Making a claim from Vaillant for incorrect work on boiler.

ApolloHubble

My mother passed away earlier this year. She had an agreement with Domestic and General, paying £52 a month to get her boiler serviced and maintained by Vaillant engineers. I cancelled the agreement after her death. She had had her boiler serviced by Vaillant on 5/12/24 so I had to have the boiler serviced again this year (as I now own the house).
On 3/12/25 I had a local Gas Safe engineer service the boiler and he found that the flue had failed as it has not ever been sealed inside or outside the house, which will fail Building Regs. The flue outside is also too near a opening window.
I have asked him to come and do the work at a cost of around £400. 
Looking at the boiler service certificate that Vaillant gave to my mother last December, they have ticked the box for 'flue and ventilation is correct'. 
Do I have the right to claim the money back from Vaillant as they should spotted this and corrected it?

Aylesbury_Duck

ApolloHubble said:

My mother passed away earlier this year. She had an agreement with Domestic and General, paying £52 a month to get her boiler serviced and maintained by Vaillant engineers. I cancelled the agreement after her death. She had had her boiler serviced by Vaillant on 5/12/24 so I had to have the boiler serviced again this year (as I now own the house).
On 3/12/25 I had a local Gas Safe engineer service the boiler and he found that the flue had failed as it has not ever been sealed inside or outside the house, which will fail Building Regs. The flue outside is also too near a opening window.
I have asked him to come and do the work at a cost of around £400. 
Looking at the boiler service certificate that Vaillant gave to my mother last December, they have ticked the box for 'flue and ventilation is correct'. 
Do I have the right to claim the money back from Vaillant as they should spotted this and corrected it?

I had this in my last house, with the flue too close to an opening window.  As I understand it, the flue location is fine if it's a legacy installation.  It met the regulations when it was installed, and that was fine.  It was always noted on the service sheet, but that was all.

I would check that it actually needs to be done.  It may not be required but you may choose to have it done to be sure.

Are you living in the property, or renting it out?  I think there are different standards that apply, which may explain why it was deemed acceptable when your mother lived there, but isn't up to standard for a rented property?

IOWJJBTM2025

Sorry to hear that your mother passed away.
My thought if it was not installed correctly - who fitted it and how long ago?
You may be able to challenge them ?
Not sure how far you would get by claiming negligence on Vaillant.
Have the regs changed since the boiler was installed?

ApolloHubble

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

Sorry to hear that your mother passed away.
My thought if it was not installed correctly - who fitted it and how long ago?
You may be able to challenge them ?
Not sure how far you would get by claiming negligence on Vaillant.
Have the regs changed since the boiler was installed?

Even if they did not put the flue in, they should have noticed that it is not sealed inside and out surely? The house is on the market, so things like this need to be done so that it does not come up on a survey, but also for the very expensive 'unoccupied house' house insurance.
Is the flue safe if it is not sealed inside and out?

Aylesbury_Duck

I think the trouble you'd have with an attempt to claim negligence and a refund, is that sadly your mother is no longer here and I think she would be deemed to be the one with the contract and consequent consumer rights.

What you could do is report it to Gas Safe, the argument being that previous service technicians were required to have addressed anything considered unsafe.

flaneurs_lobster

ApolloHubble said:

She had an agreement with Domestic and General, paying £52 a month to get her boiler serviced and maintained by Vaillant engineers. 

Is that a typo? Seems excessive?

Aylesbury_Duck

flaneurs_lobster said:

ApolloHubble said:

She had an agreement with Domestic and General, paying £52 a month to get her boiler serviced and maintained by Vaillant engineers. 

Is that a typo? Seems excessive?

I suspect the price is a consequence of auto-renewals over several years from what started at a reasonable rate.

ApolloHubble

Aylesbury_Duck said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

ApolloHubble said:

She had an agreement with Domestic and General, paying £52 a month to get her boiler serviced and maintained by Vaillant engineers. 

Is that a typo? Seems excessive?

I suspect the price is a consequence of auto-renewals over several years from what started at a reasonable rate.

It is Domestic and General conning an 80 year old. Though she said it gave her piece of mind!

ApolloHubble

Aylesbury_Duck said:

I think the trouble you'd have with an attempt to claim negligence and a refund, is that sadly your mother is no longer here and I think she would be deemed to be the one with the contract and consequent consumer rights.

What you could do is report it to Gas Safe, the argument being that previous service technicians were required to have addressed anything considered unsafe.

Brilliant - I shall do that, many thanks 👌

timjim

I didn't think Vaillant used Domestic and General as they have their own engineer network 

Alderbank

timjim said:

I didn't think Vaillant used Domestic and General as they have their own engineer network 

They do have their own boiler service engineers but perhaps they don't cover the whole of the UK.

Vaillant's website says

Vaillant Maintenance and Support Plan

If your boiler is out of guarantee and you have not already taken out a plan, you could take out the maintenance and support plan. Provided by Domestic & General Services Limited...

...Vaillant Maintenance & Support Plan is provided by Domestic & General Services Limited.

https://www.vaillant.co.uk/service/annual-servicing/annual-servicing/