Broken boiler

dimbo61

Easily sorted this.
Buy your own home ASAP.
Get a brand new place with New boiler and 5/7 years warranty ( make sure you have the boiler serviced every year to keep warranty )
Modern insulation and double glazing will help keep heating bills down.
LED lighting and Smart meter.
Why would anyone live in an old house

G_M

Hi Sam!

You've had lots of advice above, though prob not what you wanted to hear.

here's my 2p's worth:

samantha4321 wrote: »

Hi apologies if this is in the wrong place. No prob. Right place


I've been having a few issues with my private landlord's boiler. (not the landlord).


I informed them beginning of last week that my boiler was leaking and I was constantly having to put more pressure into on the daily.
OK - so.... Monday last week?
Landlady's husband came out on Tuesday last week to confirm what I already knew it needed fixed!
So came and checked the next day. Very good.
(You'd be surprised how many tenants just forget to turn off a tap, re-pressurise a boiler, whatever and cost LL's money getting out a ccontractor for effectively nothing.)
We were under the impression the boiler had just been serviced (told it was serviced every October).
1) Maybe it was. It could still break down.
2) No legal requirement for a boiler service.
3) have you got a gas Safety Report? (note: this is nothing to do with a service)
Landlady informed us that she couldn't get a heating engineer till the Friday
Quite likely. It's December. It's cold. Engineers are working flat out this time of year.
and advised we used the boiler as little as possible.
Depending how bad the leak is, sound advice
Just what you want at this time of year!
Yeah, sometimes life sucks.
Friday afternoon comes and we were informed that the boiler couldn't be fixed and that it required a part to be delivered (allowed landlady's husband to attend with engineer as we were both at work).
1) So engineer came as promised.
2) LL arranged access so as to minimise inconvenience to you
3) quite common for a part to be needed. If not a standard part it won't be on the van.
Firstly we were told we couldn't use the boiler at all then we were told we could but could only set it to 18.5 degrees.
So you received professional advice on what was a) acceptable for safety balanced with b) keeping the worst of the cold off. Very good.

My friend managed to text the landlady to ask what she was going to suggest as we'd be without heating and hot water until the part was delivered. She then said she was coming over to the house to deliver some electric heaters.
You have a very responsive, helpful landlady! I hope you thanked her, offered her tea and cake!
The boiler was now completely not working after the heating engineer had been out with the landlady's husband
Hmmm.. not sure how relevant it is that te engineer was gay.......

(we had no knowledge that it wasn't working at all). The landlady looked at the boiler and said she wasn't sure why it wasn't working
So this was chit-cha over the tea & cake? She's not an engineer so I wouldn't expect her to know, would you?
and said the heaters were there to heat the house.
As above - hope you thanked her.
The house we are renting is an old fashioned Victorian town house (tall ceilings and poor insulation).
Sounds beautiful. Mine's 150 yers old. But neither fact seems relevant to your problem!
We then asked about being reimbursed as the heaters use a lot of electricity,
Now that's taking the ****! You're saving on the gas bill!
to which the landlady took meter readings and said she would work out how much we'd used and reimburse us afterwards.
She sounds like the best LL ever! Not just tea and cake: choccie biscuits too!

We were left in freezing conditions all weekend (three heaters were useless in such cold weather). Temperatures in the house dropped to 10.5 degrees over the weekend.
Yeah that sounds tough. Tesco sell nice insulated hot water bottles for £3 so you'd have a cosy night at least.
Today we've been told that the part has been delivered but it doesn't mean that it will be fixed today.
Good news.
And good of the LL/engineer to keep you updated.
Landlady has no boiler cover so coming out her own pocket to pay for engineer to which she has complained as it's so close to Christmas.
Well tht's all irrelevant, but I suppose it was chit-chat over the tea and cake you'd provided?

Just wondering what my rights are and what can I do about this!?
Your rights are to have the boiler fixed in a reasonable timeframe. That seems to be happening.
You have no rights to the 3 extra heaters - that was just a really nice extra.

You can write a nice thank you letter/christmas card to the LL once the boiler is fixed.

Thanks in advance! (hope this makes sense!)

Yes. Makes perfect sense.

Comms69

samantha4321 wrote: »

Hi apologies if this is in the wrong place.


I've been having a few issues with my private landlord.


I informed them beginning of last week that my boiler was leaking and I was constantly having to put more pressure into on the daily. Landlady's husband came out on Tuesday last week to confirm what I already knew it needed fixed! We were under the impression the boiler had just been serviced (told it was serviced every October). Landlady informed us that she couldn't get a heating engineer till the Friday and advised we used the boiler as little as possible. Just what you want at this time of year! Friday afternoon comes and we were informed that the boiler couldn't be fixed and that it required a part to be delivered (allowed landlady's husband to attend with engineer as we were both at work). Firstly we were told we couldn't use the boiler at all then we were told we could but could only set it to 18.5 degrees. My friend managed to text the landlady to ask what she was going to suggest as we'd be without heating and hot water until the part was delivered. She then said she was coming over to the house to deliver some electric heaters. The boiler was now completely not working after the heating engineer had been out with the landlady's husband (we had no knowledge that it wasn't working at all). The landlady looked at the boiler and said she wasn't sure why it wasn't working and said the heaters were there to heat the house. The house we are renting is an old fashioned Victorian town house (tall ceilings and poor insulation). We then asked about being reimbursed as the heaters use a lot of electricity, to which the landlady took meter readings and said she would work out how much we'd used and reimburse us afterwards. We were left in freezing conditions all weekend (three heaters were useless in such cold weather). Temperatures in the house dropped to 10.5 degrees over the weekend. Today we've been told that the part has been delivered but it doesn't mean that it will be fixed today. Landlady has no boiler cover so coming out her own pocket to pay for engineer to which she has complained as it's so close to Christmas.


Just wondering what my rights are and what can I do about this!?


Thanks in advance! (hope this makes sense!)

Had your landlord not provided any heating at all, I would argue you had a claim. Certainly if temperatures drop to single digits.


However, you had 3 heaters. The LL has therefore complied with the requirement. (3 heaters was never to heat the whole house, just the 3 'main' rooms)

Comms69

The 24hr thing isn't as simple as that, a repair should be attempted with-in 24 hours, if a repair is not possible and a home is left without heating / hot water, especially in winter, a landlord would be very sensible to provide an alternative.


If they don't, they give rise to a rent abatement claim.

Cakeguts

samantha4321 wrote: »

I understand that, however I was under the impression that a complete boiler breakdown leaving you without heating and hot water was supposed to be repaired within 24hrs.... We were told the boiler was serviced every October and that everything was fine no issues. However on Friday upon speaking with the Landlady we were told it was just a gas safety check. Which makes me wonder that not only has the boiler not been serviced this year but that had it been serviced this could have been avoidable?

I see a misunderstanding. I don't know where you got the impression about the 24 hours but it is wrong so you can forget about that.

A gas safety check might also include a service if the boiler is not working properly so it could be both.

Marvel1

My boiler has been off (only on morning to keep pipes ticking over), when I'm here day/evening (weekend) and evening (weekday), I just put on a hoodie and bed duvet on - saves on gas bill.

Now to your issue, what would you do differently as a homeowner? (Somehow I'm not expecting a reply).

benjus

HampshireH wrote: »

A boiler service doesn't mean it won't breakdown.

It is like a MOT. Valid on the day and a legal requirement. You could have had it serviced and it may still fail the very next day.

Seems like a strange analogy.

A gas safety check is comparable to an MOT.

Having your boiler serviced is like having your car serviced - there's no legal requirement to do it, but if you don't do it you're very likely to run into expensive issues sooner or later.

G_M

benjus wrote: »

Seems like a strange analogy.

A gas safety check is comparable to an MOT.

Having your boiler serviced is like having your car serviced - there's no legal requirement to do it, but if you don't do it you're very likely to run into expensive issues sooner or later.

You're right - that's a better analogy.

But it doesn't alter the main point benjus was making. Whether you get your car MOT'd, and/or serviced, it still might break down a month (or more... or less...) later.

saajan_12

The LL doesn't have to guarantee you perfect heating, nor a fix within 24 hours. They have to perform any repairs in a reasonable timeframe, ie what a owner occupier would find reasonable. To date, the LL has
* complied with the requirement for annual gas safety checks. No obligation to service annually.
* initially assessed the issue within 1 day of reporting
* had an engineer visit within 5 days (very quick for winter)
* made arrangements for the visit so as to not inconvenience you
* engineer is ordering a part, as expected
* provided electric heaters so you do have a means to heat. You already have hot water from a kettle I presume.
* offered payment towards electricity bills (even though you'd be saving on gas bills and increased elec bills for heat is part and parcel of heating issues, as long as its only for a reasonable timeframe the LL doesn't owe this)
* let you know of part arrival so the next step of the repair should be soon

Sounds about a perfect LL to me, she owes you nothing more than she's doing.

barbiedoll

The boiler was now completely not working after the heating engineer had been out with the landlady’s husband

Hmmm.......not sure how relevant it is that the engineer is gay

And now my iPad is covered in tea (thankfully, no cake!)

:rotfl::rotfl: