Vaillant says Vaillant flue kit is excluded from their warranty!?

JohnRed

An independent plumber installed in my house a Vaillant boiler 4 years ago (combi boiler ecoTec plus 832) together with a Vaillant flue kit connecting the boiler to the outside of the house.

The boiler was sold together with a 10-year extended warranty (which is the main reason why I went with Vaillant instead of Worcester Bosch). However, we just noticed that the inside of part of the white pipe (included in the Vaillant flue kit) connecting the boiler to the outside of the house is significantly rusted. The installer indicated that this was a common problem with Vaillant flue kits and recommended that I call Vaillant to ask them to fix this under the 10-year warranty.

I just called Vaillant who informed me that the 10-year warranty only covers the boiler itself, not the flue kit. I pressed them to tell me what the manufacturer warranty period was for the flue kit but they refused to provide me an answer. Instead they told me to go back to my installer, and get him to ask the retailer he purchased the kit from if this was covered by the retailer's warranty. My installer said he would do so but had little hope that the retailer's warranty would be more than 12 months. If this is the case, I would have to fork out the bill for a replacement flue kit and the associated repairs / installation.

If one wants to buy a Vaillant boiler, one has no choice but to purchase the Vaillant flue kit that comes with it. I therefore find it difficult to swallow that this is excluded from their much vaunted 10 year extended warranty, and I also find it quite shocking that Vaillant is refusing to tell me if there is any manufacturer warranty at all on their flue kits, and how long it runs for.

Any advice / thoughts on how to proceed and protect my rights would be greatly appreciated.

Ectophile

Legally, Vaillant don't have to provide any manufacturer's warranty at all. It's just something that most manufacturers choose to offer.


Your legal rights are against whoever you paid for the flue. That would usually be the installer, unless you bought the parts separately.


If it's only 4 years, you could sue whoever you paid for the flue kit. But it would be up to you to get an expert report to show that the flue kit had a latent fault at the time it was installed.