Help With Boiler Insurance and Faulty Repair

sorby

Hi all. Sorry for the long post.

On the 25th of September we had an Engineer visit on behalf of Domestic and General due to our heating system not turning off when it reached the set temperature. He replaced one of the divertor valves that was stuck open and we thought all was good. However, for some unknown reason, he stated that he had also re-pressurised the internal primary expansion vessel from 0.8 bar to 2.0 bar whilst the system was full of water and cold. Within 30 minutes of him leaving the property the boiler was making unusual noises followed by depressurisation. It turned itself off via a fault mode. We immediately turned off the power to the boiler.

We contacted D&G straight away and they sent another Engineer from the same company on the 29th September. He ripped the secondary expansion vessel off the wall, leaving a hole in the wall and the circa 18kg vessel precariously balanced on top of the open boiler, having removed all of the protection covers. He left the property with the boiler disassembled with all gas, water and electrical parts exposed citing that he would return the following day.

D&G then rejected our claim stating this was not covered, and the Engineer would not be returning. The boiler was now leaking so reluctantly D&G arranged for a third visit on the 3rd of October. The Engineer on the 3rd of October stated that the boiler was now irreparable, and left without re-assembly or fixing of the damage caused previously by his colleague.

At D&Gs request, we had two independent inspections done and costs to remediate. They all said the same thing, that the pressure he increased the internals to is 2.5x its working pressure when cold and has damaged the storage tank with the thermal expansion, that’s why its leaking. Its irreparable and requires a new boiler.

D&G received copies of these reports and initially stated they should be covering this. They submitted costs to their manager, and yesterday we received a final verdict saying our whole claim is rejected. They are not even prepared to re-assemble the boiler or fix the damage caused.

Can I please get some opinions on what to do next. Their initial complaints letter talked about using the Ombudsman, yet their final verdict letter gives direct links to https://www.flexibleresolutionservices.co.uk who appear to be themselves, not the Ombudsman.

I’m not sure whether to use their link, the Ombudsman or straight to small claims court. I am also not sure whether to pursue D&G or the Heat Company they used to carry out the work as both parties in their own way have been negligible to us and causes us damages in their own way. All of the reports from the engineers list D&G as the customer, not ourselves etc, due to the policy we have.

 

TIA.

 

tacpot12

Your claim is against D&G. Do you have home insurance, and if so, do you have Legal Expenses cover? If you do, you can get free legal help with this issue.

If not, I would recommend going down the Insurance Ombudsman route. 

lincroft1710

Where do they get these so called "heating engineers" from??


Can you finance getting the boiler fixed/replaced as it could be months before you get any money from D & G?

born_again

lincroft1710 said:

Where do they get these so called "heating engineers" from??


Can you finance getting the boiler fixed/replaced as it could be months before you get any money from D & G?

One reason to use a recommended local firm. Which can cost far less that these annual service plans.

lincroft1710

born_again said:

lincroft1710 said:

Where do they get these so called "heating engineers" from??


Can you finance getting the boiler fixed/replaced as it could be months before you get any money from D & G?

One reason to use a recommended local firm. Which can cost far less that these annual service plans.

Exactly!  

ian16527

This happened to us in Dec 2019. Wasnt with D&G but another firm through the house insurance.

The hot water heat exchanger started leaking just vefore xmas. It was 20 years old but serviced every year. 

First technician was OK and ordered the parts.

2nd one couldn't get the heat exchanger out so cut the pipes to try and still failed. Then he condemned the boiler.

They then phoned to say they couldn't get the pipes and basically that was that. Tried to argue but got nowhere

Had to get another fitted  asap but couldnt get anyone local as it was the week before xmas, so went with an online compny, Heatable. (bit like Boxt). 

Couldnt fault them and got a new boiler fitted 2 days later. Everything was delivered on the morning and a local gas fitter installed it. 10 year warranty.

Dont bother with boiler cover now.