Do I have any right to receive an invoice and is there anything further I can do to get one?

rebeccak

In November last year I had a new boiler fitted by a small local company (2 person firm). I had home emergency cover which, as my previous boiler could not be repaired, entitled me to claim a contribution towards the cost of the new boiler. (The boiler company have no connection with the insurer - I could use any firm I wanted).

Initially, the boiler engineer had just messaged me the costs but, when they came to do the work, I mentioned what I needed to submit my insurance claim (an invoice on their letter-headed paper and confirmation that I had paid it) - They said this was fine. However, they asked if I could just send the payment through straight away as bank transfer as they'd had to pay for boiler up front, which I did.

I have since chased this up numerous times over the past couple of months but I still haven't received the invoice, despite having explained why I need it and that there is a deadline for submitting the claim. They haven't refused to provide an invoice - They mainly don't respond to my messages or on occasion have stated that they will provide it and given me a date when they will do it - but then it doesn't materialise. I now only have about another week or so to submit the claim or I will be too late to claim the money.

Is there any obligation for them to provide this invoice and is there anything I can do about this? I *think* the reason they haven't sent it is just that they haven't got their act together and it isn't a priority for them, rather than anything dodgy, although I don't know.

davidmcn

There's no general right to receive an invoice, so I think you'll just have to continue hassling them. Don't you have other paperwork from them which might be sufficiently convincing?

LilElvis

Have they given you the required paperwork to register your boiler warranty? When I had mine replaced two years ago I was provided with a raft of paperwork including a gas safe certificate.

TSx

If you're still having trouble, make the claim anyway, show them the messages you've sent and the bank statement showing the payment, along with any evidence/paperwork you received with the boiler. They will probably decline the claim but you can then make a complaint and escalate to the Financial Ombudsman, pointing out that you've done everything in your capability to satisfy their requirements. The insurer may buckle (as the FOS will cost them around £550), and if they don't, and it does go to the Ombudsman, you have a decent chance of success.

born_again

Was this a payment to a company or a individual?

If the latter it could be that they are trying to avoid tax.

Also if is a gas boiler. You should have been provided with a gas safety certificate.

davidmcn

born_again wrote: »

Was this a payment to a company or a individual?

If the latter it could be that they are trying to avoid tax.

Not sure why you think companies can't avoid tax in the same way?

J_B

What the man in the pub told me to do in this situation was to use a word processor to make an invoice pretending it's from 'the plummer'
Job done

TSx

Whilst this may seem like a good solution, it's trivial to inspect the metadata and (as a former claims handler) it's not a great look for Mr A Customer to submit an invoice which clearly shows it was created by "CustomerA" - there's a lot of risk in submitting a fake invoice, even if it's for good reasons.

J_B

TSx wrote: »

Whilst this may seem like a good solution, it's trivial to inspect the metadata and (as a former claims handler) it's not a great look for Mr A Customer to submit an invoice which clearly shows it was created by "CustomerA" - there's a lot of risk in submitting a fake invoice, even if it's for good reasons.

Print and post?
Print and scan and email?


Would that hide the info?

born_again

davidmcn wrote: »

Not sure why you think companies can't avoid tax in the same way?

I know. It was more that. If it was made to a individual, but they were a limited company or sole trader with a company name.

Zandoni

I'd be inclined to see if they are Gas Safe registered https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/find-an-engineer/