Eon smart meter broke boiler

jonnyboy35



Hi,

I am reaching out for some advice with an issue my daughter has had on Friday with Eon.

A new smart meter was installed in there house they purchased three weeks ago on Friday.

When the gas and power was switched off on the boiler, it blew and is now not working.  Their engineers looked and said it was nothing to do with them, and to call out a boiler engineer.

My daughter who had just had a baby boy born three weeks ago, was annoyed as the boiler was working before the smart meters were installed.

They had a manager come to the house who has basically said it is not their problem and to raise a complaint.

In the mean time my daughter has had to use the Emersion heater and is having no joy with Eon. She has called out an independent gas engineer who said that a new boiler is needed and paid £111 for the callout.

Eon response to the report is to get three quotations as they do not believe the gas report from the engineer.

They do not believe it is their fault even though the boiler was working before they touched it. They have said they can get their own engineers out to look at it for a report but this will take 10 days and she is without heating and hot water and has a vulnerable 3 weeks old baby in the house.

Is there any advice you can give me as she is having no help from Eon

TadleyBaggie

The smart meter did not break the boiler. It was the power off/on and the boiler was going to break anyway.

MWT

If the boiler failed after being turned off correctly and turned on correctly using the power switch on the boiler then it was faulty in the first place and E.ON are not liable.

If your daughter was asked to turn off the boiler and she didn't turn it off using the power switch and just told them to go ahead then she is at fault not E.ON.

If the E.ON 'engineer' simply killed the power without turning off the boiler properly, and restored the power while the power switch for the boiler was still on then you have valid complaint against E.ON…

jonnyboy35

Well it was working fine before Eon touched it so i don’t know how you can say it would have broken anyway.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82017768#Comment_82017768

A device that is properly turned off before turning off the mains, and then fails when it is turned on after the mains is restored was already faulty..

To expand on that, very often people never turn off a boiler between services, so the other good question for your daughter would be 'when was it last serviced?'

The boiler electronics are most likely to fail when the power is switched on/off rather than while it is in normal use so the faults are most likely to be found when changing the meter for example as a lot of people do not actually pay for an annual service unfortunately.

Scot_39

Is the boiler dead electrically - or is there any error code displayed on the unit ?

Was the gas meter also replaced with smart ?

jonnyboy35

The engineer said the PCB board has blown. Both electric and gas meters were replaced.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82017815#Comment_82017815

Changing the meter will not cause a PCB to blow, not turning the boiler off/on properly can do it as mentioned above, but it is also a failure mode you can see just due to age when just turning it off and on again even if you do everything right…

QrizB

I agree with everyone else. This is not EON's fault and is not their problem.

What make and model is the boiler? How old is it and when was it last serviced?

For a boiler from a major manufacturer that's still within its service life, replacement circuit boards are likely to be available. If their engineer is saying "a new boiler is required" it suggests the boiler was already in need of replacement before EON turned up.

Rodders53

The most likely time for any electrical device to fail is at switch on… just bad luck. The meter change power off then on again after swap is just the same as switching off the Consumer Unit or the FCU isolator for the boiler/heating system.

Some " independent Gas Safe " technicians are more likely to want to sell a new boiler rather than repair an older one. Much more profit to be had.

Make and model, plus age would be relevant… and the Boiler Manufacturer may have a 'fixed price' offering to repair? As asked already any lights/lack of or error codes might help (on all boiler controls as well as the boiler itself). It may be a controller / timer / thermostat that is faulty??

This time of year heating isn't needed, is it?? Hot water via the backup Immersion heater in a cylinder can be used for washing and bathing while the system boiler is repaired with little inconvenience but some extra energy cost.

IF a new boiler is needed then a grant is available if you get it replaced with a Heat Pump.

Scot_39

Even if there was a mains spike issue at the boiler that caused the damage - and you had evidence of it - the difference between coincidence and causality - can be difficult to prove - and blame / liability even more so.

Would the board have broken soon anyway and when etc e.g. if your daughter powered boiler down to go away for a few days on holiday / trip etc a week / month later etc ?

I'd have hoped if just the boiler PCB - although likely not cheap - a simple replacement would be possible for many boilers - and EOn may have as good will contributed to the cost of a single component.

But I can understand them not willing to contribute significantly to a full new replacement boiler.

And nor I suspect it should be noted might many breakdown insurances / service cover contracts she may hold - or wish to hold in future - hiding behind things like betterment clauses or age dependent claims limits. (But note thats a big assumption / presumption on my part - linking say PCB not replaceable // the "you need a new boiler" comment - because the boiler is old - which might be completely false).

It's still maybe encouraging that they have asked you for 3 quotes - might be a stalling move - but at least not refused to engage at all - but I suspect they might be hoping you find one that's a repair - and as above I wouldnt really expect full costs back.