British Gas service contract

[SteveSxx]

Can anyone tell me what British Gas do when a Comi-Boiler is Beyond Economical Repair in a service contact situation ? Ours is old and knackered and is STILL covered by a service contract - having been maintained by them for 6 years (at a cost of some �1000 +) we have been without hot water since Thursday and they say that they cannot repair it....
Are they going to fit a new boiler (�4000 +) at their expense ?

[crete]

had same problem 3 years ago the expence will be yours .sorry

[SteveSxx]

They are happy enough to take my money though
They agree to service it despite it's age
There must be a legal precidence in a case like this

[crete]

steve, can only give you my experience, my boiler was old about 20 years !, each year thet did the service and for at least 5 years they said no new parts would be availabe if it broke down would not be repaired, 3 years ago they did the service and it was condemned unsafe for use, options were to purchase a new boiler from them or an other plumber,

[SteveSxx]

Mine is about 10years old but was in good working order until last Thursday

[crete]

well surely its fixable.

[buildersmate]

They certainly are not going to fit you a new boiler at their expense. I don't see any reason why you expect this.
They have maintained it for a price - however that doesn't mean that they will continue to do so once it reaches uneconomic proportions (to them) - no company will accept that commercial risk. I suspect if you look in the small print you will find such a clause allowing them to cancel the agreement when that point is reached. You may be due a refund of a proportional sum for the policy until renewal date - but that's it. If its knackered you will have to replace it.

[shaneystar2]

British Gas probably just want to sell you a new boiler They can tell you it is knackered but in all probability it may well still be repairable..We had this problem in our last property where the boiler was twenty odd years old .It was perfectly OK but every time they came to service it we had a gnashing of teeth and that jobsworth smile ..."Oh..it's on it's last legs madam ..you will need a new one soon .We can't get the parts anymore "..and so on. In fact one engineer admitted to me that they have to push new boilers and were told to give householders this spiel if a boiler was past it's sell by date . Rubbish ..my son worked for a well known firm of plumbers merchants and the parts for these boilers were available and still are.
I would get an independent chap in to assess what needs doing ..might cost you a couple of bob but if it can be repaired it's still cheaper than forking out for a new one I wouldn't trust BG any further than I could throw them.
Of course an independent may well say ...".yes it's knackered" but I would explore that option first before forking out for a new one.

[marvinparvin]

Well, our 19 year old boiler broke down last week and we were waiting for British Gas to condemn it. But no, they turned up, ascertained what was required (a new heat echanger), fitted it 2 days later at no expense to us but told us that the job would have cost �800 were it not for our maintenance contract. Long live British Gas I say!

[SteveSxx]

That's fine if they can diagnose the problem
They have now been out five times in the last 10 days and we still have no heating - they reckon that the overflow valve has gone now and a length of internal hose and clips needs replacing too - they are coming out tomorrow for their last chance to fix it - I am not a warm happy teddy bear at the moment - more like an icey frozen moose !!
Watch this space for update tomorrow