Boiler repair dispute with seller

rkeenan

hi
i have had an issue with the boiler in my new home. To his credit the seller sent a contractor to assess and repair the fault ( a new fan was fitted). At this point the boiler appeared to work as it should albeit a bit loudly. I am currently seeing out the end of my tenancy in my rented flat so therefore I am not at the new hone often at the moment. On my next visit 9 days after the engineer attended I went over to test the boiler only to find that it would not pressurise or provide heating or hot water. When I asked the seller to remedy this  ongoing  issue he declined stating that as I had highlighted the issue 9 days after the work was carried out he was no longer liable for the fix. Can anyone clear this up for me please. PS based in Scotland 

ElephantBoy57

rkeenan said:

hi
i have had an issue with the boiler in my new home. To his credit the seller sent a contractor to assess and repair the fault ( a new fan was fitted).

The words that you use are confusing. You say the 'seller', so this is a brand new boiler that is covered by the manufacturer's warranty?

You need to find out if its an installation problem or a faulty boiler. What is the make and model number of the boiler?

hazyjo

ElephantBoy57 said:

rkeenan said:

hi
i have had an issue with the boiler in my new home. To his credit the seller sent a contractor to assess and repair the fault ( a new fan was fitted).

The words that you use are confusing. You say the 'seller', so this is a brand new boiler that is covered by the manufacturer's warranty?

You need to find out if its an installation problem or a faulty boiler. What is the make and model number of the boiler?

Am sure the OP means the seller to be the person they bought the property off.

(It's Scotland, remember. Laws are different re buying property and appliances etc being in working order.)

rkeenan

Sorry to clarify it is MY new home but it is not a new build. 

quotememiserable

Well, if you've already bought the house, then it's your boiler that's problematic. You need to get it fixed -  prior owners have no liability.If you haven't bought it yet, then you can insist it's fixed before you buy, and the seller can comply or pull out of the sale.

hazyjo

quotememiserable said:

Well, if you've already bought the house, then it's your boiler that's problematic. You need to get it fixed -  prior owners have no liability.If you haven't bought it yet, then you can insist it's fixed before you buy, and the seller can comply or pull out of the sale.

It's Scotland, as stated.

Rules are different.

Davesnave

It seems to me that if there is a 7 day limit for finding faults from the date of occupation, the vendor acted within that and supplied an engineer to carry out a fix. If the repair was found not to have been effective another 9 days later, that is outwith the time limit for reporting this. The further issue  may, or may not, be connected with the first.

It's hardly the fault of the seller if the OP is not yet in residence. It was up to the OP to take time and check that the system was working to their full satisfaction before the deadline for reporting further problems was reached.

However, I'm sure our resident Scottish expert will see this and advise.

davidmcn

Davesnave said:

It seems to me that if there is a 7 day limit for finding faults from the date of occupation, the vendor acted within that and supplied an engineer to carry out a fix. If the repair was found not to have been effective another 9 days later, that is outwith the time limit for reporting this. The further issue  may, or may not, be connected with the first.

It's hardly the fault of the seller if the OP is not yet in residence. It was up to the OP to take time and check that the system was working to their full satisfaction before the deadline for reporting further problems was reached.

Assuming the missives were in the form of the Scottish Standard Clauses, there is no further deadline for reporting that the first fix didn't work. From one of the OP's duplicate threads about the same thing:

davidmcn said:

What was the original "issue"? Did your missives include the usual warranty that the heating would be in working order? (which doesn't necessarily mean there won't be "issues" of some sort). And if so, did you intimate the fault via your solicitor within the time limit (generally 5 working days from the date of entry)? A delay in you realising that the seller's contractor hasn't fixed a fault doesn't mean you don't still have the rights you did, as long as you originally notified them in time.

rkeenan said:

Yes the  issue was raised within the 5 day period via my solicitor. He recommended the seller and I arranged for an engineer directly with each other. The engineer came
initially to assess the boiler then a second time to fit the new part. After which the boiler worked. However as I said I am staying in my rented accommodation until the end of Lease. There was a clause stating that any repair under £400 would be incurred by the purchaser so at present he is trying to get me to reimburse him for the repairs £230. However I consider to repairs to be incomplete 

OP, has your solicitor stopped talking to you about this? Assuming it is a fault covered by the missives then the seller is liable to fix it, so the 9 day delay isn't relevant. As you say though, you don't have a claim for the costs until those reach £400 so unless they end up reaching that amount you may need to suck this up.

Davesnave

davidmcn said:

Assuming the missives were in the form of the Scottish Standard Clauses, there is no further deadline for reporting that the first fix didn't work.

Thank you for that.

macman

Why don't we have this eminently sensible legislation in England?

davidmcn

macman said:

Why don't we have this eminently sensible legislation in England?

It's nothing to do with differences in the law, it's just the common practice of what goes into the contracts.