Boiler replacement and financing with British Gas.

Brokenlynx

I've recently moved into a new property as a first time buyer. After moving into the property I'd noticed hot water working fairly intermittently with the radiator working fine.

Having had my first British Gas Homecare servicing the engineer said they couldn't work on the boiler to its positioning above a kitchen work surface and its height being (slightly) too high for the engineer to reach and a ladder not being viable for health and safety issues. On inspection of the hot water supply the engineer surmised the issue was likely a heat exchanger issue, given the boiler being 20 years old the engineer also recommended replacing the boiler rather than attempting repair.

As it stands the issue isn't critical, I've been able to work around it, but its obviously not ideal not knowing whether the water will run warm before your morning shower. This is a shortened explanation of the issue full version in this thread.

I decided to get a quote from British Gas for a replacement boiler, the following was recommended:

• Vaillant EcoFit Pure 830 condensing boiler - I'm leaning towards this brand of boiler due to reputation for being reliable and having lived in places that have them.
• Scaffolding necessary for installation as the flue pipe is higher than 6m from the ground (7.1m approx), flat roof also below flue pipe.
• The property is an upstairs flat in a building East london (semi-detached building) of four flats.
• Flushing of the system as the heat exchanger issue is likely a side effect of sludge that needs to be cleared.
• Quote: £4,800 - a £150 'discount' has been made available so £4,650 with interest free option to spread over up to four years.
• British Gas have committed to honour this quote up to the end of May.

Admittedly its fairly obvious the discount isn't a discount and just something British Gas offer to everyone who ignores a boiler quote for more than a week but I digress.

Whilst I'm aware British Gas doesn't have a great reputation I'm wondering if my options here are a little limited.

As a new homeowner I don't have £4,800 spare and my credit report might have taken a hit due to the recent mortgage that started three months ago. I could build up the savings to buy a new boiler outright but it would take the best part of a year to get there. An interest free option is enticing as I probably wouldn't need to use the entire (suggested four year term) to pay it off. However it was mentioned in the other thread that British Gas can be expensive for this kind of thing. 

My question is really about my options, in short my aim is to draw out the payment of the boiler just long enough so that I can afford it whilst not paying interest on the time I take to pay it.

• I haven't sought alternative quotes but at the same time I know I probably couldn't afford an alternative this year without the interest free option. 
• Ideally I really don't want to be paying interest on this kind of work.
• Are there alternative suppliers/means of getting an interest free loan for a boiler? 

Thanks for any replies feel free to ask any clarifying questions.

mi-key

Contact some local heating engineers. Replacing a heat exchanger is not a big job, and not that expensive compared to a new boiler and should keep it going for years. They will also be quite happy to stand on a ladder to work ! A new heat exchanger is less than £150 for most boilers, and they take less than an hour to fit.

BG are only really interested in selling people new boilers, and are pretty expensive compared to local independent fitters !

grumbler

Brokenlynx said:

Having had my first British Gas Homecare servicing the engineer said they couldn't work on the boiler to its positioning above a kitchen work surface and its height being (slightly) too high for the engineer to reach and a ladder not being viable for health and safety issues. On inspection of the hot water supply the engineer surmised the issue was likely a heat exchanger issue, given the boiler being 20 years old the engineer also recommended replacing the boiler rather than attempting repair.

How did he inspect it then? I think many gas engineers won't have any problems with this sort of 'safety' issues if they don't work for BG of other big companies.

the engineer also recommended replacing the boiler rather than attempting repair.

It's part of the job of engineers working for big companies to convince customers that they need a new boiler. Hardly a surprise that you "decided to get a quote from British Gas for a replacement boiler"

macman

Are you aware that BG pay referral commission to their RGI's for sales leads?
Typically BG will be quoting 33% more than a local independent GSR RGI for a new install. Get one to quote and if necessary get a personal loan to finance it, it'll still be cheaper over 4 years or so.

FreeBear

mi-key said:

Contact some local heating engineers. Replacing a heat exchanger is not a big job, and not that expensive compared to a new boiler and should keep it going for years. They will also be quite happy to stand on a ladder to work ! A new heat exchanger is less than £150 for most boilers, and they take less than an hour to fit.

BG are only really interested in selling people new boilers, and are pretty expensive compared to local independent fitters !

Could it be a (diverter ?) valve inside the boiler rather than a heat exchanger fault ?

I would certainly get the opinion of a local independent Gas Safe registered engineer rather than rely on the opinion of a BG employee. I'd also look around at other companies before even considering BG. For example, Eon or Boxt. You may find a local installer can also offer finance..

mi-key

FreeBear said:

mi-key said:

Contact some local heating engineers. Replacing a heat exchanger is not a big job, and not that expensive compared to a new boiler and should keep it going for years. They will also be quite happy to stand on a ladder to work ! A new heat exchanger is less than £150 for most boilers, and they take less than an hour to fit.

BG are only really interested in selling people new boilers, and are pretty expensive compared to local independent fitters !

Could it be a (diverter ?) valve inside the boiler rather than a heat exchanger fault ?

I would certainly get the opinion of a local independent Gas Safe registered engineer rather than rely on the opinion of a BG employee. I'd also look around at other companies before even considering BG. For example, Eon or Boxt. You may find a local installer can also offer finance..

It could be, it doesnt sound like the British Gas engineer actually looked at it in any depth ( unless he bought scaffolding to build a H&S approved platform to work on ! ) . Diverter valves are cheap and an easy replacement as well.

I'd definitely be looking at getting a local independent engineer in to look at it properly and to give a quote on repair rather than replacing what could be a perfectly good boiler that lasts for years just for the sake of it. 

themadvix

Several years ago we got a quote from BG that was similar to yours. We went with a local fitter in the end (GS register of course) and it cost £1,800. Agree that you need to get a local engineer to actually look/do the work that’s needed before making a decision to replace it, but given the price difference, it wouldn’t take you anywhere near as long to save up if it was less than half the cost. Our fitters had quoted for a power flush but in the end decided it wasn’t needed - very much doubt a BG engineer would reduce the cost if that was the case either. If you definitely want to stick with a Valliant, then you can always specify this when getting quotes.

TELLIT01

If the existing boiler was positioned too high for a BG engineer to service it, presumably it would also be too high for them to remove it in order to fit a new boiler.  I would look for a local gas engineer after that treatment from BG. 

It seems that 'Health & Safety risk' is a common ploy by BG engineers when they don't want to do something.  BG installed our combi boiler and ran the condensate pipe out of the wall and along above the car port roof.  In the first winter the pipe froze, we hadn't been warned it might happen, so we called an engineer.  He took one look at the route the pipe took and refused to go onto the roof, giving H&S as the reason.  I asked why it had been OK for their engineers to route it there in the first place.  He just shrugged and repeated that he wouldn't go on the roof.

Eldi_Dos

@Brokenlynx,
Have a look on BG's Local Hero portal, you will likely get a better price that way but still be eligible for any promotions on offer (ie 0%) and BG will guarantee the work.

Doing it this way may be more expensive than going direct to a local installer, but if the 0% is taken into account may not be.

Mr.Generous

Find out how much your chosen boiler is to buy, add £100 for any fittings and the remainder is labour charge for a days work. Then see if you want to use BG.