Boiler condemed in new (shared ownership) house, had "service" prior to sale

GS458

we recently bought a shared wonership property. The estate agent assured us that the boiler had had a recent service a month before the sale went through (we have seen the paper work for this).

we started having problems with the boiler shortly afer moving in and when we got an engieer to look at it he condemmed it and said that it has had leaks and problems for a long time (due to rest that had formed and the extent of the damage), with have had a second opinion from anther heating engineer who said exactly the same thing.

We know from a shared wonership point of view that the boiler is our responsability; but we are wondering about making a claim agist eitehr the seller, or the compay that serviced the boiler. We are unsure who it should or could be agianst, and worried  that either one could shift the blame to the other, and are wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge in these matters and could advise us. With who doe the responsability lie, do with have any case for a claim here or do we just have to take this?

Thanks in advance for

RedFraggle

No one sadly. The company that serviced it have no contract with you and the seller isn't responsible (England assumed)

user1977

I presume it isn't really a "new" property, because then the boiler would also be new!

You don't have a claim against the company which serviced the boiler (whether or not they did anything wrong), because you weren't their customer.

What would the basis of a claim against the seller be? Had they guaranteed anything to you about the condition of the boiler? Would be unusual to put that in the contract (in England & Wales at least, if you're in Scotland then let us know). The general principle is that you take on the property with whatever defects it already has - it's up to you to check the condition of the boiler, in the same way that you get a survey to check the rest of the property.

propertyrental

Only possibility might be a complaint to GasSafe about the first engineer's professionalism, but again I don't know if this is possible as you did not instruct that engineer.

And even if successful I think the most that could happen is that engineer being disciplined/warned or struck off. No compensation to you.

As for claims against seller or engineer, see replies above.

sheramber

I recently sold in Scotland and one of the questions asked  if I guaranteed  all systems/appliances were working but I could decline. I declined.

user1977

sheramber said:

I recently sold in Scotland and one of the questions asked  if I guaranteed  all systems/appliances were working but I could decline. I declined.

Yes - it's part of the standard clauses, but pretty common for any seller who isn't an owner-occupier not to pretend they're fully aware of whether everything is working. And anyway it's restricted to whether things are "working" on the completion date, not "working very well" or "still working a week later", etc.

theartfullodger

If this is British or Scottish gas I'd be suspicious.  Get some other certified engineer from a different company (small, local).  You might find it a wise investment.

Actually, I'd do this whoever did the original.

macman

You can still service a boiler that is on it's last legs, and it can still be safe to use. That doesn't mean that it will continue to work for a year, a month, a week or even a day.
There's no warranty on a service in this respect, and no claim on the vendor either, unless they guaranteed it's condition.

Jonboy_1984

We had 10 years out of a gas boiler at work that “was rusting through and won’t make it to next year” but when it went it was terminal and sudden…and was replaced with a condensing one that was hugely more efficient…

MobileSaver

Jonboy_1984 said:

We had 10 years out of a gas boiler at work that “was rusting through and won’t make it to next year”

Similar situation here with an oil-fuelled boiler. We're currently at 12 years and counting from when "the boiler definitely needs replacing" with just the odd service and a couple of £100 repairs during that time. Sadly I've learned the heating engineer who has serviced and repaired it for several decades finally retired last year so I may have no choice but to replace it the next time it plays up.

Surprisingly another heating engineer did an efficiency test on it a few years back and found it wasn't that much less efficient than the brand spanking new boilers of today.