C
calgontablet
Hopefully someone out there can best advise me what to do here: Bit of a nightmare.
1. Put in an offer on a house 2.5 months ago. Accepted. During the sales negotiations, I asked the seller to have a gas safety check carried out on the boiler. He was reluctant to do this, communicating to the solicitors that it wasn’t a legal requirement. I replied with a “do it.”
2. Some weeks later, my solicitors send me a copy of the bill for the ‘work’ the seller has had done - £70. A single-page document states the name of a plumber with a gas safety number and the comment ‘Boiler serviced, all ok.’ Literally nothing else on the statement - not even a VAT ref. Emailed solicitors saying I wasn’t satisfied that the document was genuine – it didn’t even log the model no of the boiler. They said other than checking out the plumber’s credentials, there isn’t much more we can do if he is gas safe registered and I’ll have to accept the statement. This is frustrating – I later learn that the plumber is a ‘friend’ of the owner, and have every reason to suspect the service was a sham.
3. Move into house. Boiler in a terrible way from day one. House is a new build. Boiler was installed when house was built in 2007. Boiler not holding pressure. Very bad state. Call out Homeserve who I have insurance with. Takes three engineer visits and the replacement of three new parts including a brand new cylinder. All-day job. Cost to me - £100 excess. One engineer notes a number of safety issues that concern him about the flue, including incorrect brackets fitted on it and he and states that he believes the boiler was not correctly serviced and that I should contact the Gas Safety people.
4. In the meantime, some neighbours inform me that the manufacturers of this particular boiler had written to all residents sometime ago stating that a part in the boiler (which was installed across the entire development) needed to be replaced due to a safety reason. I contacted the manufacturer who confirmed this was the case and that the previous owner, despite being written to, had never had the boiler worked on. An engineer came out some days later to do the job. He did the work and also identified safety issues with the boiler which he logged, leaving a ‘do not use’ notice on the contraption.
5. I contacted Gas Safety and reported everything that had happened. Today, they visited along with the original plumber. Here for some hours. They agreed there were three or four safety issues and they actually put a cap on the boiler so we now have no hot water at all. The gas safety person has said he’ll write up a report of his findings and email it.
6. We contact gas safety by phone as don’t know what to do. They state that the boiler looks as if it was improperly installed in 2007 but a law is in place meaning the builders can’t be held responsible after six years. I phone the original plumber who is basically denying responsibility, although I'm not sure how Gas Safety intend to deal with him now - it's obvious he never serviced the boiler.
7. What do people think? I could contact my solicitor but... this clown has offered to come out and "do the work" but wants us to pay for the parts. I a) don't want him back in my house for obvious reasons b) and don't see why I should pay anything else
Please help. Ideas please. Right now we have no hot water at all.
1. Put in an offer on a house 2.5 months ago. Accepted. During the sales negotiations, I asked the seller to have a gas safety check carried out on the boiler. He was reluctant to do this, communicating to the solicitors that it wasn’t a legal requirement. I replied with a “do it.”
2. Some weeks later, my solicitors send me a copy of the bill for the ‘work’ the seller has had done - £70. A single-page document states the name of a plumber with a gas safety number and the comment ‘Boiler serviced, all ok.’ Literally nothing else on the statement - not even a VAT ref. Emailed solicitors saying I wasn’t satisfied that the document was genuine – it didn’t even log the model no of the boiler. They said other than checking out the plumber’s credentials, there isn’t much more we can do if he is gas safe registered and I’ll have to accept the statement. This is frustrating – I later learn that the plumber is a ‘friend’ of the owner, and have every reason to suspect the service was a sham.
3. Move into house. Boiler in a terrible way from day one. House is a new build. Boiler was installed when house was built in 2007. Boiler not holding pressure. Very bad state. Call out Homeserve who I have insurance with. Takes three engineer visits and the replacement of three new parts including a brand new cylinder. All-day job. Cost to me - £100 excess. One engineer notes a number of safety issues that concern him about the flue, including incorrect brackets fitted on it and he and states that he believes the boiler was not correctly serviced and that I should contact the Gas Safety people.
4. In the meantime, some neighbours inform me that the manufacturers of this particular boiler had written to all residents sometime ago stating that a part in the boiler (which was installed across the entire development) needed to be replaced due to a safety reason. I contacted the manufacturer who confirmed this was the case and that the previous owner, despite being written to, had never had the boiler worked on. An engineer came out some days later to do the job. He did the work and also identified safety issues with the boiler which he logged, leaving a ‘do not use’ notice on the contraption.
5. I contacted Gas Safety and reported everything that had happened. Today, they visited along with the original plumber. Here for some hours. They agreed there were three or four safety issues and they actually put a cap on the boiler so we now have no hot water at all. The gas safety person has said he’ll write up a report of his findings and email it.
6. We contact gas safety by phone as don’t know what to do. They state that the boiler looks as if it was improperly installed in 2007 but a law is in place meaning the builders can’t be held responsible after six years. I phone the original plumber who is basically denying responsibility, although I'm not sure how Gas Safety intend to deal with him now - it's obvious he never serviced the boiler.
7. What do people think? I could contact my solicitor but... this clown has offered to come out and "do the work" but wants us to pay for the parts. I a) don't want him back in my house for obvious reasons b) and don't see why I should pay anything else
Please help. Ideas please. Right now we have no hot water at all.
