Central Heating advice

cheesesarnie

Hi..need some advice on behalf of my granny (85 y/o)

After a month in hospital she cam back to her home only to find that her central heating tank had been leaking. After 1 night in the cold (she didn't tell us) she contacted local plumber who fixed the situation which involved replacing tank etc...which came to £1.1k!!

After completion, she has become aware that grants may have been available if she'd applied for them before the heating was fixed (although that would have meant no c/h while waiting for the application to be processed).

She has been on to someone (I assume York council) who is telling her no grants available now because the repair has already been done....

Just wondering if anyone knows of any other avenue we could explore/people to contact regarding grants etc. after the event as the bills left a significant dent.

many thanks

chesky369

why on earth did the hospital allow your granny to go home alone after such a long period in hospital?

cheesesarnie

sorry...note to that..she went home with her son but they didn't notice the leak until he'd gone etc.etc.

Mike_by_the_Sea

Any chance of claiming it was an emergency repair as she had just come out of hospital etc.etc. - Also, talk to the local age concern for their advice.

Good luck

chesky369

I suspect there is very little chance of getting a grant for something post-facto. Apart from anything else, your granny would have requested an emergency service, not a regular 'slotted-in' project and these are always more expensive. The problem is in cases like these that the person concerned is panicky anyway and will agree to almost anything just to get the job done.

Biggles

albertross wrote: »

I think your gran may have been ripped off.

If it was £1,100 just for replacing a plastic loft tank, I'd be inclined to agree. Is there an itemised bill? Might be worth talking to the local police (in case he's known for doing a few old folk like this) but at least she should go to CAB to discuss.

Biggles

Your house insurance would cover any damage resulting from the leak, but it wouldn't cover maintenance or repair of your central heating system (emergency or otherwise).

It would be interesting to know what work was carried out for £1,100.

chesky369

It might be a case for local trading standards but that's about it. Whatever age you are, you should always get
a)

chesky369

It might be a case for local trading standards but that's about it. Whatever age you are, you should always get
a) an estimate
b) an itemised bill

chesky369

I'm sorry about this, don't know what seems to be happening with my computer.

cheesesarnie

cheers for this...will have a look into it