Advice on gas boiler

Pinkbikerbabe

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I am stuck in a bit of a horrible situation last Wednesday my gas boiler broke down. So I wrung up the emergency number for my local housing association ( bromfords ) and explained as best as I could what the boiler had sounded like prior to it having a hissy fit. So I was told someone from hewers which is the company that have the contract for the year would be out within twenty fours hours. Thursday afternoon a chap arrived to look at my boiler and he could not get it working. So he informed me that I needed a new ignition control board and a clamp that goes on the bottom part of the flu. And told me the boiler was not safe to use as it was leaking fumes as a result off the broken clamp which he reckons had been broken for some time. So I had to spend Wednesday and Thursday with out heating and hot water, the chap told me he would be out to me as soon as he could on Friday. Friday arrives and the same chap turns to fit the control board and new clamp and still the boilers not working correctly. Then informs me that the fan has packed in and he will have to come back out on Saturday to fit a new fan. So Saturday arrives and he comes along and fits the new fan and the boiler still won't behave, so he informs me off another clamp that's gone this time on top off the flue that's not visible to the eye as there's a plastic covering that hides it. So by this time I am mighty cheesed off as I have been stuck in a freezing cold flat thats making me unwell. The chap takes my contact details and promises to contact me on Monday morning to let me know about when he can get hold of the other clamp and a time to come out and fit it. Well I stayed in all day and not a phone call or text or anything so I tried to get hold of bromfords myself to get them to chase things up and haven't had any joy. I also have to be truthful and say the engineer has not filled me with a lot of confidence as he is making calls in front off me ordering parts for the boiler and clearly struggles to remember the correct names off them. So I have been with out heating and hot water from Wednesday up till now. Is there anything I can do as ideally I need a new boiler but my housing association will not let me have one. So I was wondering if anyone on here had any ideas or advice, to help me get this situation sorted out as I can't go on like this. I spend my time worrying about what the chap will find wrong with the boiler on his next visit if he turns up that is. I haven't had or been treated this badly by a housing association or a third party company before in my life. I am at the end off my tether and don't know what to do next, I am trapped in my flat due the flooding and rain and high winds mean it's not safe for me to get on my bike and go stay somewhere else. Not that I have the option of anywhere I can go and stay. I will say thank you in advance now for anyone that takes the time to read this and comment.
 
I feel for you Mandy, however my first thought would be check your tenancy agreement re domestic services, phone your landlord and explain that if you are not contacted today to be informed what is happening then you will take matters further. What storey flat are you in?
 
Not much you can do other than complain to the housing company.

Without sounding rude, you say its not safe outside for you to go anywhere. Are you disabled? Presumably the housing company knows this? Tell them you will be invoicing them for taxi/transport to and from a friends or relatives until it's fixed.
 
i feel sorry for you but if it was me i would explain to landlord that you have had enough and want british gas called in to fix it
 
I know how you feel and my heart goes out to you Mandy, my old boiler played up every year and often needed spare parts to get it going along with multiple engineer visits

Not ideal, but British Gas do a one off repair deal and knowing how miserable it is without heat and hot water might be worth considering. Yes it will cost you, but at least you will get warm and maybe even try to claim it back from the housing association

I bit the bullet and bought a new boiler last month, sounds like you need to push the HA for a replacement

Details here for the one off service http://www.britishgas.co.uk/product...d-central-heating/one-off-boiler-repairs.html
 
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Local council- contact the housing Standards dept and make a complaint about the association which house you

Les
 
No heating and no hot water makes a property inhabitable under some agreements...check yours.
The least they could have done is given you some fan heaters!
What make is the boiler? (Just I case anyone thinks it's a internet diy'er asking I've been a gas engineers over 30 years)
The part about the flue clamp is correct, it would put the boiler at risk and the ignition board would be needed to be fitted and working before the fan could be tested.
In some cases something will blow and take other parts out so it's a bit of a "fit next part and see if things are ok after that"...this is pretty rare unless it's a Worcester, which can blow a few things are are one of the hardest to diagnose, especially if it's the later condensing with a modulating fan working on different rates of voltage.
 
u8myufo said:
I feel for you Mandy, however my first thought would be check your tenancy agreement re domestic services, phone your landlord and explain that if you are not contacted today to be informed what is happening then you will take matters further. What storey flat are you in?
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I am in a flat above garages nothing else above me.
 
neil_g said:
Not much you can do other than complain to the housing company.

Without sounding rude, you say its not safe outside for you to go anywhere. Are you disabled? Presumably the housing company knows this? Tell them you will be invoicing them for taxi/transport to and from a friends or relatives until it's fixed.
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No I am not disabled but I am on benefits so can't afford to go into a hotel/bb I have no friends near me I can stay with. And as mentioned in my op I said it's not safe for me to be out on my motorbike to get any where due to high winds and flooding if I had anywhere to go that is.
 
Martyn D said:
No heating and no hot water makes a property inhabitable under some agreements...check yours.
The least they could have done is given you some fan heaters!
What make is the boiler? (Just I case anyone thinks it's a internet diy'er asking I've been a gas engineers over 30 years)
The part about the flue clamp is correct, it would put the boiler at risk and the ignition board would be needed to be fitted and working before the fan could be tested.
In some cases something will blow and take other parts out so it's a bit of a "fit next part and see if things are ok after that"...this is pretty rare unless it's a Worcester, which can blow a few things are are one of the hardest to diagnose, especially if it's the later condensing with a modulating fan working on different rates of voltage.
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The boiler I have is an alpha 280e which is no longer produced it's a very old combi boiler and probably the original boiler installed in the flat forty odd years ago.
 
tijuana taxi said:
I know how you feel and my heart goes out to you Mandy, my old boiler played up every year and often needed spare parts to get it going along with multiple engineer visits

Not ideal, but British Gas do a one off repair deal and knowing how miserable it is without heat and hot water might be worth considering. Yes it will cost you, but at least you will get warm and maybe even try to claim it back from the housing association

I bit the bullet and bought a new boiler last month, sounds like you need to push the HA for a replacement

Details here for the one off service http://www.britishgas.co.uk/product...d-central-heating/one-off-boiler-repairs.html
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I will be contacting Scottish power who supply my gas amongst other people, as mentioned in another post, I don't work at the moment so I can't afford to get a new boiler or a proper engineer in to give mine a proper look at.
 
That explains it. Alpha boilers are rubbish. I know. I had one. Mine died first at 18 months old. I binned it when it was 4 after it broke down for the third time.

There's a shedload of info on that boiler here: http://www.mrboilerrepairs.co.uk/trouble-shooting-Alpha-240E-280E It certainly won't be more than 20 years old. More like 10 as they weren't any good so one actually staying almost working this long is a miracle.

There are a few free boiler schemes around and even tenants can take advantage of them.
 
srichards said:
That explains it. Alpha boilers are rubbish. I know. I had one. Mine died first at 18 months old. I binned it when it was 4 after it broke down for the third time.

There's a shedload of info on that boiler here: http://www.mrboilerrepairs.co.uk/trouble-shooting-Alpha-240E-280E It certainly won't be more than 20 years old. More like 10 as they weren't any good so one actually staying almost working this long is a miracle.

There are a few free boiler schemes around and even tenants can take advantage of them.
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Yes they are crap in my last flat I had a tiny little baxi boiler and not once did it put a foot wrong. And it was properly serviced not just a quick 5 min job, I have yet again been on the phone trying to make complaints and get answers. And been told by a chap from hewers that I must wait for a phone call.
 
Not sure I follow all of this.......but......a landlord has a legal obligation to provide heat and shelter. If they are unwilling to do anything within a "reasonable" time (and that's a bit vague but in this weather it's not very long) then I believe you can inform them that you intend to remedy the situation yourself and then charge them back.

Seriously, I'd talk to the CAB. (http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/) there are some pretty heavy laws to do with gas boilers and tenants.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Good. But do be careful. Unless you have given proper notice to the landlord they may not be obliged to pay for it.
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At the moment i am more worried about the safe and getting my health. part one is sorted british gas will be out within 2 hours to check and make sure theres no carbon monoxide leaking from anywhere. now i got to wait for a phone call for for an engineer to visit to carry out a proper inspection of the boiler.
 
I missed the bit about the fumes. Yeah that's priority.

But I'm somewhat alarmed that a gas engineer walked away from it in that state. Normal practice would be to shut it down and put a big warning sticker on it.
 
British Gas will probably condemn the boiler immediately....they also charge about double the going rate for any installation too. They are fundamentally sales people and not engineers.

When was the last gas safety check carried out? As a tenant you must be given a copy of it within a month of moving in and it needs to be done annually. If the housing association has failed in this duty then you have a massive amount of leverage against them...
 
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srichards said:
British Gas will probably condemn the boiler immediately....they also charge about double the going rate for any installation too. They are fundamentally sales people and not engineers.

When was the last gas safety check carried out? As a tenant you must be given a copy of it within a month of moving in and it needs to be done annually. If the housing association has failed in this duty then you have a massive amount of leverage against them...
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my boiler is serviced by either a 2 bit jumped up company by the name of hewer or j tomlinson depending on which one puts in the lowest tender at the start of the year that appeals to bromford housing association. and i wouldn't call it a service it's more a case of take the cover off that all looks fine fill out the paper work and out the door they go. The clamps on my flue have most likely been broken for a month or so which is why i have been getting headaches that only clear when i have left the flat or not had the boiler on.
 
JonathanRyan said:
I missed the bit about the fumes. Yeah that's priority.

But I'm somewhat alarmed that a gas engineer walked away from it in that state. Normal practice would be to shut it down and put a big warning sticker on it.
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what i want to know is when i first reported the broken boiler to my landlords and gave them as much exact information as i could. when the engineer arrived on the thursday why on gods name on earth did he not see all the bits that were wrong with it when he first looked at it. why string it out over a few days and leave me in this state, with me being on benefits due to ill health at the moment i cant afford to go and by or run little electric heaters.
 
Pinkbikerbabe said:
.... british gas will be out within 2 hours to check and make sure theres no carbon monoxide leaking from anywhere. ......
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Make sure you tell them what the other engineer did to the clamps on the flue.

Here's a similar situation - link
 
Pinkbikerbabe said:
my boiler is serviced by either a 2 bit jumped up company by the name of hewer or j tomlinson depending on which one puts in the lowest tender at the start of the year that appeals to bromford housing association. and i wouldn't call it a service it's more a case of take the cover off that all looks fine fill out the paper work and out the door they go. The clamps on my flue have most likely been broken for a month or so which is why i have been getting headaches that only clear when i have left the flat or not had the boiler on.
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That's a serious health and safety issue right there. I'd drop them right up to their neck in it.

A gas safety check of a boiler takes a reasonable amount of time. They have to start it up, test the gas pressure, test the pressure at the meter and do a few other things. If they are literally taking the cover off and nothing else those cowboys want prosecuting.
 
Ozei said:
Make sure you tell them what the other engineer did to the clamps on the flue.

Here's a similar situation - link
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The people i have spoken to so far today have all been given a chapter and verse account of the engineers visits and his, ways of coming to the conclusions and the state the boiler is in at the moment.
 
srichards said:
That's a serious health and safety issue right there. I'd drop them right up to their neck in it.

A gas safety check of a boiler takes a reasonable amount of time. They have to start it up, test the gas pressure, test the pressure at the meter and do a few other things. If they are literally taking the cover off and nothing else those cowboys want prosecuting.
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i agree it should take some time to do. I have been in my flat for 4 years and my boiler never keeps it's pressure i have to up it manually my self. and in the first year when i moved in to the flat it broke down on me 5 times in the space of 3 months, it has had a new heat ex changer unit fitted it and a new pressure release valve.
 
Let's get the legal side sorted..
You're a tenant so under the gas safety installation and use act the landlord has a legal obligation to issue you a gas safety certificate annually, a copy of which must be left at the property, the servicing is a grey area as I believe, there is no rule that can enforce them to service it, the legal obligation is on it's safety not if it works or not.
What is a legal obligation is that the property is in a acceptable state to live in, having no hot water or heating makes this not the case.
Forget British Gas as if you get them in then the landlord will wipe their hands of it as you've got a 3rd party involved.
British gas have no more rights than any gas safe engineer, even though people think they have, the only ones that can disconnect and incoming supply is National grid and then they have to issue you with a notice of why, no one can test a boiler for carbon monoxide that isn't working.
If you want to take my advise then cancel British gas now or it could well come back to bite you!
 
Martyn D said:
What is a legal obligation is that the property is in a acceptable state to live in, having no hot water or heating makes this not the case.
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This being the case, I think the advice Mandy needs is, who the heck does she contact in order for someone/anyone to make the property into an acceptable state to live in(i.e. heated), asap.
A call to the citizens advice as mentioned got to be a good start. And also the advice given by Les in post #14.
Find out who's at fault for not fixing the thing (landlord and/or boiler maintenance co I expect) and then what can be done to expedite it being fixed and paid for being fixed without waiting for days on end for a next to useless maintenance company.
 
HSE runs a free Gas Safety Advice Line offering advice on gas safety that is open between 9.00am and 5.30 pm Monday to Thursday and 9.00am to 5.00pm on Friday (excluding bank holidays). To contact the Gas Safety Advice Line freephone 0800 300 363.
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Call that. Right now. It's an unbiased government advice line where they actually know what they are talking about and can give you specific help and advice. We're all just guessing really.

Also,

If you suspect there is a gas leak you should immediately do the following:

  • call National Grid's Gas Emergency freephone number: 0800 111 999
  • open all the doors and windows
  • shut off the gas supply at the meter control valve (if you know where it is)
It is illegal for anyone to use a gas appliance if they suspect it is unsafe. Turn the appliance off and do not touch it until it has been checked by aGas Safe registered engineer .
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Note the bit about if you think your boiler is unsafe then you must not use it. I know it's cold. But that's what the law (and common sense) says.

More help here http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/faqtenant.htm
 
Why call any of those numbers...Mandy said in her 1st post that the boiler isn't working.
Mandy...call the landlords, tell them you are going to citizens advice and explain your home is inhabitable due to no heating or hot water.
If you have no joy then ring or go to citizens advise.
If you can get out then go and but a couple of fan heaters..about a tenner each and tell the landlords you will be billing them for these and the extra electric that you use.
 
If it's any help I see this kind of thing every day of the week...don't expect miracles and that an engineers can magic up a part, they have to be ordered, as I said before, sometimes when a part is replaced then the next part that operates in the sequence can be faulty and would NOT have been possible to test in the first place.
When customers kick off at having no heating for a few days they have a gentle reminder that no one has died, no one is seriously ill, no one has lost a limb...it's just become a situation that many of us had before central heating etc, there's ways to keep warm and kettles to boil for hot water....it's annoying but not the end of the world.
The landlords are responsible which is the annoying part as it seems they are not being very professional.
 
Martyn D said:
Why call any of those numbers...Mandy said in her 1st post that the boiler isn't working.
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I have to admit I'm having difficulty following this thread. I thought it was about a boiler not making the house/water hot but then @Pinkbikerbabe said that her concern was CO leaking. You don't mess about with that. You stop using the boiler and call an expert right away.

Getting the boiler fixed is a FAR harder proposition. I actually just looked this up and the landlord has to make all reasonable efforts to get it fixed - but that doesn't mean providing a new boiler within a week. When my own boiler was condemned (basically due to a cowboy repairer) it took 2 weeks to get a new one fitted by a reputable firm. Tenants don't generally have more rights than home owners. I.e. if it takes 2 weeks to fix it for my own house then a tenant will struggle to insist on anything sooner.

Martyn D said:
If you can get out then go and but a couple of fan heaters..about a tenner each and tell the landlords you will be billing them for these and the extra electric that you use.
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Best of luck with that one. Landlords are under surprisingly little legal obligation to refund money in cases like this especially if they didn't approve the action. Best practise would be for the landlord to call HSS and get some space heaters in there (it's tax deductible) but (1) they may well not be required to if they are making reasonable efforts to fix the underlying problem and (2) much of the country is under water - I suspect HSS are pretty busy ATM.
 
i have had a chap out from national grid they have come round and done checks for carbon monoxide, that's all been checked and is fine, the man was going to issue me with a warning for the gas boiler its self but the engineer from Hewer's arrived at the time so the two off them had a chat. I now have had a chat with the chap from Hewer's who is the seiner engineer for the company, and i explained in great detail what his colleague had did in his past 3 visits. and he was shocked and even more shocked at the incompetence when it comes to servicing. He has fitted 2 new clamps to the flue so that's 3 new clamps now in total and he has fitted 2 carbon monoxide detectors alarms one in my loft and one in the cupboard to which my boiler lives. i also have had a proper check on the boiler from him he explained in detail that i could understand what he had done. He also fitted a new timer switch as my one was faulty. He has informed me that when they send someone out to service the boiler in march April time, i have to note down the time they set through my front door and ask for the first name make details and if they scarper within 10 mins i have to be on the phone and ask for the seiner engineer to come out and he will check what has been done. But at last i have heating and hot water, and the boilers safe to use now. and as for the chap who came out on the past 3 times and was cussing at my boiler and making inappropriate comments and not being professional he will be hauled into the office asap to explain his actions.
 
Result!
 
That is a result. Glad to hear it.
Odd that the monoxide detector is fitted in the loft and in a cupboard though. I bought one after recent recommendation on here and the instructions said to place it in the same room as the appliance but at least 3 metres away or some such and in the open. I bunged mine on top of a tall book case.
 
DorsetDude said:
That is a result. Glad to hear it.
Odd that the monoxide detector is fitted in the loft and in a cupboard though. I bought one after recent recommendation on here and the instructions said to place it in the same room as the appliance but at least 3 metres away or some such and in the open. I bunged mine on top of a tall book case.
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If the flue goes up via the loft then it could leak up there. Hence putting a CO meter in the loft. Whether it would be heard is another matter though...
 
DorsetDude said:
That is a result. Glad to hear it.
Odd that the monoxide detector is fitted in the loft and in a cupboard though. I bought one after recent recommendation on here and the instructions said to place it in the same room as the appliance but at least 3 metres away or some such and in the open. I bunged mine on top of a tall book case.
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I only have a gas boiler which lives in a cupboard in my hallway which is why it's in the boiler and the one in the loft is because the flue runs up right through it.
 
All's well that ends well....glad you got it sorted and putting in the CO detectors is a good thing....in the wrong place but it would be pedantic to criticise that.
 
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