Advice - compensation for no heating/hot water

Doozergirl

DGJsaver wrote: »

Most LL`s dont want any work carried out that hasnt been approved by them or arranged by them

Thats probably why they take weeks to fix it , to save up the money they havent got..

Damn those cowboys at British Gas. If the LL hasn't got any money then surely they wouldn't mind a fully insured British Gas engineer having a go at it. I didn't realise the internal workings of your average boiler were included in the inventory either

Sorry, but if my kids were cold and I genuinely wasn't happy with what the landlord was doing to sort it, I know what I'd do.

Unless the LL is a qualified heating engineer though, all of us not prepared to spend £360 a year on the chance that the boiler might break, are always going to be at the mercy of plumbers. £360 is a brand new boiler every two years!

DGJsaver

Doozergirl wrote: »

Sorry, but if my kids were cold and I genuinely wasn't happy with what the landlord was doing to sort it, I know what I'd do.

And i have no issue with that , Somebodys LL might though

Doozergirl

Yeah, they might. And they might never even know. Perhaps the boiler miraculously started working again!

It wouldn't be my first choice of action, of course.

MissMoneypenny

Doozergirl wrote: »

Amazing that the advice given by posters here matches that above. :rolleyes: 50% reduction for the time the OP was without heating seems acceptable.

I asked Shelter about:-

1. Losing the boiler (heating and hot water) in winter..
2. Losing the boiler in the summer (so just hot water).

Their reply was their reply to those two points:-
"If no part of the property could be used, 100% of the rent may be abated. If only part of the property was unusable, as in your case you had no hot water, then the rent may be reduced proportionally."

And also this:-
You may also be entitled to claim compensation if you've suffered inconvenience or have not been able to use your home in the normal way as a result of the landlord's failure to repair your home. The amount awarded by the court will depend on the level of disrepair and the effect that it has had on you."

Doozergirl wrote: »

I'm waiting for the landlord who comes and asks whether to take out insurance on their boiler

Would LLs ever think to factor that cost into their business plan?

Doozergirl wrote: »

My MIL's boiler broke the other week. We looked into insurance and it was nearly £30 a month!

Oh, I'm in my own house now and if my boiler breaks down, the kids and I will have to wait for the plumber.

So you don't think spending less than £1 a day for boiler priority repairs, is worth it to keep your kids warm if the boiler breaks in winter (which is when most of them break of course, because of all the usage)?

Doozergirl

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

So you don't think spending less than £1 a day for boiler priority repairs, is worth it to keep your kids warm if the boiler breaks in winter (which is when most of them break of course, because of all the usage)?

No I don't. We can stay with family, shower with family, get fed by family. That saves me money if anything!

We have a new, efficient boiler. I think it's important to make sure it's operating properly on a regular basis; I'm damned if I'm paying money for old rope!

Think of all the other things I could insure - extended warranties etc. I'd be skint!

clutton_2

i have no boiler insurance and never had had - and have never had a problem that could not be sorted out with communication, the loan of a few electric fires and some common sense

chappers

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

So you don't think spending less than £1 a day for boiler priority repairs, is worth it to keep your kids warm if the boiler breaks in winter (which is when most of them break of course, because of all the usage)?

I would if I thought they would stick to their side of the agreement, my father-in-laws 80 year old friend had reason to call up on his boiler care and was told that as it was Friday afternoon and they didn't work weekends and there wasn't an appointment available until Tuesday that he would have to be without heating and water for 5 days, luckily my father-in laws neighbour is aplumber and mangaed to fix it in about 10minutes and didn't charge him.
George has cancelled his service contract.
To be honest our last boiler lasted 15 years and was probably that old when we moved in I spent about £50 on it in all that time and I expect our new boiler to last that long too, modern boilers hardley ever break down nowadays.You would be far better off putting the money in a savings account in case the boiler ever breaks down.

clutton_2

""You would be far better off putting the money in a savings account in case the boiler ever breaks down." - absolutely

Ilovelittlelily

Hi Everyone,

I would really like some advice here as I am in a very confusing situation, I have gotten to the end of my tether and I just don't know what to do now.

I gave birth to my daughter on the 19th of November 2010, if you remember it was freezing cold weather at this time. Unfortunately I was in hopsital for 2 weeks and the boiler broke down the day before my daughter was born.

My hubby rang the estate agents who sent out their service team to come and sort it. I was so distressed thinking of him having to go back to an empty house with no hot water or heating!

The service agents came out and did their magic - they claimed that the pressure had just dropped so told him how to top it up for future reference and went on their way.

Over the period of the next few weeks and months the water pressure kept dropping. We would have a fault code showing upto 20 times a day and obv all we could do was top it up. Something was blatently not right as you should never have to top up a boiler that much. So they came out again and bled the radiators. Apparently FULL of air.

Then pressure relief pipe was pouring out water into the garden - so they came out again and did the same thing - they mentioned that the pressure relief valve might need changing - so ordered one - but everytime the agent came to our property (twice) he said it wasnt nescesary and took it back with him.

The boiler was still on the blink and temporarily shutting down and saying that the pressure was too low.

On their 4th visit the bloke realised that the boiler was under warranty all along - How was I meant to know - the paperwork wasnt left with me - it was left with the service agents head office - they should know!

So - they called out the manufacturer Ferroli.

A Ferroli guy came out the next day after we had spent the night yet again in a freezing cold house with no heating or hot water.
He did his magic and claimed that the boiler was fine now - we shouldnt have any problems.

By now it was the end of January. The boiler had gone on the blink again - it was a friday afternoon - and I dreaded the thought of a whole weekend of no hot water or heating!

On monday Ferroli sent out another bloke from a different company acting as a sole trader/ service agent.

He claimed that he'd fixed it too and went.

Two days later he was called back in as we had no heating again.

By now the boiler was coming up with all sorts of fault codes - some were temporary shut down fault codes meaning the boiler could just be reset. The others were major fault codes - meaning the boiler may turn off permanently!

Ferrolli then refused to come out to fix the boiler until they had seen proof of the boiler being serviced as it had been a year since it had been installed - Yes the boiler is only 1 year old!

I called the servicing agents on behalf of the estate agents as they hold the contracts for this - to do a service on the boiler.

They said that they couldnt come out to service the boiler as they needed permission from the landlord.

When I rang the estate agents - they then said 'Its not anything to do with us - they don't need to have authorisation as surely the fact that they have the tender for this very service is adequate?!!'

So anyhow - they phoned and agreed that a service could take place.

The next day a guy came out to service the boiler.

He left me with the docs etc and went.

I then waited. I was told that as soon as the service had taken place - the service agents would inform Ferroli and send them the paperwork.

I called the estate agents maintenance team who said that they had contacted Ferroli who said that they would now send out an engineer within 3 days. Whether this phone call happened or not - I don't know. I waited some more until it was 3 days and I called again and said that I hadn't heard anything from Ferroli. She then asked if I would phone them!!

So - I made the call. They said they hadn't received proof of service. So now I was back to square one. I emailed the paperwork to them myself and they organised for an engineer to contact me within 2 days. Still no reliable hot water or heating.

An engineer came out the next day and again claimed he had fixed the boiler and said it should be fine. It was still on the blink - so he came back out the next day. He adjusted various things on the boiler including the fact that the boiler was set to LPG gas?!! and not natural.

The boiler worked better without disruption to our lives for a couple of days - and then it started flashing again. He came out again and adjusted the outputs and took off one of the temperature valves off the radiator in the lounge was on permanently and claimed we needed a room thermostat in the house.

a couple of weeks went by and it was fine - hurrah!!

then i noticed that there was a small puddle of water underneath the boiler. and no surprise - the boiler began flashing the same fault code again. This was last thursday - I rang the maintenance team and told them that the boiler had started flashing fault codes again - she asked if I would phone Ferroli!!

I got really cross at this point - not at them - but started swearing when i put the phone down.

As I thought this was no real emergency as we had managed to cope with the boiler having just temporary shut downs before - and resetting it I said I would phone them Ferroli on Monday - Boy was I wrong!

I woke up on Sunday morning to find that the boiler had permanently shut itself down - and there was no was of turning it back on - until the problem had been fixed! I was cold and had no hot water whatsoever. Absolute nightmare with a small premature child!

I tried to phone Ferroli but they were closed. So I phoned the emergency team for the estate agents - who like I thought said that there was nothing they could do as the boiler was under warranty. I broke down in tears at this point - totally fed up - as this had been an ongoing battle for months!

My daughter is booked in for an operation next Tuesday in a weeks time. If she gets ill before - they will cancel her operation. She is having facial surgery to repair a cleft lip and I have been told that this is the optimum time for the best results - if it is delayed - it could have a big impact on her healing and the scarring.

The estate agents phoned Ferroli to find out that they wouldnt send out an engineer until a room thermostat and a new automatic bypass valve had been fitted. So the estate agents arranged for the plumber who initially fitted the boiler in the first place to come out and check it etc and to install what was requested.

He noticed that the boiler was leaking water - quite alot to be fair and said that he didn't think that the installations were needed, that the boiler already had an automatic bypass valve within its system. Now I was so confused I didn't have a clue where to turn. The plumber said it wasn't needed - yet Ferroli claimed it was.

Anyway - after a bit more mooching around - the plumber said that the heat exchanger would need replacing as this had burst - so we would need to phone Ferroli to call out another engineer - he also said that the room thermostat wouldnt make any difference. Even though the Ferroli agent had sworn by this - saying it would make all the difference.

So - I called Ferroli - who said they would again send out an engineer within 2 days. That afternoon I got a call saying that the engineer would come out at 8am the next morning. Hooray!

I spent the whole night last night freezing cold - with electric heaters - no hot water - total nightmare when you dont have a dishwasher and a small baby! Not to mention I am dying to have a bath.

The Ferroli guy has just come out and has said that it does need a new heat exchanger as well as a few other things as there has been water damage. He said he doesnt carry the parts - and he will have to order the parts. These - if they are in stock can take 3 days to arrive. If not in stock - they are ordered from Italy which can take weeks!

I have no hot water or heating!

I am waiting for the estate agents to call me back. I cannot stay in this house - the stress and cold has made me ill - I am not functioning properly - I have a severe headache from the electric heaters and am feeling very worn down.

I want advice in regards to compensation for all this mess, not to mention the stress this has caused me - and it has affected my precious time with my first newborn baby.

We wont be able to stay in this house - so will either have to stay with parents or see if they can put us up somewhere. A B & B is not an option as I need to stay in during the day with my little girl. A hotel or a furnished house would be an option - but only if they can pay for my dog to go into kennels for the duration as I personally cannot afford this expense. Even If me and my hubby do go to our parents houses - neither will be able to accept our dog as A she is huge - and B she doesnt get on with other dogs - and both our parents have dogs.

I want to be reimbursed the cost of the rent - for all the time that we have had no heating or hot water!

Where do I stand on this - what would be a reasonable ask?

If this was a council property this would be regarded as an emergency as I have a small child under the age of 5. Not to mention the fact that she is only 4 months old - is premature - and she has an operation next Tuesday.

I really dont know what to do and would really appreciate some feedback! I am in a total CRISIS!

Ilovelittlelily

Hi Everyone,

I would really like some advice here as I am in a very confusing situation, I have gotten to the end of my tether and I just don't know what to do now.

I gave birth to my daughter on the 19th of November 2010, if you remember it was freezing cold weather at this time. Unfortunately I was in hopsital for 2 weeks and the boiler broke down the day before my daughter was born.

My hubby rang the estate agents who sent out their service team to come and sort it. I was so distressed thinking of him having to go back to an empty house with no hot water or heating!

The service agents came out and did their magic - they claimed that the pressure had just dropped so told him how to top it up for future reference and went on their way.

Over the period of the next few weeks and months the water pressure kept dropping. We would have a fault code showing upto 20 times a day and obv all we could do was top it up. Something was blatently not right as you should never have to top up a boiler that much. So they came out again and bled the radiators. Apparently FULL of air.

Then pressure relief pipe was pouring out water into the garden - so they came out again and did the same thing - they mentioned that the pressure relief valve might need changing - so ordered one - but everytime the agent came to our property (twice) he said it wasnt nescesary and took it back with him.

The boiler was still on the blink and temporarily shutting down and saying that the pressure was too low.

On their 4th visit the bloke realised that the boiler was under warranty all along - How was I meant to know - the paperwork wasnt left with me - it was left with the service agents head office - they should know!

So - they called out the manufacturer Ferroli.

A Ferroli guy came out the next day after we had spent the night yet again in a freezing cold house with no heating or hot water.
He did his magic and claimed that the boiler was fine now - we shouldnt have any problems.

By now it was the end of January. The boiler had gone on the blink again - it was a friday afternoon - and I dreaded the thought of a whole weekend of no hot water or heating!

On monday Ferroli sent out another bloke from a different company acting as a sole trader/ service agent.

He claimed that he'd fixed it too and went.

Two days later he was called back in as we had no heating again.

By now the boiler was coming up with all sorts of fault codes - some were temporary shut down fault codes meaning the boiler could just be reset. The others were major fault codes - meaning the boiler may turn off permanently!

Ferrolli then refused to come out to fix the boiler until they had seen proof of the boiler being serviced as it had been a year since it had been installed - Yes the boiler is only 1 year old!

I called the servicing agents on behalf of the estate agents as they hold the contracts for this - to do a service on the boiler.

They said that they couldnt come out to service the boiler as they needed permission from the landlord.

When I rang the estate agents - they then said 'Its not anything to do with us - they don't need to have authorisation as surely the fact that they have the tender for this very service is adequate?!!'

So anyhow - they phoned and agreed that a service could take place.

The next day a guy came out to service the boiler.

He left me with the docs etc and went.

I then waited. I was told that as soon as the service had taken place - the service agents would inform Ferroli and send them the paperwork.

I called the estate agents maintenance team who said that they had contacted Ferroli who said that they would now send out an engineer within 3 days. Whether this phone call happened or not - I don't know. I waited some more until it was 3 days and I called again and said that I hadn't heard anything from Ferroli. She then asked if I would phone them!!

So - I made the call. They said they hadn't received proof of service. So now I was back to square one. I emailed the paperwork to them myself and they organised for an engineer to contact me within 2 days. Still no reliable hot water or heating.

An engineer came out the next day and again claimed he had fixed the boiler and said it should be fine. It was still on the blink - so he came back out the next day. He adjusted various things on the boiler including the fact that the boiler was set to LPG gas?!! and not natural.

The boiler worked better without disruption to our lives for a couple of days - and then it started flashing again. He came out again and adjusted the outputs and took off one of the temperature valves off the radiator in the lounge was on permanently and claimed we needed a room thermostat in the house.

a couple of weeks went by and it was fine - hurrah!!

then i noticed that there was a small puddle of water underneath the boiler. and no surprise - the boiler began flashing the same fault code again. This was last thursday - I rang the maintenance team and told them that the boiler had started flashing fault codes again - she asked if I would phone Ferroli!!

I got really cross at this point - not at them - but started swearing when i put the phone down.

As I thought this was no real emergency as we had managed to cope with the boiler having just temporary shut downs before - and resetting it I said I would phone them Ferroli on Monday - Boy was I wrong!

I woke up on Sunday morning to find that the boiler had permanently shut itself down - and there was no was of turning it back on - until the problem had been fixed! I was cold and had no hot water whatsoever. Absolute nightmare with a small premature child!

I tried to phone Ferroli but they were closed. So I phoned the emergency team for the estate agents - who like I thought said that there was nothing they could do as the boiler was under warranty. I broke down in tears at this point - totally fed up - as this had been an ongoing battle for months!

My daughter is booked in for an operation next Tuesday in a weeks time. If she gets ill before - they will cancel her operation. She is having facial surgery to repair a cleft lip and I have been told that this is the optimum time for the best results - if it is delayed - it could have a big impact on her healing and the scarring.

The estate agents phoned Ferroli to find out that they wouldnt send out an engineer until a room thermostat and a new automatic bypass valve had been fitted. So the estate agents arranged for the plumber who initially fitted the boiler in the first place to come out and check it etc and to install what was requested.

He noticed that the boiler was leaking water - quite alot to be fair and said that he didn't think that the installations were needed, that the boiler already had an automatic bypass valve within its system. Now I was so confused I didn't have a clue where to turn. The plumber said it wasn't needed - yet Ferroli claimed it was.

Anyway - after a bit more mooching around - the plumber said that the heat exchanger would need replacing as this had burst - so we would need to phone Ferroli to call out another engineer - he also said that the room thermostat wouldnt make any difference. Even though the Ferroli agent had sworn by this - saying it would make all the difference.

So - I called Ferroli - who said they would again send out an engineer within 2 days. That afternoon I got a call saying that the engineer would come out at 8am the next morning. Hooray!

I spent the whole night last night freezing cold - with electric heaters - no hot water - total nightmare when you dont have a dishwasher and a small baby! Not to mention I am dying to have a bath.

The Ferroli guy has just come out and has said that it does need a new heat exchanger as well as a few other things as there has been water damage. He said he doesnt carry the parts - and he will have to order the parts. These - if they are in stock can take 3 days to arrive. If not in stock - they are ordered from Italy which can take weeks!

I have no hot water or heating!

I am waiting for the estate agents to call me back. I cannot stay in this house - the stress and cold has made me ill - I am not functioning properly - I have a severe headache from the electric heaters and am feeling very worn down.

I want advice in regards to compensation for all this mess, not to mention the stress this has caused me - and it has affected my precious time with my first newborn baby.

We wont be able to stay in this house - so will either have to stay with parents or see if they can put us up somewhere. A B & B is not an option as I need to stay in during the day with my little girl. A hotel or a furnished house would be an option - but only if they can pay for my dog to go into kennels for the duration as I personally cannot afford this expense. Even If me and my hubby do go to our parents houses - neither will be able to accept our dog as A she is huge - and B she doesnt get on with other dogs - and both our parents have dogs.

I want to be reimbursed the cost of the rent - for all the time that we have had no heating or hot water!

Where do I stand on this - what would be a reasonable ask?

If this was a council property this would be regarded as an emergency as I have a small child under the age of 5. Not to mention the fact that she is only 4 months old - is premature - and she has an operation next Tuesday.

I really dont know what to do and would really appreciate some feedback! I am in a total CRISIS!