Boiler service booked pre contract but appointment post contract - now replacement needed.

Elika0215

Just looking for some advice on whether to pursue a claim.

We had boiler cover with edf (provided by Domestic and General) which lapsed on 31/12/2024. This was intentional, as I have budgeted for a new one this year. Here’s a timeline of events:

13/12/24 – I received a reminder that, as part of my service contract, my boiler service was due

19/12/24 – I booked the first available slot which was in Jan 2025 (after the contract lapsed)

31/12/24 – Spoke with D&G who confirmed they would honour the boiler service as I booked it before the contract expired and the reason the appointment was in Jan 2025, is they didn’t have availability

31/12/24 – Contract lapsed

9/1/25 – Engineer come to carry out the service. However, after inspection, I was told that it was not safe to use and they disconnected it. Without going into detail, he stated that it was going to be a write-off as the repair is likely to cost more than a replacement.

Having rechecked the contact, it stated D&G would contribute £750 towards a new boiler in the event of a write-off.

15/1/25 – I hadn’t had a report or call from Domestic and General, so I contacted them to discuss the contribution. The call took 2 hours as the customer service representative was doing his best to establish where the report was (from a third-party provider by the way) and what the position is with the contribution since the contract had lapsed.

They stated, due to the call-out being for a service rather than a repair, the replacement boiler contribution of £750 was no longer valid as the contract lapsed on 31/12/24

I did ask to speak to the “manager” who’d made that decision. Unfortunately, they were busy and despite a message that they would call back within an hour, I still haven’t heard.

My position is that I would have known about the repair if they had an engineer available within the contract period, and consequently they’re liable.

I hope that’s not information overload!

Any advice on whether it’s worthwhile pushing for the £750 would be appreciated. To be clear, I’m not trying to push for something that’s unreasonable or unrealistic. If I’m in the wrong, I’ll hold up my hands, admit it and move on.

Aylesbury_Duck

I assume that the £750 is a contribution to their cost of them selling you and installing a new boiler?

In my experience, a decent local independent gas fitter will almost certainly charge at least £750 less than D&G would charge you, and will almost certainly do a better job, too.

photome

The sensible thing to have done would have been to book the service before the contract lapsed after all you knew you were going to let it lapse. You didn’t need to wait until a reminder. 

I think they are right in not paying the £750 contribution, others may see it differently 

how much is a new boiler from them compared to getting a local fitter ?

born_again

Elika0215 said:

Just looking for some advice on whether to pursue a claim.

We had boiler cover with edf (provided by Domestic and General) which lapsed on 31/12/2024. This was intentional, as I have budgeted for a new one this year. Here’s a timeline of events:

13/12/24 – I received a reminder that, as part of my service contract, my boiler service was due

19/12/24 – I booked the first available slot which was in Jan 2025 (after the contract lapsed)

31/12/24 – Spoke with D&G who confirmed they would honour the boiler service as I booked it before the contract expired and the reason the appointment was in Jan 2025, is they didn’t have availability

31/12/24 – Contract lapsed

9/1/25 – Engineer come to carry out the service. However, after inspection, I was told that it was not safe to use and they disconnected it. Without going into detail, he stated that it was going to be a write-off as the repair is likely to cost more than a replacement.

Having rechecked the contact, it stated D&G would contribute £750 towards a new boiler in the event of a write-off.

15/1/25 – I hadn’t had a report or call from Domestic and General, so I contacted them to discuss the contribution. The call took 2 hours as the customer service representative was doing his best to establish where the report was (from a third-party provider by the way) and what the position is with the contribution since the contract had lapsed.

They stated, due to the call-out being for a service rather than a repair, the replacement boiler contribution of £750 was no longer valid as the contract lapsed on 31/12/24

I did ask to speak to the “manager” who’d made that decision. Unfortunately, they were busy and despite a message that they would call back within an hour, I still haven’t heard.

My position is that I would have known about the repair if they had an engineer available within the contract period, and consequently they’re liable.

I hope that’s not information overload!

Any advice on whether it’s worthwhile pushing for the £750 would be appreciated. To be clear, I’m not trying to push for something that’s unreasonable or unrealistic. If I’m in the wrong, I’ll hold up my hands, admit it and move on.

6 days between reminder & booking? Knowing that christmas was coming & many of these companies do not do servicing over the holidays.
Had you have done it straight away you may have got a booking within the contract.
So in many ways, it is unfair to blame them that they could not service before your contract ran out.

So they let the service stand which is fair enough, but you then did not renew contract, as you said intentionally. So seems fair that as boiler is no longer under a service contract, that no £750 payout towards a new boiler would be due.

Hoenir

Elika0215 said:

19/12/24 – I booked the first available slot which was in Jan 2025 (after the contract lapsed)

31/12/24 – Spoke with D&G who confirmed they would honour the boiler service as I booked it before the contract expired and the reason the appointment was in Jan 2025, is they didn’t have availability

31/12/24 – Contract lapsed

9/1/25 – Engineer come to carry out the service. However, after inspection, I was told that it was not safe to use and they disconnected it. Without going into detail, he stated that it was going to be a write-off as the repair is likely to cost more than a replacement.

My position is that I would have known about the repair if they had an engineer available within the contract period, and consequently they’re liable.

Your assertion would fail on the grounds of being unreasonable expectations. Subsequently compounded by the fact you let the policy lapse. 

ThumbRemote

If you've paid for boiler cover which includes a service, but the company failed to carry out the service in the expected time frame, leaving you with a £750 bill, then their breach of contract has cost you £750 and you should pursue them for this money. 

This is entirely reliant on it being the company to blame for not carrying out the service in the required time frame. If responsibility for the booking was on you, then it's not their problem. If, however, you couldn't book until they sent you the letter on 13th December, I'd say it was on them. 

born_again

ThumbRemote said:

If you've paid for boiler cover which includes a service, but the company failed to carry out the service in the expected time frame, leaving you with a £750 bill, then their breach of contract has cost you £750 and you should pursue them for this money. 

This is entirely reliant on it being the company to blame for not carrying out the service in the required time frame. If responsibility for the booking was on you, then it's not their problem. If, however, you couldn't book until they sent you the letter on 13th December, I'd say it was on them. 

Which was a Friday, yet booking not made till following Thursday?
Leaving a Max of 5 working days before policy expired. Given all the holidays.