Just an update. Sent the complaint letter to Housing on Tuesday (18th Dec) and received a call of Friday (21st) stating that they'll need to send a letter to my parents confirming that they have agreed to let me handle this on their behalf. As for the boiler, it's still faulty. A different engineer came finally came with the flue and PCB board (Thursday 20th), had a look at the boiler and decided the Flue that they had waited for 2 WEEKS wasn't actually required and the old one simply had to be secured in place with small screws. Asked him wouldn't it be better to just install the new flue since we were made to wait so long and it would also eliminate the possibility of that being the fault; said there's no point and didn't install the flue; installed the PCB board and then rather than testing the boiler to see if it works, he shut off the gas to the boiler as apparently his machine found a gas leak. Not big enough to smell, but his machine being sensitive apparently he has to follow Association rules?! Apparently the original installer didn't replace seals and used old ones. Asked him if the boiler was working at least...said he can't check until leak was fixed and only then can the boiler be turned on. Could be that he just couldn't find the fault and found an excuse to get the hell out of here and give the job to someone else as he mentioned he had 7 other jobs to go to. Engineer number 4 came today (yes, completely different engineer), installed the seals which took him 3 hours as he had to get right inside and afterwards the boiler still didn't work. Said that ideally 1 engineer would be dealing with the fault as different engineers coming every time just causes confusion for the engineers as they end up asking me details about what the previous engineer did and he also said head office aren't much help (he even mentioned they have to use their own personal phone to call them for anything). He only started with the company but has over 20 years experience, so ideally someone like him would be put on the job until the boiler was working again. Said it might be the gas valve (i bet it's not!) so next appointment is Thursday 29th of December....exactly 1 month to the day from the day the fault was reported and the boiler is still faulty. To think, they could have easily just replaced the boiler, but instead, they're changing one part at a time and send a different engineer every time; it's shocking how inefficient this seems. It doesn't help that all the engineers say it's an obsolete model and it would have been better if head office opted to replace it instead of repair it piece by piece (which ironically is probably costing them a lot more). At this rate, winter will probably pass before the central heating comes on!!

The housing association paid for the boiler when the old one finally died permanently and they usually carry out repairs without much issue (through contractors). It's just this repair through the same usual contractor is taking a really really long time. What bothers me most is that the contractor allocates a specific amount of money to each household for a repair (in order to make a profit), if an engineer finds out right away the cost of repair will be too much, then they'll replace it with a new boiler, if however the engineer's already spent some time and effort on the repair and even had head office order new parts, then head office will keep trying to get more parts no matter how long it takes even if the engineer recommends a new boiler. You'd think they'd make an exception in some cases such as this where it's winter and the tenants are two pensioners, but i guess not.

It says: "As agreed between the parties. - Subject to Section 11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985"

Many thanks for all the help. I will be sending the form/letter to them immediately, will be interesting to hear what they have to say; probably going to be a generic reply of some sort, hoping for something a little more meaningful. Thanks again.

Ok, will do. Can compensation be claimed for the actual long delay in getting the boiler repaired, the lack of involvement by Housing, and maybe even the fact that the boiler was initially installed poorly/dangerously hence the fault? Or is compensation strictly for costs you incur, such as electricity and repairs you have arranged yourself through a private engineer due to delays by the main repair company?

Should i still send the letter or should i fill out the complaint form? Or maybe include the letter as part of the complaint forms detailed information section? Also, the complaint form itself has a section for compensation, should enter a compensation amount or should i leave that blank? I have no idea what to put in as an amount, but i'm guessing the long delay, the lack of involvement on the Housing's part and the initial botch job installation will all have an affect on the amount?

Thank you so much for that. Should i send that directly to the CEO? I noticed they have a complaints section here: shgroup.org.uk/Residents/Feedback--Complaints/ (can't post hyperlink due to low post count) with a form available (including compensation part), however, i'm thinking any complaint through standard avenues like the link i posted will just get stuck in the system and a response received long after boiler is repaired as it is Christmas period. Also, regarding compensating for calls...do you mean for the time/effort it took to make calls, or the actual call charges, because it was a free phone number (apart from the initial few calls). The most disturbing aspect is that this fault came about because of an initial dangerous botch job by the same company; i would have thought someone would have checked to see the installation was properly carried out being that it was a gas appliance. And the fact that the contractor company are taking so long to repair the boiler just so they can make a profit is really disgraceful, no matter who the tenants are, more so because the tenants are two pensioners who've waited patiently in what has been a very cold period. There has been absolutely no sense of urgency on the contractors part; for some reason they seem to think waiting so long for parts because the boiler is old is completely ok even when the engineer recommends a new boiler.

1. It's a gas boiler. 2. Southern Housing Group. 3. Dealing with the contractor directly who carry out the repair. Initially called the Housing directly but was given the contractors number and told they deal with gas related repairs directly. 4. Told them that the residents were two pensioners hence heating was urgent due to the cold weather. Originally they called back on Friday to say an appointment was scheduled for Monday, however, someone else called back to complain that it's not right to make two pensioners wait so long without heating or hot water (immersion was also faulty initially). They arranged an Engineer to show up Friday 30th November at night, he didn't seem sure what he was doing, but said someone will come Monday. No one came on Monday, called the company up and they said their was no one scheduled for Monday, instead their was an appointment was Wednesday. 5. Not sure what right to repair is, never heard of it and no one mentioned it during this period. 6. Nope, Housing didn't seem interested initially and just gave the number for the company that deals with the Gas/Heating problems (Robert Heath Heating). They didn't call back to check on anything. To be honest the repair company haven't even been calling back, instead i've been calling them constantly trying to get updates and mention constantly that i'm calling on behalf of two pensioners, but all i get is "they can't do anything as they're waiting for parts".

My parents live in a housing association house (over 25 years same house, London). They are an elderly couple, both pensioners, father is 80+ years old. Recently their boiler failed and it's been taking an incredibly long time to get it repaired. It failed right at the end of November, reported on the evening of November 29th, and to date it has not yet been repaired. One of the engineers i talked to (housing association is contracted with a large independent boiler/heating company who handle repairs) told me straight out the reason, he said due to the age of the boiler and the fact that it's an obsolete model, ideally a new boiler would be installed, however, the company's head office will allocate a maximum amount of money to each repair and because the engineer spent a long time trying to repair the problem and got head office to acquire a new part already (valve), they won't replace the boiler and instead they'll wait for a different part (flue) which will take weeks to get hold of. Of course, they didn't say weeks, but the flue fault was diagnosed on the 7th of December and still they're struggling to find the part even though the problem itself was reported on the 29th of November. (The engineer originally thought it was a valve fault only, having installed the valve on the 7th, he found the flue fault after). Also, initially they wouldn't give an exact date of when the flue will be in stock, just kept it vague "showing in stock", "maybe tomorrow", "supplier will get back to us" etc. Finally a lady answered the phone who was from a different department and helping out with the phones during a busy period and she called the specific departments/planners and found the date which was the 19th of December...but not guaranteed, expecting another call (although previously when they stated they'll call back with a more accurate date of when the part will be in stock, they never called back). An Important Note: The reason why the fault came about in the first place is because when the boiler was installed about 8 years ago by the same company (different engineer), it was installed BADLY (not my opinion but the new engineer said so). The flue was cut too short hence it eventually collapsed and the engineer told me this is very dangerous (and it resulted in other parts failing internally as a domino effect, valve, ignition, etc). I'm guessing it's possible that it was releasing dangerous fumes indoors, possibly for many years. Since the flue collapse though it kept overheating and cutting out so it didn't have a chance to poison anyone to death. But, the problem itself came about because the company's original engineer did a poor and very dangerous botch job with the installation. He even shoved the boiler in to accommodate the pipes, so much so the pipes got pushed (right side) out an inch off their fixings on the other side of the wall (downstairs toilet). Surely it can't be right for anybody to be made to wait this long for a repair? Especially two pensioners in this weather, some nights the outside temperature has fallen to minus. They left fan heaters, but they're no substitute to central heating especially considering the house is poorly insulated with normal glass windows as opposed to double glazing, no cavity wall insulation and loft has a thin piece of wool that was there since the 1980s, add to that they're paranoid about leaving these fan heaters on overnight as they're worried something will catch on fire or the room will overheat while they're asleep. Also, the immersion heater that has been used in the past as a backup in case the boiler stopped working died at the same time (or maybe before and no one noticed) so there was no hot water either, but the immersion heater was finally repaired on the 12th of December, however, it takes about 4 hours to heat up as the cylinder is large, whereas the boiler only takes 30 minutes, so not ideal but better than nothing. The engineers/electrician that have come out to try and repair the problems have been fantastic, sympathetic and all around great. However, the head office's decision to try and find the part of an obsolete boiler just so they can make a profit on the job seems incredibly wrong considering they knew how long it would take and how difficult it would be; they don't seem to be in a hurry. They're saying the part will be in stock on the 19th of December and an engineer will show up close to that (following day if lucky) to repair it, however, based on how many delays there have been and how they've already struggled to find the part in question AND put into that the fact that a lot of engineers will be off for Christmas, i'm not holding out hope. And i wouldn't be surprised if after the flue is repaired some other fault is found which will take several more days for the parts to arrive and that will definitely mean no boiler before Christmas (unless they have loads of engineers working through Christmas?). What if anything can be done? The problem was reported on the 29th November and the boiler is still dead and two pensioners have no central heating during an incredibly cold period. The electricity bill will no doubt be massive but the suffering, stress and the long LONG wait is what's really wrong (and the original dangerous botch job), all so that the contractor can make sure they make a profit on the call out and not a loss. Apologies for the long post. Cliffnotes: 29th November: Boiler died. Reported by phone. Two pensioners living at premises. 7th December: Boiler is obsolete hence difficult to find parts for. Head office decide to order part anyway (flue) even though engineer recommends a new boiler. Boiler failed due to initial botch job installation several years ago by same company but different engineer. Note: Current fault was caused by initial botch job boiler installation by same company whose original engineer cut the flue too short hence it collapsed. New engineer told me this is very dangerous. 19th December: Part will apparently be in stock on the 19th of December. Boiler is still very much dead.

Ended up keeping the new Fridge Freezer as i'm guessing there would have been a courier charge for return. Over the past week or two some reviews on the items page (Reevoo) have appeared and it seems the cracking noise is normal for this model. It only happens before and after the compressor kicks in; still annoying but going to have to get used to it. Hopefully it settles down over time, but i'm not going to hold my breath. On another forum a FF technician mentioned it's the foam insulation that is making the noise as it's contracting and expanding....it's not the same for all FF, just this model due to the design and foam type.

Sorry to bump this, but i bought a new Fridge Freezer too and quite disappointed with the amount of noise it makes. Not the standard humming from the compressor which is fine, but the constant loud cracking and popping noises. When you returned your Fridge Freezer, did you put it back into the original packaging? Or was that not necessary? Also, did Currys charge you a collection fee?