Hi Andy, yes they did + another £600 for flush and repair! I was surprised that they just accepted the FOS terms without a whimper. Cheque received and cashed. @dx100uk Agreed. I read people having similar issues with getting repairs from ASG, not sure if it was on here or another site but they seem to adopt the same line about it being the customers responsibility to keep their system fresh and clean. My system was powerflushed in 2016 and by 2018 it was similar to having 4 blocked arteries. I have my doubts as to whether it was done.

I had started a complaint with FOS nearly 2 years ago when ASG sent someone out to repair my boiler and charged me nearly £200 despite my separate boiler maintenance contract, yeah the one that means you never have to worry about your boiler breaking down again! They alleged that despite my system being power flushed just 2 years before when the boiler was installed and, having had it serviced twice, I was still liable for the repair bill as I had not taken care of the central heating system. forward another 12 months or so to November 2019 and the same issue occurred. ASG refused to even send out an engineer citing that as I had not had my system flushed (again) then they would not be liable. I asked the FOS to take in to account this further break down and that I had had to pay a further £200 for a repair, I argued that I was paying for a maintenance contract which they refused to honour. During this 3rd party repair, the engineer took apart the Boiler Mag filter which captures metallic debris before it enters the boiler which could potentially cause it to fail. This was completely full of black particles which took ages to clean off. I also provided evidence that they had sent numerous daily text messages since around March this year threatening that if i didn't get my boiler serviced in May then the contract would be breached and I would be liable for all monies. This was despite me telling them that I had someone shielding in my home and sending them a link to the boiler manufacturer's website telling customers that service schedules had been extended due to Covid-19. These messages and letters were also forwarded to FOS. Having looked at the ASG contract, The FOS asked why this Boiler Mag isn't cleaned at every service as it seems to play a very basic but vital role in keeping the boiler from damage. ASG's response was that it was only included in the first service and is the responsibility of the customer to clean during subsequent services. The FOS said this was not mentioned in the contract at all and that it was completely unreasonable to expect a lay person to know about this. They were ordered to repay the repair costs, pay for me to have the system powerflushed and they were also told to repay four years worth of monthly maintenance payments +8% interest. ASG also agreed not to raise the interest rate on the monthly boiler payments for the remainder of the schedule. So thankfully I don't have to have any further contact with this 'company' again other than to pay for the boiler.

I have an update to this thread which will follow shortly.

An Investigator for the Ombudsman's office sent me this ;

Apologies for my silence for so long. I have submitted my complaint to the Ombudsman who initially found in my favour but Ashadegreener have appealed and I'm waiting for final verdict.

Wow! thanks for the update. This does give me some hope. I've been out of commission over Christmas with flu unfortunately but hoping to get the ball rolling with an engineer's report on my system etc. I hope we can get more info on how the other claim was successful.

thanks for the info above! I guess he's a bit of a jack of all trades judging by the number of companies that have come and gone. Just out of interest if the current one was to fold where would I stand as far as making payments etc is concerned?

Thanks for laying out my options - I agree it's a messy situation which I'd love to be rid of. I'll go about getting an independent assessment done of my system first as I think this will help to make things more clear as to which is my best path.

I think they quoted me around £3100 to terminate the contract which I'd rather not pay on top of everything else that I've had to pay up until now. If I could successfully reclaim some or all of the costs already paid out for repairs and what I'll have to pay for a flush then it would put me in a much better situation to end the contract. I have done absolutely nothing wrong as far as I'm concerned and i'm already thinking I'm going to have to take some sort of hit to sort this situation out. What really got me angry was their point blank refusal to even inspect the boiler despite their claims that I can sit back and relax as they have me covered!

Hi, I'm currently paying around £35 a month for the boiler which I've been paying for 3 years and 6 months. The service agreement costs around £9 per month and thew same payment duration applies. I took this out in 2016 when my circumstances were far different than they are now and my old boiler was condemned so I had to finance a new one and at the time, this was one of my only options. Their address is: A Shade Greener Boilers LLP Sterling House Maple Court Maple Road Tankersley S75 3DP

Hi, yes I did sign up to a boiler purchase and the service/maintenance contract runs in parallel with the purchase contract. According to the company I can't have one without the other or I am in breach of contract. I have asked for a copy of this to be sent to me. I do have an address for the company too. To sum up then I think my problem is concerned with whether the system flush was carried out effectively at the time of installation and then to find out whether they have failed to keep to their own terms and conditions of the maintenance contract. To date I have had to pay £180 in 2018 and then a further £199 last week to have the boiler repaired. A system flush is going to come in at around another £500. So when they say: 'With our “Boiler for Life” scheme you’ll never have to worry about your boiler again. All you have to do us pay us an affordable monthly sum and for that we’ll look after it entirely. To help with your cash flow our scheme starts at just £1.47 per day. There are no maintenance costs, call out 365 days a year, free service every year, free upgrade after 10 years and we’ll also replace the boiler entirely in the unlikely event that it cannot be repaired. Basically, we install it, you forget it. If you stay with us you’ll never have to buy another boiler again.' What is involved in the installation? We aim to start the installation process between 8am and 9am (traffic dependant) and require someone over the age of 18 to allow us access to the property. Over the course of the day we will: remove your old boiler, perform a free hot and cold flush of your existing heating system, install your new Grade ‘A’ Boiler, clean up after installation and take away.' I would say that their claims are fantasy. Thanks for all the help.

Thank you for your swift reply. I am going to have to have the system flushed again very soon as it's obvious where the problem lies. I have successfully used MCOL recently on a different matter. I will look to get independent statements prepared as you suggest.

I foolishly signed up to a 10 year boiler purchase which included a separate monthly payment for the service, repair and maintenance of this boiler once installed. This was supposed to include a yearly service and all repairs to the boiler which would give me complete peace of mind. During the installation of the boiler the engineers also flushed my central heating system to ensure it would operate at the highest level and that nothing but routine servicing would be required. Having had the first service carried a year after installation in the summer of 2017, everything seemed ok then just after the second service a year later the boiler developed a fault where it would not generate hot water. I called the company to make use of the repair service I was paying for only to be told that if the fault was due to dirt and debris in my central heating pipes then I would have to pay for this. They refused to send out an engineer to diagnose the problem until I agreed to this. You can imagine my concern at this point but having kids in the house I couldn't be without hot water so I agreed. I was handed a bill for over £180 and told that after just 2 years since my system was flushed, it must be really dirty. I couldn't believe it could be that bad and couldn't afford to pay nearly £500 to have the system flushed again. Having discussed this with a couple of independent gas engineers they agreed that a system flush should be good for up to 10 years. Prior too this I had a really old boiler which gave me no such issues. A further year on and my boiler has developed a similar problem but the company now refuse to send out an engineer until I prove that I've had the system flushed again although they still take my monthly direct debit for repair and maintenance. I have had to pay an independent Gas Safe engineer to repair the boiler and he said that my system was so filthy that he didn't believe it could have been flushed just 3 years ago. He also stated clearly that my system of just 8 radiators in a semi detached house should not need to be flushed but once every 10 years. So where do I stand legally with this? I'm left paying for something which the company refuse to honour as far as I'm concerned. I offered to cancel the maintenance agreement and provide my own cover through British Gas but they refused saying that I would be in breach of contract. Any help woulld be appreciated! boiler-faq.2017.08 (1).pdf