Hi all, this may be a long one. We've been in our rented property for nearly 3 years (since August 2011). We rent privately from landlords who used to live in the property and have never been landlords before renting this house. A few months since we moved in, problems with the house started - damp patches, due to the balcony mostly, which they promptly got "sorted". The house was then less than 10 years old and all of the houses on the small estate had similar problems with damp, due to shoddy building work. The damp problem was never resolved despite "builders" being sent by the insurance company to sort the problem. It was always botched. Last year we noticed rain pouring (yes, pouring) through our bedroom window, and as Winter came it became so cold that we had to have the heating on so much more! Landlords were informed of every little thing and contacted their insurance company (because the house was still under warranty). Builders came, bodged it and left, time after time. Fast forward to the beginning of this month and the landlords are sick of it all. They've decided to wash their hands of it and put the house up for sale. They issued a section 21 (and it IS valid). We've found somewhere else and are moving in on the first July, we're having the carpets cleaned at current property, gardens manicured, we've done all minor repairs (replaced broken loo seat, touched up paint on walls etc). Landlady has now asked for us to sand down and treat all the window frames and paint every room the exact colour it was when we moved in! (Peach, yellow, dark blue etc). Well, we spent over £1000 decorating this place last year in neutral colours and the damp problems completely wrecked all our hard work. We spent £150 to get someone to come and repair the shed roof even though that is not our responsibility. We also had to get a plumber to come and repair the loo which cost £40 and last year the heating packed in and we got someone to come and repair it costing us £90. We informed landlady o all of this and she did not accept responsibility. The oil fired boiler hasn't been serviced at all in the 3 years we've been here but I realise this isn't a legal requirement. However the last month or so the three of us (me, husband and son) have all been feeling really ill when we've been at home. But when we're not here we feel ok. I wonder if this is possible carbon monoxide leak?

Help please, anyone... I have an insurance policy on my boiler. it pays for repairs / call outs up to 1500 per year. Made no claims over last three years or so. Have a leak at the moment, called them out, this was last weekend. heard nothing today, until out of the blue I received a phone call asking me if my boiler was working and that he could replace it for free but I had to pay the install charges of £1000!!!!! I asked my he was calling when I was waiting to hear from D&G about a part. He apologised and said that he probably shoulnt have called me and that I would probably hear from D&G in the next few days! I was disgruntled at this point. I left it a couple of hours and finally rang D&G, only to be told that the boiler had been written off days ago! no-one had bothered to call me to tell me. the policy states that in the event of a breakdown and not cost effective etc that a contribution could be offered from D&G of up to 1500.. ....oh no, not the case, they offered me £127.03..... in the space of an afternoon I have been told that a boiler that needed a part is now written off as the part is not available. my annoyance is that I am being penalised because the parts aren't available and £120 is not going to buy me a new boiler. I am a working mom with two small children, and after spending nearly two hours on the phone to D&G I don't know where to go next, so any help, or advice or anything would be appreciated.

Hi Everyone, I've recently had a Potterton boiler installed by British Gas. British Gas have given me Homecare for the first 12 months, but I'm very disappointed as Potterton only give you 15 months warranty from date of install, after which you have to purchase one of their price plans. Now if I purchased for example a tv or washing machine, even though I only have say 1 year's official warranty, I'm sure the EU law (Sales of Goods Act???) states that the product should be repaired I think by the installer or manufacturer if the product breaks down within a reasonable timeframe, say 2-4yrs time. Considering a boiler should last people 5+ years, what does the EU law say about boilers? What can be done to enforce this should a situation arise?

Hi guys, I'm going to try to keep this brief and I hope your not going to mind, but I'm not going to mention names in order to avoid jeopardising the on-going case. Recently I've had one of the big six utility companies install a boiler for me. Unfortunately:- 1. They didn't clear up properly and left a lot of mess 2. They have also done some damage to the bath panel, bathroom floor and hallway carpet has been left dirty with debris 3. The electrician has incorrectly re-wired the circuit breaker for the boiler and now when one of the living room light switches is used, it triggers all the house electricity to go off from the circuit breaker (short circuit?) 4. Some of the pointing has not been done properly outside. 5. The boiler enclosure that was also covering the electrical switch and pipes was never put back on after the electrician took it off, leaving parts exposed to someone touching or water splashing. Due to an injury, I had to get the help of my family to clean and it took us a very long time. I complained and emailed them the photos and their manager/inspector came out and agreed that the damage done was wrong and apologised. He promised that he would put it right and asked for a couple of days to create a report and resolve the problem. I waited and got no response, so when I rang him directly on his mobile, he said it was being looked at. He didn't get back and after calling him and texting him, I realised that my calls were being avoided. So after chasing up, I managed to get hold of the area complaints manager, but here's the shocking news...they have received the report which has told them the opposite in that there was no issue to resolve and all work carried out was inspected and was safe. Even after seeing the photos, no damage or mess could be seen according the advisor. I as you can imagine was furious and told them that I was given the false hope of having things fixed, but instead I'm being fobbed off. There is a lot more to this, but I want to keep things in perspective. I would be most grateful if anyone can pls advice on my rights and what I can do to get things done. What are my chances of success?

I have just found this website while browsing, so I have signed up. This, my first post, is both to seek advice and, perhaps, to alert others to the problem I am facing. It does not concern a utility company as such, but the manufacturer/supplier of energy equipment - in this case Viessmann, a well-respected company who make gas, solar and other systems for domestic hot water (DHW) and central heating (CH). Having looked through the forums I am hoping that this is the right sub-forum in which to post: it seems that there are quite a few plumbing and heating experts who contribute to the discussions here. The essential details are as follows: In October 2010 (ie just over three years ago) we had our old, traditional system renewed/replaced. We had a Viessmann 343-F "tower unit" installed. This is a gas-fired condensing boiler, integrated with cylinder, pumps and solar water-heating circuit and controls, all packaged into one single box about the size of a domestic fridge. So as well as the mains gas, we have a panel of solar tubes on the roof which helps to heat the water. This tower unit stands on the floor of our utility room, in the corner, with all pipe-connections at the top. The system works superbly, is very efficient and has cut down our gas bills (since especially in sunny weather, the solar circuit heats most of our DHW needs). However...... several weeks ago we noticed a puddle (indeed a pool) of water on the floor around, beside and behind the boiler - or rather the tower unit. As it is located against the walls in the corner of the utility room there is very little visibility and vitrually no access beside or behind the unit - and of course it is immovable as it is plumbed-in and very heavy. We mopped up the apparent leak: it wasn't a pouring flood. But the puddle soon reappeared. There was much more liquid when the CH was on. With DHW only, there was still a leak, but noticeably less. There is no local Viessmann agent in our area, and the firm which installed our system had ceased trading and no longer exists. To cut a long story short, telephone discussion with Viessmann UK customer services and tech helpline, and eventually a call-out to a local plumber, suggested that our initial fear - that one of the CH pipes or joints behind the boiler unit leading to and from the radiators had sprung a leak - was mistaken. Rather the suspicion was that there was a condensate leak. This tallied with the evidence that there was more of a puddle when the CH was on (boiler running long and often) than when DHW only (boiler running much less). Now here is the problem.... and the warning. Further checking with the help of a friendly local plumber revealed (a) that there was no flow at all out of the condensate drain pipe, which was normally plumbed in to the waste outflow pipe under the sink, and which we disconnected to check. Also (b) so far as we could see by tracing that drain pipe back, it had not become disconnected from the boiler, and the joints and connections (with jubilee clips) along its length inside the tower unit were all sound. BUT.... more checking eventually turned up the cause of the problem. The condensate drain pipe is a flexible ribbed plastic tube, like a thin vacuum cleaner hose or some washing machine outflows. This tube had been wedged, or crushed, beween a internal copper pipe and the casing panel inside the tower unit, just under the boiler components and above the HW cylinder. When we removed it and looked closely, we discovered a small but significant split on the underside (invisible until the tube had been removed). The good news is that - having found the source of the leak - the immediate solution is to replace the tube. Simples! There is however some bad news. It is obvious that this split was not sudden or recent. The tube had evidently been wedged and squashed under the other pipe when the unit was originally assembled. The tube was actually held inplace by cable-ties. So the split had been there for many months, indeed possibly years. The really bad news is that all the components inside this tower unit casing are very tightly packed-in, so inspection is difficult; but we established that the condensate seeping from the split plastic tube had flowed down through a gap in the panels on to, and into, the spongy insulation jacket which completely encases the HW cylinder. This means two things. First, that the leak had been there for so long that the condensate had eventually saturated the whole of the insulation jacket, and then soaked into the floor immediately below the unit, the skirting boards and the base of the walls below. Only then, and when the flow was substantial, did it begin to "puddle" on the floor-tiles under and behind the unit. Second, (and any plumber reading this will be ahead of me!) the fact is that condensate is highly corrosive. So.... we have had a boiler/cylinder assembly inside this tower unit casing where for many months, and possibly years ever since the new unit was first installed, the cylinder and all its pipe-connections have been sitting (so to speak) immersed and saturated completely in corrosive acidic condensate which was being constantly replenished. It is of course impossible to inspect, as all this is inside the moulded insulation jacket. Although condensate only flows when the boiler is running, I had assumed the discharge would only be a matter of a few cupfuls. Since the immediate short term repair of fitting a new drain tube, I have been staggered to observe that the boiler discharges around 5-6 litres per 24 hours. And the boiler has been running for over three years! I have reported all this (complete with photos) to Viessmann's service department, and made clear that I am looking to them to come up with an appropriate response - which to me means complete inspection, overhaul and replacement of all affected parts or (probably easier) replacement of the entire unit. Notwithstanding the fact that the unit was installed just over 3 years ago (the warranty is for 3 yrs) the evidence points clearly to a manufacturing/assembly fault or error, possibly a design flaw, and certainly a problem and a leak which has been present for many months at least (ie it arose well within the warranty period). I now await Viessmann's response. So in a way I am jumping the gun by posting this now in a forum. If Viessmann accepts responsibility and undertakes to replace the unit and make good the damage I shall be the first to applaud them. If however they don't, we could be in for a serious fight over liability and compensation. I, and I hope Viessmann, do not see that as in either of our interests. But on a contingency basis I am having to think about what that might involve. So, for anyone else who has or works on similar Viessmann units - check the condensate drain hose immediately and very carefully! For anyone who is a plumber - any comments on the nature and consequences of this problem? For anyone who has experience of claiming for a fault of this kind - any advice to offer if I have to go down that road?

Hi all Need some info on emergency etc just got home and the house is freezing, we have two children one who is almost 2, and a new born who is less than 5 weeks old. we havent got a emergency contact number for our letting agent, so looks like we will have to go without heating tonight and hot water which to be honest the house is a old terraced house with a cellar and gets bad at night people have said call our gas supplier however they aint going to be able to help as far as i know they dont cover our boiler. so any ideas? if we have to wait till tomorrow should they get someone out same day due to childrens ages? thanks Steve

I have a Scottish Power boiler cover which I pay for by direct debit, in November I reported that I had a problem, it is now the 23rd December and after numerous phone calls, engineers not turning up new part being put in, having intermittent heating and hot water for the last two weeks I have had no heating or hot water, I have phoned and emailed several times to Scottish Power with promises from them that someone would contact me then they were ordering a part, only to find today when I phoned yet again to be told that they are not going to repair my boiler despite my having contract, despite them originally accepting my boiler! I have asked on several occasions to speak to a Customer service manager only to be told they are too busy and my case was not urgent, in fact I was denied this access totally! I have been told that an email is being sent from the engineer to the customer services but still no information to me. I have no idea what to do next, if they had informed me two weeks ago I could have got a local engineer in to have it fixed, as it stands at present, no heating or hot water over the christmas period therefore one year old grandson cant come to stay, any suggestions please on what I can do? Needless to say I will be moving my custom elsewhere for gas and electricity but doubt if that will bother Scottish Power at all.

Hi Hope someone can help.... . I had a new central heating system fitted (including boiler) almost three years ago. It has been serviced three times and has been fine up until about a month ago where I have had to top up the pressure every day. Yesterday I got the message on my thermostat saying boiler over run and then about an hour later there was the most horrendous noise which panicked me to the point I switched the boiler off. My problem is, I have got out my paperwork thinking I will ring them tomorrow but it says 'if you don't register your guarantee within 30 days, unfortunately you will only have a 12 month guarantee' I didn't do this for two reasons (and I do admit to being a bit dim here) The guarantee form was tucked away in the bumf. I assumed the boiler would be fit for purpose for at least 15 years.... I'm now without heating as I dare not switch it on and can't afford to pay someone to come out. Have I any rights at all? or just screwed and have to start saving to fix it myself? Thank you. Would appreciate anybody's wisdom or experience in the same or similar problem

My boyfriend had a new Baxi Solo System Boiler (not a combi boiler) fitted in 2011 at a cost of £1500. He kept his existing hot water tank and radiators as they always worked fine. Within a year the boiler started leaking water boyfriend called the engineer out who installed it and he told us to call Baxi out. We called them and the Heat Exchanger was replaced under warranty. At the time I questioned the Baxi engineer who told me that they only cover parts and labour for the first year then you have to take out their extended warranty. Now I don't personally believe in Extended warranty as I think it is a con especially when a boiler should last many years without needing anything more than a regular service. Now the boiler has started leaking again which has made boyfriend quite annoyed. I don't see why he should have to pay out to have the boiler fixed every couple of years or pay for an extended warranty when the boiler is clearly not fit for purpose. Anyone have any suggestions?

Took them 3 months to inspect/service my boiler to check my eligibility for joining. The annual "service" was a 10-minute check. Called them to fix a radiator leak, I had to stay home from work on 3 separate days before an engineer turned up. I discovered after he left the boiler wasn't keeping pressure, so unusable. I stayed home for another no-show engineer, later to be told they had 3-times the usual callouts so couldn't send anyone until after the weekend. That was just an excuse - they clearly don't have enough engineers to cover. After numerous calls from me - still no call from them 6 days after the boiler broke to arrange an engineer. I eventually cut my losses and called my own engineer who diagnosed the problem over the phone - he had emtied the boiler through the pressure relief valve, which is a bad idea. He ordered a new valve and repaired my boiler. Unfortunately they tell me they won't reimburse me the £114 to fix my boiler from a 3rd party engineer and that also invalidates my contract. I don't think they have an ombudsman for this service either, so may have to cut my losses. I am not renewing their contract!!! Does anyone have any advice?

Hi I recently brought a house from a policeman which has two boilers (it's a big house) anyway one of the boilers has never worked and despite the previous owner trying to ignite I had two separate Gas Registered engineers condemn the boiler stating there is an 'Immediate danger' if used they also both said that due to the rust it would of been condemned several years earlier the immersion heater was left on by the previous owner to supply hot water and a surveyor did there usual by saying ensure all boilers are serviced (it is sooo corroded even I can see it's dangerous) on the property details and txts sent to me the previous owner states the boilers are in good working order but hadn't been serviced for 3 years My solicitor says tough luck and it's not worth his time as his costs could be more than the settlement I think we have a good chance in the small claims court the cost to replace it is £2K minimum ... what do you guys think?? thanks in advance

Hi there I rent a commercial premises and recently my boiler has stopped working so I have no heating and hot water. I reported this to the landlord who sent a handyman to come and look at it - he did and said a registered gas safe plumber would need to come and look at it as he couldn't figure out the problem. He then told me that I would have to contract and pay said plumber as whilst they maintain boilers in the residential properties they have they don't in the commercial. I have checked over my lease and there is nothing in there about me being responsible for the boiler, in fact there is nothing in there regardin me being responsible for any fixtures and fittings except that I must decorate in the last year of my lease unless it has been done in the previous 12 months. I've had a plumber who didn't charge a call out fee come and look at it and he says the fault is actually electrical so I need an electrician but his opinion is that I am not responsible for paying for this as the boiler is not mine - he also said it's the landlords responsibility to ensure the boiler is correctly working for the tennant by getting an annual landlord certificate, which they are supposed to provide to me - they haven't. I've tried googling the subject and all I can seem to find relates to domestic property which says the landlord is responsible. Does anyone have any expererience or insight into the legalities of commercial lettings? Thanks in advance Andie x

Hi guys, I really need some advice at the moment as I'm struggling quite a bit here. Firstly, my boiler broke earlier this month, and I contacted my landlord who sent out a Corgi Registered engineer to check it. The engineer told him that the heating element had blown and there was no way it'd be able to be fixed and needed replacing. I'm currently living with my partner and children, and because we're recieving Child Tax Credit he told me to contact Warm Front who would provide a boiler grant to get us a new boiler because he doesn't want to pay £1500 to get a new one. Warm Front sent out too people who did a survey on the 12th August. They asked for my Child Tax Credit award letter, but at the time we couldn't find it. They took other forms of proof and said if there was a problem, I'd be contacted. I'd still heard nothing on the 20th, so I phoned Warm Front and they said the info I'd given them wasn't good enough and they want to see my original CTC award. I told them I still couldn't find it. I was told "Well you better just keep looking for it then won't you". After I got off the phone to them, I contacted HMRC and they agreed to send me a CTC Review 2013/14 form. In the meantime, I'd found a Provisional Child Tax Credit award from 2012/2013. I contacted them about it asking if it'd be acceptable, and the woman I spoke to said yeah that should be fine, so I drove down to Warm Front and handed it in. After she'd photocopied the form, she said she'd arrange an install date and all would be fine. Today I contacted them for an update and was told again that it's not good enough and they want the original form. I told them I can't find the form, but HMRC are sending me a review letter and i'll provide it as soon as I can. They proceeded to tell me that it wouldn't be good enough and unless I provide the original letter, they won't even acknowledge my claim. I contacted my landlord and he just told me to keep at them and that he didn't want to pay the money to get a new one when I could get it for free. He then told me to contact the engineer that came to look at my broken boiler (who I assume my landlord knows) and see if he could have a word with Warm Front to get it pushed through. Problem is, I've had no hot water for nearly a month now and I have children in the house. I'm getting a bit fed up and don't feel that my landlord should be putting me through all this just so he can save a few quid for his own personal needs. I'm having to take my children round to my mums house to bath/wash them which is more than an inconvenience, and neither my landlord or Warm Front seem to be bothered in the slightest. What exactly can I do here? I'm getting pretty stressed out and depressed over the whole thing. Thanks for reading, and sorry for the long post. Any help would be very much appreciated. Paul

On 12th March 2013 my boiler had broken down and I called the Customer Service helpline on Wednesday 13th March, to log a call for an engineer to come and look at the boiler. An Engineer arrived at my property on Friday 15th March and confirmed to me that he needed to order 3 mechanical parts for the boiler to work again. I also informed him that there was a leak coming from the boiler. The engineer informed me that he had to e-mail my insurance company and seek authorisation to order the parts in which to rectify the problem with the boiler. At this time we had very thick snow and it was sub zero temperatures and I had no heating and hot water. On Monday 18th March I called Scottish Power again to see if they had received the e-mail from the engineer with regard to getting my boiler fixed. The sustomer Services lady that I spoke to informed me that they had received the e-mail but the boiler ID number was missing. On that note I then called the sub-contractors and the lady informed me that she had included the boiler number on the original e-mail sent to Scottish Power and had also called them with the information also. She went onto say that she would call Scottish Power again and provide them with the information again as she was concerned that I had now been without heating and hot water in sub zero temperatures for over a week. She then called me back the same day to confirm that Scottish Power were in receipt of the boiler ID number and a decision would be made in the next 24-hours, which was the Tuesday 19th March and I would be called to be informed when the Engineer would be coming to fix the boiler. By Saturday 23rd March I still hadn’t heard anything, so I called Scottish Power again and they informed me that my claim was still with the claims department as they had been very busy due to the cold weather and that my claim still hadn’t been dealt with. The customer service agent told me he would send another e-mail to ensure that this would be dealt with on Monday 25th March as there was nobody available at weekends to get this finalised. On the same day I e-mailed the complaints department, telling them all of this information and that I wasn’t happy at all with the service I had received to date and still some 2 weeks later I was still without heating and hot water. I also informed them that on Monday 25th March my daughter was having an operation and I needed the heating fixed for when she convalesced. On Monday 25th March I received a telephone call (almost 2 weeks after my initial call), whilst I was at the hospital with my daughter and I was told to go and buy some heaters and I would be reimbursed. The same lady called me on Tuesday 26th March to inform me that she had taken the £90 for the heaters off my April bill and also took my meter readings during the same telephone call. She went onto say that I would also be reimbursed for the extra electricity I was using from the heaters I had purchased. Later the same day the contractor called me to inform me that my parts were now in stock and they would be fitted on Wednesday 27th March, which they did, the control panel, PCB and water diverter valve. On Friday 29th March when I woke up the boiler pilot light was out, which I managed to re-start, then on Saturday 30th March when I woke up it was out again, I managed to re-start the pilot light but the control panel was dead. I went away for the evening and returned home on Sunday 31st March the whole system was dead and I couldn’t re-light the pilot light. I also noticed there was water dripping out of the bottom of the boiler, so I put a towel underneath it to catch the excess water, which was soaked by Sunday evening. I called Scottish Power again on Sunday 31st March to inform them that the boiler had broken down again only after two days of being fixed and the customer services representative informed me that I would be marked down as an urgent case. I received a call later that day to inform me that they couldn’t get a contractor out as it was Bank Holiday but if I could find my own plumber to fix the boiler, I would be reimbursed by Scottish Power. I declined this option as I was under the impression that if a third party touched the boiler then my insurance would be void. It took 4 days to send out another engineer who informed me that the first repair had been done incorrectly and that there was a leak which hadn't been repaired, he said the system now needed a costly repair and he would inform Scottish power of what would be required in order to carry out a proper repair. Five weeks later and after several telephone calls pleading for information and being promised someone was dealing with my case, I was informed by a third party that my repair would not be undertaken and I would have to replace my boiler at my own cost. He said that the cost of parts and labour exceeded my limit for repairs which I have never been informed of before. My boiler is only about 6 years old and had been under a maintenance contract with Scottishpower for most of that time. I was sold the policy over the telephone and never received a written contract but was told by the sales person that all parts and labour were covered by the premium policy, I telephoned their customer services again and was told my case was being reviewed by the complaints department, this was over two weeks ago and I have heard nothing from them since. I have now been without central heating and hot water for nine weeks and am desperate to get my boiler fixed, Scottishpower have been completely unhelpful and seem to have washed their hands of me, I have no idea where to turn now

Hi Took out Scottish Power Platinum cover September 2012. First cover taken. Was going to go with British Gas but as Scottish Power tailored my new energy plan to incorporate this cover for just an additional £6 per month on my monthly direct debit I was not going to query. They explained about the radiator cover as well and told me they would arrange for an engineer to come and do the service check. Due to the bad weather it was not until January that they eventually got out to look at the boiler. Just before that the display panel on the boiler (ideal boiler) was not showing anything even though the boiler was working fine. I rang up and even though someone had not been to service the boiler they did send someone out to fix it. Good service as sorted within 2 days and the panel was working fine. Inspection a couple of weeks after that About 3 weeks ago the display went again. Finally arranged for someone to come out and look and it seems that there is a leak in the boiler that is leaking on to the display panel that is why it was going off. The sub contractor said he would price up and inform Home 3 Assistance who rang me a couple of days abot and said would need a new heat exchanger for around £750 and plus other parts so totally £1,409 and as my cover is only for up to £1,000 they cannot do. I was horrified as I did not know there was a limit on the cover. I was never informed of this when I took out the policy as previously spoken with British Gas and they were offering unlimited cover when they explained to me so most likely assumed that this cover was unlimited as well as I was never told. The home assistance guy said that there was nothing he could do but if I rang British Gas customer services and inform them that I was mis-sold the policy as they were the only ones who could overturn this decision. Rang them today on the number he gave me who then told me I needed to ring another number from which the lady then new I was getting the run around so actually put me throught to a lady called Jan in the customer complaints. She took the details and rang me back about half hour later to inform me the the terms and conditions highlighted the maximum amount that they would pay. I told her that I was unaware of this but she just kept going on about the terms and conditions. I understand this but I told her I would never have purchased the policy if I had know that as pointless. Come on when things go wrong with a boiler it is more often going to cost over £1,000 as labour is just as much as the flipping parts!!!! She is escalating and getting some other person to ring me back on Monday although she was adamant that they would tell me exactly the same as what she has I just wondered if I had a 'leg to stand on'. I am furious as wasted the last 6 months on a policy that is useless. If I had gone with British Gas I would have been covered. If I go with them now my boiler is not going to get fixed. It has now this evening started making a noise like a crying sound and the pressure gauge is starting to vibrate back and forth. This only happens when powering up. Please help Many thanks Lisa

Hello All, I need some advice and I thought I would share my experience so others do no have to go through what I have had to deal with. My current Gas/Electric is with Scottish Power and I am on the Platinum package which gives boiler care / cover with Scottish Power for "free". I had always been with British Gas boiler care, so I decided to cancel as I was getting a service with Scottish Power - big mistake! I had a boiler breakdown so I telephoned Scottish Power. Scottish Power advised they would call me back for an appointment on the same day - no phone call. I telephoned Scottish Power for a update several times but was told I would get a phone call back. The evening of the following day, I get a phone call to book a appointment - earliest 2 day's later. The engineer arrived from The Active Group (www,active-ukgroup.com) - when you visit the website it comes up as Active Agent. The engineer gave a time to visit of 13:00-15:00 and arrived at 18:30. He was present for 15 minutes and said everything was ok. The next morning my family awoke to freezing cold again and no hot water - the boiler was not working. I telephoned Scottish Power and had the same fiasco again with the appointment. I telephoned Scottish Power several times throughout the day and was promised the engineer would arrive in the afternoon. I waited till late afternoon and gave a phone call to Scottish Power as the engineer had not attended - I was told the engineer went to the wrong address! Now the appointment was set to the following morning - no time given. The following day, I made several phone calls to Scottish Power in the morning to chase up the engineer visit. Several times Scottish Power had advised that they were unable to get through on the phone to The Active Group / Active Agent. The engineer eventually attended near lunch time. The engineer advised that there was dust in the boiler (which he cleaned) and advised there was an issue with the flame injector - but carried out no work on it. The boiler was up and running. 30 minutes later the boiler broke down again, with the Flame Injector sign being displayed on the screen of the boiler. I telephoned Scottish Power again and was advised that the engineer would visit again the following day. The engineer came the following day (as I was now "priority"), and advised I needed a Gas Valve (to do with the flame injector). The engineer advised they carry no parts - great! I asked when the part would arrive - the engineer was unsure. I got a phone call the next day again from The Active Group / Active Agent that the part would arrive the next day. The following day, the engineer came again and now fixed the boiler. The Active Group / Active Agent also do not provide a copy of the work carried out. I made sure that I was given a copy of it, by photocopying it. The engineer also broke a filling loop (this is on their work sheet, which I got photocopied). I have been asking Scottish Power to get their amateur sub contractor out to come and fix it - still waiting its been 10 days - chased up again. I have also submitted a complaint to Scottish Power approx 2 weeks ago - I am still waiting for a response. The advice I need is: 1) are Scottish Power / the Active Group / Agent liable to fix the part they broke - especially when I have written proof that they broke it? 2) If I do no hear back from my complaint, can I submit it to the energy Ombudsman, after the relevant timescales have passed? In total, I was without heating/hot water for 10 days. I had small infants in the house and it was freezing cold. The sub contractor (Active Group / Agent) seem to amateur at their own profession. I have never had this kind of service from British Gas before. I would advise to stay clear of Scottish Power Boiler care and their amateur sub contractor. As a consequence I may now also move my gas/electric and I have now signed up with British Gas again.

Have a contract with them to look after boiler/central heating. Annual service feb 25th. Engineer said new heat exchanger needed. Part should be here within one week, but declined that the boiler be drained until fix. 10 days no response. Unable to get through on phone line so emailed them. Phone call next day engineer here Thurs 14th march. Guess? No show, no calls, nothing. Emailed again and reply by phone today 15th march. Will be here Monday 18th march. Asked about compensation, nothing to do with carillion! despite carillion van and engineer last time. I note that they charge you 30 Pounds if you miss an appointment. What level of compensation should I be entitled too? I'd say their charge of missed appt of 30 Pounds and what value of whole day of 8 hours? Or a month or two direct debits refunded? Any one else find Carillion dire? Thanks all

I got a new bolier installed 18 months ago which i have had on running problems with and multiple repairs I want a replacement boiler as this is not acceptible as it is not fit for the purpose, who is responsible for replacing the boiler is it the company that i used to fit it or the manufactorer of the boiler.

Hi everyone, this is my first time on this forum so I hope I'm doing this right... I have some concerns over a recent energy bill that I've received and would greatly appreciate some advice, I have looked through some other threads that are similar but don't seem to find anything relating to my problem. Anyway, here it is... Since about September/October last year I have been having some major issues with my boiler. The pressure was either on zero everyday or over 3.1 which was too high, it had a leak that was going outside and it also wasn't heating the radiators at the front of the house enough and they were barely luke warm when the heating was on. The problem seemed worse as the colder months approached. My landlord has been very accommodating and arranged for a plumber to come out on a number of occasions since October 2012 but it's taken until now to resolve. My problem now is that I've just received an energy bill (dual fuel) of £600 from Nov 2012 to March 1st based on an accurate meter reading. This is on top of £136 I pay direct debit each month. Now, I know energy has gone up in price but I was honestly shocked to see this bill so high. Out of the £600, £530 of it was on gas alone, for just over 4 months (like I said, on top of my monthly payments.) So here are my questions, does that bill sound high to anyone and could the issues with the boiler cause me to have a bill like that? Here is a rough breakdown of some info that may be helpful ... I live in a 4 bedroom mid terrace house, double glazed throughout, loft insulation and carpeted in the majority of the house. I have roughly had my heating on for about 5 hours a day (maybe a bit more during winter as I have a two year old) my gas oven is used of an evening to cook tea and we have two showers in the morning and some hot water throughout for dishes etc. My husband is out all day and I too work part time so not in the house 24/7. Over Christmas we were away for two weeks and also away for a week in Feb so I turned the heating down and know the gas wasn't being used nearly as much. I've had a gas check in Nov and everything was apparently ok but I was still having problems with the boiler beforehand and afterwards. I know nothing about gas meters and if I want it checked I'll have to pay £90 if it's not found to be faulty which I can't afford. Could my landlord be liable for this cost does anyone know? When I checked my bill from April/May to July/ August, even that was £435 (on top of my monthly payments) and I didn't really have the heating on but from what I recall, there were some niggling problems with the boiler even then and have records of me calling my landlord on my phone bill so I know I've been having continuous dealings with him over this issue. I really don't want to have to fork out £530 but I have a felling that the plumber will say the boiler has nothing to do with the high gas consumption. Whan I contacted Npower about this and explained, he even thought that my consumption was quite based on what I said, which did surprise me. I'm stuck as to what to do really. Any advice please? I'm sorry this is so long but thank you in advance Danielle

Hi all, and thanks in advance for any advice. I rent a good standard bungalow, good in sense of area, size and land. (doesn't come cheap either) We have been here 13 months. Now in December we had a leak in the kitchen ceiling which was immediately reported to the letting agent. As it was just days before Christmas I was told it would be dealt with after the Christmas period, but told to poke a small hole through ceiling to relieve any pressure, which I did. The water has come from the chimney stack, it's soaking wet in the attic. There is also damp coming into the 3 bedrooms, living room and bathroom, with pieces of rendering falling off and cracking all over. We cleaned this up but the damp reappears within days. The agent has said the rendering will have to wait until spring time to be done. 2 weeks after Christmas someone came to investigate and give a price. We then heard nothing. 4 weeks ago part of the ceiling came down, they sent someone round to patch it up temporarily. (Looks awful) I called the letting agent this week to ask what was happening and was told that the owner is going through his insurance and needed a second quote, but was given no timescale as to when this would be. I called a friend of mine who is a builder to give me a quote, just to see if this would help things along. The price for all work is £750 - Hardly worth going through the insurance in my opinion. Also forgot to mention, where the damp is coming from the chimney stack it has soaked the hall wall and carpet, so stepping through a wet carpet every day is getting rather annoying. Also the boiler has packed in 6 times in 3 weeks. They have sent someone round to fix it, but it seems to be the same problem each time. Now, after this waffling on, I get to my question. Do you think it is reasonable for me to ask for a rent reduction due to these issues? Thanks again P

Hello, my husband and I purchased a new boiler about 15 months ago from Biasi. It's is an ActivA Combi Boiler with a 5 year warranty. We called for boiler service for the first time in December as it was making a horrific banging noise - they arrived to service it about 3 days after the call, took it out of commission as they said carbon monoxide levels were too high, and then took another 5 days or so to repair and turn it back on. If you'll recall mid-December was very cold - high temperatures around zero degrees. We were extremely frustrated with and disappointed in the service, the responsiveness of the customer service team, and the performance/knowledge of the repairman. Each interaction was hostile, unfriendly, and exceedingly bureaucratic. I was about 33 weeks pregnant at that time, and despite alerting Biasi of this fact, they made absolutely no effort to prioritise our case. Eventually the boiler was repaired/reactivated - but after they left it started to make a (new) strange noise. We called for service again last week. Again it took about 3 days to send someone out - the repairman arrived Saturday morning. He dismantled the entire unit, said the CO levels were too high and that the heat extractor needed replacing, turned it off and left. At this point it is -2 degrees outside and snowing, and I am now 39 weeks pregnant, due to pop any day. Again, we received hostile and unresponsiveness service, lack of commitment, lack of care. After 3 phone calls this morning they sent another serviceman out today, who tried to fix it by replacing another (cheaper) part - completely disregarding the assessment of the first technician. This failed. We are now at the end of day 3 without heat or hot water, in the dead of winter, about to give birth. We have no commitment to when this will be fixed, the necessary part has still not been ordered, and we have no follow up appointment scheduled. We have to begin the process again tomorrow morning. I want to share this story as a warning - DO NOT BUY A BIASI BOILER AS THEIR SERVICE AND SUPPORT ARE NEGLIGENT AND AWFUL. Their service technicians seem to be focused on disabling the units and they do so while offering you no recourse, nor assurances, nor guarantees of when heat and hot water will be reinstated. Second, I want to know if there is any legal recourse available at all. I have not found written documentation of Biasi's 5-year boiler warranty terms and conditions - if you know where I could find these I would appreciate the help. Also I have the following questions: does a company providing a warranty have any legal obligation to provide those services within a specific timeframe? Does the fact that I am 9 months pregnant give them additional responsibility? Because the product is under warranty, we cannot go to another service provider to repair the product, or we will render the warranty null. Our hands are completely tied yet we enter day 4 without heat or hot water in the midst of below zero temperatures. Any help or guidance on this issue would be appreciated. thank you.

Hello Everyone, I would like to explain a situation I am in and will be very much thankful if someone can help me by advising the options I have. It’s about a boiler repair which was carried out by two of Domestic & General’s authorised repairers, I will call them repairer-1 and repairer-2 to keep their identity hidden and DomGen to Domestic & General. Before starting, in nutshell, since 28th Sep 2012 till now 18th of Jan 2013 (17 Weeks) I had nearly 6 visits but boiler couldn’t be repaired and rather damaged by repairer-2. DomGen and repairer-1&2 are teamed up together not to admit their fault and at the end using sludge in the system card. Here are the details; On 28th Sep 2012 and 1st of Nov 2012 Repairer -1 visited, tried to repair but failed and reported that low system pressure is the cause of the boiler not working. That’s not true, I am having excessive water pressure which has caused pipes to burst couple of time and damaged the shop ceiling and stock downstairs. Their solicitor’s letters claiming compensation for the damage are proof of that. I then Called DomGen again to send any other repairer as the repairer-1 has failed. They sent Repairer-2 as they have only 2 authorised repairers covering my area. Repairer -2 visited on 13th Nov 2012 but no luck and went away saying they need to order few parts. They never called back so I had to call them and book them in again for 28th Nov 2012. The Repairer-2 came and did what started a new problem. The Repairer-2 couldn’t figure out how to open the front fascia and casing. Infect it was one of the old Ideal Europa boiler whose front fascia and casing needs some patients to open which repairer-2 never had. Repairer-2 used excessive force and finally ripped the front fascia (Control Panel) off which was having control knobs on it and connected back to PCB. The Casing was still intact. Repairer -2 left the scene with bits hanging down the boiler knowingly that there are kids at the home. Repairer-2 said before leaving that he needs to order new front Fascia as this one is damaged. On 4th of December 2012 I called up Repairer-2 to find out whats happening and they said it will take 9-10 days to get the part in. I couldn’t do anything except calling DomGen and told them there are kids at home and boiler is not working for long time. In those days temperature was below freezing. On 6th of December Repairer-2 called me and said they can’t find the front fascia as it’s obsolete and we have to write the boiler off. Later on that day, DomGen Called and confirmed that they have to write it off and will let me know the settlement figure soon. Next day DomGen called and offered £341.99 as settlement figure. I refused to accept it saying that boiler is being written off due to Repairer-2’s mistake and I should have a boiler replacement by Repairer-2. Instead of £341.99. £341.99 will not do anything for me. New boiler will cost me at least £1500 and why should I pay for repairer-2’s negligence. DomGen said they will speak to Repairer-2 and will come back to me. After few days, I called myself to DomGen as they didn’t call and inquired. They said they have instructed the Repairer-2 to speak to you and resolve the issue. I told them they havn’t called. DomGen said we will call them again today and they will call you to discuss it or resolve it but at our end we can only offer you £341.99. Repairer-2 never called me to resolve the dispute so I had to take the initiative and called them on 18th Dec 2012 after giving them enough time. They admitted the damage to front fascia but refused to compensate or replace the boiler and referred me to DomGen for £341.99. On 20th December 2012, I sent recorded delivery letters to Repairer-1, Repairer-1’s Director and DomGen demanding full boiler replacement and costs of temporary accommodation for my tenants ( I’ll explain later about temp accommodation) within seven days of this letter which should be 27th Dec 2012. No-one contacted me after 7 days. After 21 days of these letters, I drafted a letter and Sent to Trading Standards of DomGen Council, Repairer-2’s Council, Subjected Property’s Council and FSA. These letters were drafted on 10th Jan 2013 and sent out on 13th Jan 2012 with Boiler’s pictures showing the damage caused by repairer-2. I haven’t received any reply back from any of these yet. On 14th of Jan 2013, DomGen called me (after 24 days of my recorded letter) saying that they have spoken to Repairer-2 about your demand and repairer-2 is saying that boiler is not being written off because of front control panel damage but actually being written off due to corroded casing of the boiler. I told DomGen that you are coming up with another excuse and trying to cover Repairer-2. I completely disagree with their statement and want a third party to come and inspect the boiler’s casing as it’s not corroded. I also told DomGen that I have sent letters to Trading Standards & FSA and I am taking it further up. On this she asked if I had any response from any of them and I replied it’s just been sent out yesterday. She put me on hold for 3-4 minutes and came back saying that we can send a third company to see the casing and that company is Repairer-1. I said I don’t trust Repairer-1 would be neutral enough as both of these are on your panel and they might cover each other so I will doubt the transparency of Repairer-1’s report. Even phone numbers of both Repairer-1 and Repairer-2 ends on 8888 which clearly shows a link although both operate from different locations. DomGen said that I am not co-operating if I refuse Repairer-1 to come and inspect. I had no other choice than accepting it. I was clear that there is no way some one can say that casing is corroded. Next day repairer-1 came and started turning on the boiler, I told him that you are here to look at the casing as we are in a dispute of casing being corroded. He didn’t give much attention to my point and started opening the bits of boiler. He opened the pump of the boiler, some water spilled on the bottom of the boiler from pump. He started to stream that spilled water into a bottle saying that it looks like there is sludge in the water. I told him you are dropping this water on the bottom of the boiler where lot of dirt, debry and sludge sitting for long time. Now you are mixing it all with system water and pouring it into bottle. No wonder it will look like dirty and sludged water. He carried on. Once finished, I asked him do you think the casing is corroded ? after couple of left and rights he admitted that casing is not corroded. He left but forgot his sludged water to take with him for lab test. I also told him that I have changed whole of the pipe work in the property recently just to deal with high mains pressure and there should be no sludge in any ways. If you find some dirty water in the pump it could only because of the pump not used for many months. Next day on 17th Jan 2013, DomGen calls me and says that you have sludge in your system and we don’t cover sludge damage so we cannot compensate you any more than our first offer of £341.99. I reminded her you sent someone to find out about if the casing is corroded or not and which is not and now you are taking a U-Turn and playing the sludge card. How about previous writing off due to front control panel damage ? She refused to talk about anything else but the sludge. After all, she ended the conversation saying that she can only offer £341.99 which was offered on the very first day. This is end of Boiler’s story. Now, as I mentioned at one point about my Tenant’s temporary accommodation. On 22nd of October 2012, 5 weeks after the boiler breakdown, the social services of my local council on tenants request served me an enforcement notice on defective boiler and ordered to get it working in 10 days. While all the peoblems were going on with DomGen, I was dealing with my Council’s environmental authorities too regarding the cold and no hot water in the house. I tried to kept them updated and calm for a while but when it started to get out of hands I had to relocate my tenants to a temporary accommodation. If I don’t do it council would have done it. I moved them on 5th of December 2012 after Repairer-2 broke the front panel and dispute started between me and DomGen. Since 5th of December 2012, the tenants are in a temporary accommodation which is costing me £640 per week (£91.42 per day). When I sent letters to DomGen, Repairer-2, FSA and trading Standard, I mentioned about this cost to be paid as I had to relocate my tenants just because of Repairer-2’s negligence and bad workmanship. Quite detailed !!! isn’t it ??? Don’t want to miss anything and really thanks to those who came to this point reading all the way down. What shall I do now ?? Shall I speak to a solicitor ?? this will involve extra costs on board. Or shall I wait for trading Standards and FSA to come back. Shall I file small claim in county court ? At onne point DomGen said that this case doesn’t come under FSA as DomGen is only providing service and passing the job to Repairer-2 so trading standard should look into it for Repairer-2 or small claim on Repairer-2 but not FSA ? Is this correct what DomGen Said ? Thanks again for reading through and any replying with your valuable suggestions. I am taking a stand on truth and will not bow down till the justice is served against these big Sharks.

hi. My boiler does`t work, my landlady is abroad, was trying to call her but no ones pick-up the phone. She used to have homecare for it with British Gas but it was canceled, so there is no cover I know about. Can I arrange British Gas to came and fix it and then pass the bill to her, I mean I would like to pay her less in rent and give her receipt for work done. Where do I stand, can I do it? Because is winter and I live with two kids under 3-years I must have heating and hot water ASAP. I don`t want to start war with her just about silly think like this. Thanks

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.

I'm privately renting a flat and last week my boiler broke leaving me with no hot water and no heating. I let the landlord know on Thursday 1/11/12 and he booked a plumber who came on Monday 5/11/12. The plumber filled out a gas safety certificate and said that the boiler needs a new pressure switch. The landlord says he has ordered the pressure switch and will have it fitted towards the end of next week. Would it be unreasonable to ask to have it done sooner as by then I will have been without either heating or hot water for 2 weeks. I've had to wash by boiling the kettle and filling up the sink but it's getting cold and I have long hair that's very difficult to wash in the sink.