2015 we sold the house. Now i'm paying for a boiler we don't even have, so my question is- is there any way i can get out of the contract? It's a massive chunk each month out of my wages, and i could really do without it! I know some may say well you bought it, you pay it, but i'm hoping there's a loophole somewhere!

Thanks in advance

boliston

It depends how much you value your credit rating. With hindsight it might have been better to have sought cheaper finance at the time.

January2015

Looking on the flip side, you wouldn't have achieved the sale price for the house you did if you hadn't had a working/serviced boiler. So in effect you have had the money for the boiler from the sale of the property.

The only way to get out of paying it is to stop paying and trash your credit rating. If you have a good credit rating it might be worth investigating taking out a lower rate loan or better still an interest free super balance transfer credit card and clearing the boiler finance that way.

TabbyDoll

Hindsight is indeed, a beautiful thing! I don't particularly value my credit rating, as i never intend to rely on finance again, but i also don't want to ruin it just in case .

TabbyDoll

The sale of our house was a shockingly low price, so much so that we used the sale to pay back the mortgage and STILL owed some. I'm also still paying off the loan from the deposit. So many bad decisions.... I've looked into a credit card, but the settlement figure is out of this world, and i don't really want a credit card if possible. I'm guessing if i stopped paying saying i don't own the boiler anymore they may be able to take legal action . Feel like i'm going to be saddled with this boiler debt forever

[Deleted User]

Of course they can and will take legal action, they will want their money back any which way.
If you are now renting a home and have limited income it may be worth looking into a DRO, you will find details of this on MSE, or you could talk to step change the debt charity to see what options you have.

worried_jim

How much did BG rip you off for a new boiler? I'm guessing £3.5k @ 19% for a £2k job. Am I close?

fatbelly

worried_jim wrote: »

How much did BG rip you off for a new boiler? I'm guessing £3.5k @ 19% for a £2k job. Am I close?

...with monthly payments of around £100

Three years in to that you may only have £1200 left to pay. This is a non-priority debt and could be rescheduled if necessary.

If you can no longer afford the contractual instalment and/or it's forcing you in to priority debt, then you need to send them a financial statement to show how much you will be paying in future and why.

If they took court action you would supply the same figures to the court and look for an instalment order on that basis. So there would be no advantage to them in doing that.

The only downside is that a default would be registered on your credit file after 3-6 months of your lower payments.

TabbyDoll

worried_jim wrote: »

How much did BG rip you off for a new boiler? I'm guessing £3.5k @ 19% for a £2k job. Am I close?

That sounds about right, maybe even a bit more!!

TabbyDoll

venison wrote: »

Of course they can and will take legal action, they will want their money back any which way.
If you are now renting a home and have limited income it may be worth looking into a DRO, you will find details of this on MSE, or you could talk to step change the debt charity to see what options you have.

Yes we are renting now. We both work (i'm on Mat Leave), but i would say most months we pay out more than we earn, so i may look into this- thanks!

TabbyDoll

fatbelly wrote: »

...with monthly payments of around £100

Three years in to that you may only have £1200 left to pay. This is a non-priority debt and could be rescheduled if necessary.

If you can no longer afford the contractual instalment and/or it's forcing you in to priority debt, then you need to send them a financial statement to show how much you will be paying in future and why.

If they took court action you would supply the same figures to the court and look for an instalment order on that basis. So there would be no advantage to them in doing that.

The only downside is that a default would be registered on your credit file after 3-6 months of your lower payments.

About £70 a month. Not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, but with everything else that's piled up over the years, (considering we don't even own the boiler anymore), it's something i could do without!! Going to court is not a great option, we're not very lucky trying to battle against big companies (not that we're serial claimers, it was on the car insurance against BP )