Advice re gas bill

Jems_2

I have been renting a flat for approx 6 weeks. During that time there have been various fittings that have not worked. I reported these problems a couple of days after moving in. After much chasing, a few of the problems were fixed, however several are still outstanding.

Two weeks ago, I was off work for a day and discovered that the heating has been on constantly, regardless of the timer being set to early morning and evening only. Again, after chasing, the agents have arranged for someone to come out to look at the boiler (its an old gas combination boiler). My worry is that, according to the tenancy agreement, I am responsible for paying all utility bills. I am now expecting a massive gas bill, from a boiler that has been firing up 24/7.

Given that I was told before moving in that the boiler had been checked, and the tenancy agreement provides that the LL is responsible for keeping it in working order, am I entitled to claim any payment of this bill from LL / agents? If the timer had been working, the heating would have only been on 25% of the time.

I feel that I am being taken advantage of, having stuck to my side of the agreement, nothing is in full working order (I have been without hot water for a week on top of the heating problems) and I'm still going to be paying more than I should for it! Any advice appreciated.

tbs624

You say that you were told the heating system had been checked, but have you actually seen a Tenant Copy of the Gas Safety Certificate yet? It is a legal requirement for LLs/LAs to get all gas appliances checked and certificated before you move in and then every 12 months after that.

If you can't switch your boiler off call Transco out and they'll probably disconnect it, slap a warning notice on it and the LL will have to get the timer repaired or replaced pronto. Your LL/LA is obliged, as you say, to keep all heating equipment in good, safe, working order. If s/he hasn't got a gas safety certificate report her/him to the HSE (Health & Safety Exec.) they can be taken before the courts and fined.

Failing to maintain the heating/hot water system is also a breach of LLs/LAs legal obligations under S11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 and you need to tell the LA/LL so by recorded delivery, keeping a copy for your own records. They should also compensate you for the extra costs.IMO many LAs are incompetent and need to be firmly reminded of their obligations to Tenants. You could also contact the Private Rentals Officer at the local council housing dept.

real1314

Firstly I assume you'ce been sleeping there at night? So it's not been on 24/7?
Secondly a boiler with a faulty timer will not be condemned as unsafe.


What type of timer does it work on? Is it on of those clocks with red and blue sliders?
Probably just a timer fault of some sort, you may have the on and then the off too close for the off to trigger?

tbs624

real1314 wrote: »

Secondly a boiler with a faulty timer will not be condemned as unsafe.

If the boiler cannot be switched off , my experience suggests that it is likely tobe disconnected until the system can be properly checked out. This happened to us with a central heating boiler - the boiler was indeed disconnected and it remained that way until it could be checked out thoroughly by the service contractor towards the end of the same day, when a new timer was fitted.

A LA/LL should ensure that any Tenant has full operating instructions for any heating system, and that the Tenant knows what they should do in the event of any problem with it. IMO the LA should be responding to the OPs request with some urgency.

real1314

But not condemned as unsafe or "have a warning notice slapped on it".

The OP could switch the boiler to OFF. I still suspect the on/off being too close on one of those old clock switches.

PasturesNew

All that aside, I doubt 6 weeks of a boiler being on will bankrupt you. It will only be firing up and heating when the temperature drops below the thermostat setting - and it hasn't been THAT cold recently, certainly where I am. The colder days seem to have been at the weekends when you were probably there anyway.

I presume you took meter readings when you moved in ... what do they say now? You can work out how much the bill is so far and check on one of the other boards how much usage they'd expect that to be for.

You might find it only broke the day you were there and hadn't been on at all in the day before that.

Good luck

tbs624

Jems - you have a variety of suggestions now so good luck with getting all sorted out. Real 1314's opinion clearly differs from mine, and none of us know the full details of what is wrong with your boiler: I've merely recounted what Transco did with ours (which was older, like yours) and it did include slapping a warning notice on it until the timer was replaced. Maybe they just had a surplus of stickers that day......

If you tell the LA/LL that you think the boiler may be unsafe and that you are going to contact Transco it may encourage them to move faster.

silvercar

Your system must have a thermostat or you would notice the flat heating up. So once the temperature is reached the boiler doesn't fire. If the clock is faulty, the gas safety check could still be passed.

Jems_2

Thanks so much to everyone for your replies. I have finally had someone in to look at the boiler, who has said that it needs to be replaced. They are arranging for this to be done later in the week (not sure who is more excited, me or my friend who's shower I have been "borrowing"!).:D

I did take meter readings when I moved in (although the LAs took their own readings before this which were the ones that were passed to the supplier - stupid i know!!). Thank you for your suggestion PasturesNew - I will definitely check this. Hopefully, it wont be too much extra but this is my first month in my first flat so keeping an eye on my budget is a priority!

I do have a copy of the safety certificate, but as I understand it, this only proves that it is "safe", not that it wont be on constantly or that the hot water works! Unfortunately, some of the radiators are blocked (another thing on the list for the poor heating guy) so the thermostat isn't as effective as it should be.