SSE Boiler cover servicing farce?

gavinjj

Hello!
Around a year ago my Mum had taken out boiler cover with SSE and she was told they would be servicing the boiler toward the end of the plan. When the time came, she started getting letters reminding her that the servicing was due and an engineer was booked.
The engineer arrived around the 13th of December and was not at the boiler for long at all. He placed a couple of rubber tubes at the top of the boiler and asked if we had experienced any issues. We told him that the hot water wasn't particularly hot most of the time, and he proceeded to order a diverter valve and a new motor - he didn't seem to know which it was, so ordered both to be on the safe side and booked a new appointment so they could be fitted a week later. On the day of the 2nd appointment he called to say the parts haven't arrived and blamed the delay on the Royal Mail strikes.
A 3rd appointment was booked for 12 Jan and by 4:15 there was still no sign of him. We called SSE to see if he was still booked and the confirmed that he was due so they put me on hold while they called the engineer. I was then informed that the engineer couldn't attend because he had long covid and wasn't sure if he had to wear a mask. A second engineer was then assigned the job of coming out and investigating the lack of hot water.
This engineer arrived on the 13th (seeing a pattern here?) he seemed quite keen because he actually took off the boiler cover. We had to lend him a torch so he could find the screws - the light on his phone wasn't good enough. Anyway, he placed his hand on a pipe and said 'this hot water is rubbish!' - and that he would order new parts. He placed the cover back on the boiler and left some small green plastic cover/part on the floor.
A few days pass and so I call SSE for an update. I am then told that we are not covered because there is sludge in the system and that there had been servicing done on the 13th of December, when I argued that no servicing took place, he called that engineer who told him it had been serviced. So it seems that flinging some rubber tubing on the top of the boiler and ordering parts counts as a service - money well spent here! I also argued about the sludge and how that was detected if the guy placed his hand on the faulty area and said that the hot water was 'rubbish'. A 3rd Engineer was then appointed to come out the next day.

In the meantime, a friend recommended a friends husband who turns out to be a gas boiler engineer and installer. After a chat over the phone he seemed quite a bit confused as to how they were suggesting that the cause of the problem was sludge. We went through some troubleshooting over the phone, including checking that the radiators were getting hot (they were) - his initial diagnosis suggests there isn't a sludge problem. Unfortunately he is off sick with the flu at the moment but said he will pop up and open the mag filter to see what (if anything) is lurking in there. Chats with another local gas engineer also suggest that sludge likely isnt sufficient in quantity to cause a problem.

So this 3rd engineer turns up, seemingly older and more qualified and friendlier. H's measuring the flow of the hot tap and putting a temperature probe under there. Of course, being intermittent, the hot water (whilst not as hot as I used to experience it) was within range. Sunday the water was quite cold took a couple of turning on and off of the tap to get the hot water to start flowing. Apparently he is coming to take another look this week and has indeed phoned a couple of times to see how we were getting on. Not yet mentioned anything about sludge until I mentioned it to him. He had a general look of confusion on his face.

I have since found out that the job sheets have a series of tick boxes, and that some engineers might like to cover themselves by ticking boxes such as the one regarding sludge, (even if there are only trace amounts) to avoid possible repercussions. Apparently SSE are known for using that check box as a way of getting out of performing any repairs under the guise of sludge damage.


Has anyone here had any experience with this? I would particularly be interested to hear from a gas safe professional whom might be able to shed some light on what could be going on.
Are SSE known to be a dodgy company? My Mum feels like she is just being taken for a ride by them...

Thank you!

macman

They'll just be random subbies, not employed by SSE. These policies are simply bad value. cancel and self-insure in future. Find a decent local GSR RGI who is familiar with her brand of boiler.
Most insurance based policies exclude sludge, and sludge in the system would only be covered if the whole system was insured, not just the boiler.
It sounds like your mum has already worked this out for herself...