Dispute with heating engineers after fix fails one week later

krissy08

Hello,
I have a property with a tenant in who reported a problem with the boiler on November 9th. I called the heating company who do the annual gas safety and service, and they visited the property and confirmed they had got it working for the time being but would need to fix some it properly by buying some parts at a later date due to workload. I agreed
They visited subsequently on the 24th of November and 'fixed' it- leaving the property they gave me a call to say they have fixed it but that the boiler was on it's last legs and would need replacing if anything else happened again.
I was glad for the fix however on the 30th of November the Tenant reported the fault below.

I called them and they basically said they had told me of this and there was nothing they could do and to please pay their invoice. I advised I was only told of this after the fix which is different from being given the information before they attempted anything. They proceeded to tell me I need a new boiler and by the way, they do not have any time available to fit one and are fully booked.
I proceeded to heatable.co.uk which I have to say were absolutely brilliant and fit a new boiler within days. I then receive the invoice for work done on the 24th and sent this letter below;

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (as amended)

On 24/11/2021 you undertook the following: Replace electroder and lead and test Boiler at the above address. However, the following faults have arisen in less than a week before I even received an Invoice;

1. The Boiler broke, bringing water out of it.

 The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (as amended) requires all work that is carried out to be done so with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonanable time. It also states that materials used must be of satisfactory quality i.e. free from defects.

In the light of the above faults, I cannot pay the Invoice sent (Invoice Total £170.15) as I have had to find a resolution elsewhwere after I informed you on November 30th, 2021 and no solution was offered.

Yours sincerely

 Yesterday I received this response from the heating company;

Thank you for your email reference non-payment of invoice No. 20675.

 We were called out to your rental property at xxxxxxxx on the 10th November with of a fault of no heating and hot water with a report of boiler fires up and goes out straight away and a fault code of LF showing.

 Following our engineers fault find visit he temporarily got the boiler working and we advised you that although we could install a spare part the boiler was old and in very poor condition and we would recommend a new boiler.

 You instructed us to carry out the repair which we gave you a price for.

 On the 24th November we replaced the electrode and lead and the tenant said the boiler had been working since the 10th November and has signed our job sheet.

 On the 1st December you reported that the boiler was not working and had started leaking.  This has nothing to do with the fitting of the electrode and lead.

 You were advised that it would not be economical to carry out further repairs to the existing boiler and that you needed a new boiler.

 We understand from your tenant that on the 6th December you had a new boiler installed.

 If we do not receive payment for our invoice No. 20675 in the sum of £170.15 within the next 21 days we will pursue the matter through the Small Claims Court, which may incur further costs to yourself.

 

Essentially they have tweaked when exactly I was advised the boiler was on its last legs - making it appear I had agreed to take a chance with their fix. Completely not true but a verbal discussion.

Any advice-welcome- can they contact the tenant to pry for answers on what fix was done to the boiler without my permission? is that legal use of data?

Am I wrong to be against paying for essentially no fix?

visidigi

krissy08 said:

Hello,
I have a property with a tenant in who reported a problem with the boiler on November 9th. I called the heating company who do the annual gas safety and service, and they visited the property and confirmed they had got it working for the time being but would need to fix some it properly by buying some parts at a later date due to workload. I agreed
They visited subsequently on the 24th of November and 'fixed' it- leaving the property they gave me a call to say they have fixed it but that the boiler was on it's last legs and would need replacing if anything else happened again.
I was glad for the fix however on the 30th of November the Tenant reported the fault below.

I called them and they basically said they had told me of this and there was nothing they could do and to please pay their invoice. I advised I was only told of this after the fix which is different from being given the information before they attempted anything. They proceeded to tell me I need a new boiler and by the way, they do not have any time available to fit one and are fully booked.
I proceeded to heatable.co.uk which I have to say were absolutely brilliant and fit a new boiler within days. I then receive the invoice for work done on the 24th and sent this letter below;

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (as amended)

On 24/11/2021 you undertook the following: Replace electroder and lead and test Boiler at the above address. However, the following faults have arisen in less than a week before I even received an Invoice;

1. The Boiler broke, bringing water out of it.

 The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (as amended) requires all work that is carried out to be done so with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonanable time. It also states that materials used must be of satisfactory quality i.e. free from defects.

In the light of the above faults, I cannot pay the Invoice sent (Invoice Total £170.15) as I have had to find a resolution elsewhwere after I informed you on November 30th, 2021 and no solution was offered.

Yours sincerely

 Yesterday I received this response from the heating company;

Thank you for your email reference non-payment of invoice No. 20675.

 We were called out to your rental property at xxxxxxxx on the 10th November with of a fault of no heating and hot water with a report of boiler fires up and goes out straight away and a fault code of LF showing.

 Following our engineers fault find visit he temporarily got the boiler working and we advised you that although we could install a spare part the boiler was old and in very poor condition and we would recommend a new boiler.

 You instructed us to carry out the repair which we gave you a price for.

 On the 24th November we replaced the electrode and lead and the tenant said the boiler had been working since the 10th November and has signed our job sheet.

 On the 1st December you reported that the boiler was not working and had started leaking.  This has nothing to do with the fitting of the electrode and lead.

 You were advised that it would not be economical to carry out further repairs to the existing boiler and that you needed a new boiler.

 We understand from your tenant that on the 6th December you had a new boiler installed.

 If we do not receive payment for our invoice No. 20675 in the sum of £170.15 within the next 21 days we will pursue the matter through the Small Claims Court, which may incur further costs to yourself.

 

Essentially they have tweaked when exactly I was advised the boiler was on its last legs - making it appear I had agreed to take a chance with their fix. Completely not true but a verbal discussion.

Any advice-welcome- can they contact the tenant to pry for answers on what fix was done to the boiler without my permission? is that legal use of data?

Am I wrong to be against paying for essentially no fix?

So as per the reply of the professional the fault of the water leaking is not related to the repair you had done. Therefore the rest doesn't matter.

I'd pay their invoice.

DB1904

Business to business transaction not a consumer rights issue. 

neilmcl

B2B contract, this is a consumer rights board. You were advised the boiler was on it's last legs which proved to be the case. The heating engineers completed the job you asked them to do so you should pay what you owe.

Aylesbury_Duck

You owe them, and nothing in your description of events suggests otherwise.

krissy08

one interesting point here I moved in with my other half so let out my property- I had not realised as it's a personal BTL it was the wrong board- sorry!

krissy08

All advice appreciated

ssparks2003

The advice you have already received is correct, you owe the money so pay.

mattyprice4004

krissy08 said:

one interesting point here I moved in with my other half so let out my property- I had not realised as it's a personal BTL it was the wrong board- sorry!

There's no such thing as a 'personal BTL' - by being a landlord you are running a business, so it's a business to business transaction. 
Sorry to be 'that guy' but if you think you're not a business despite being a landlord, are you familiar with the various rules and regulations of being a landlord? There's an awful lot of rules to follow, and you can't just claim you're a 'personal BTL' (which isn't a thing) to get out of any of them. 

With regards to your bill, a leak is nothing to do with the electrode or associated components (these are to do with the ignition system, not the water itself). 
You've just lucked out on an old boiler, it happens - regardless, they've spent time and money on labour and parts and the bill must be paid. 

Jenni_D

As above - you're a business landlord whether you like (or accept) it or not.

Do you have an EPC and have you supplied a copy to your tenant?
Have you protected their deposit in one of the regulated schemes? Did you do so within the stipulated time frame (30 days I think)? Have you informed them of which scheme has been used and provided the details?
Do you have electrical and gas safety certificates, and provided copies to your tenant?
Etc. etc.

bris

B2B aside the boiler is old and you were warned. The repair they did has nothing to do with the water side of the boiler.

It was just bad luck and no excuse not to pay for unrelated work done.