Can anyone recommend an insurer for my condenser boiler? The two year warranty is nearly up. It's an Ideal Isar - they sent me a letter when I bought the boiler quoting £6.50 a month for cover, but now the price is £11.25!
Thanks,
Barry
Basically don't.
Open a savings account bearing the highest interest that you can find and put £10 per month into it.
This is likely to be able to cover any repair bills unless you are unlucky in the next year, or after a few years fund a new boiler.
Certainly don't bother with BG's offering at £150. This is a total ripoff and the service is appalling.
.andy
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In message , Andy Hall writes
Andy, whilst I would like to go down this route, the concern here is that when/if a problem does occur the chances of being ripped-off by someone one chooses from Yellow Pages or wherever seem very high (see Rogue Traders passim). At least with such a contract the person who comes out is answerable to someone else as well.
No insurance company on this earth is in business for your benefit. However if you really want to insure your boiler try contacting Domestic and General. They used to offer a breakdown cover as an option for their house insurance policies. Statistically you should invest the policy money and have it available for when your boiler needs renewing
It happens that Barry formulated :
Take a risk.....
Open a separate bank account and put the £11.25 pm in the account to be used for nothing but your boiler repairs. At the end of 12 months you will have more than enough in there to pay for a repair, that is supposing you are extremely unlucky and it needs to be repaired. Our own boiler has needed no repairs what so ever in the past 18 years.
Contact the boiler maker and ask for their recommendation in your area.
OK, so find a local heating firm who have been trained and recommended by the boiler manufacturer.
.andy
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When we had our boiler fitted, it didn't work. The plumbers told us "Oh, there a dodgy one in every hundred or so." I suppose the right thing would've been to demand a new one, but they'd been at the house for a week doing work and we just wanted the job done, and besides, it was under warranty so we didn't have to pay for the part - a "PCB" (printed circuit board?)
Since then, this same part has been replaced again! This is why I'm concerned. I do like the bank account idea mind.
Barry
Also, bear in mind that the warranty is a convenience.
Statutory Sale of Goods Act *may* give a longer period. It depends on reasonableness. The maximum is 6 years under s statute of limitations.
This is a relatively expensive expensive boiler, and personally, given that it has suffered two PCB failures, would take that into account as well.
However, since your contract of purchase was presumably with the fitter, then you would have to pursue it via him.
If it were me and it failed in the next year or so, I think that I would pursue it. After that, possibly not......
.andy
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On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 08:03:07 +0100, "dave @ stejonda"
Hi,
Try finding out if they have a good record so far, if they do it's probably better to put the money aside. If they are starting to need expensive repairs then get more insurance.
cheers, Pete
I'd second that and esp the BGas point. How often do modern boilers go wrong anyway? I've had 2 minor faults on mine in 20+ years which were an easy DIY fix...
A 20 year old boiler ain't a modern one, though.
In message , Dave Plowman writes
...but what of the annual servicing - is that a waste of time/money as well or does it provide anything at all useful? All they seem to do nowadays is check the flue gases and look for something that could be a chargeable repair.
"dave @ stejonda" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@stejonda.freeuk.com...
Depends on the model and type. There is little to actually go "wrong" with a cast iron room sealed boiler but a low water content finned tube type needs the fins cleaning (you wouldn't believe the build up some can develop on the fins) and the more sophisticated the model the more there is to go wrong. An experienced operative will be able to see many potentially likely failures and take remedial action before failure occurs leaving you cold. Efficiency of heat extraction will also benefit from regular service by keeping the heat exchanger clean. Some condensing boilers have a habit of silting up the condensate trap which obviously should be kept running free. Also hamfisted operatives who are unlikely to see the boiler again will probably leave the seals and screws etc just a bit worse than when they arrived hence BGs idea of only checking the flue emissions as their idea of a service. A proper service should be carried out as per the manufacturers Installation and Service handbook plus for completeness a soundness check on the gas carcase of the property (how do you know the pipes aren't slowly corroding in a hidden position?). The ventilation, flue performance, combustion, gas pressures/burn rate, safety devices etc should be checked on completion and recorded on your documentation. You can do all this yourself if you are competent which has been extensively discussed in here but on a commercial basis (for reward) you must be CORGI registered
True. The practice of stripping a boiler to clean it once a year dates back to town gas days where it was needed. Clean burning natural gas doesn't need this, so an inspection and check is fine. Unless you're IMM, who can't grasp this principle - as with much else.
Potterton Suprima, eh?
Christian.
In article , Barry writes
What they possibly meant is "there's a *good* one in every hundred or so".....
The legendary Suprima 80!.....
If you do decide to take insurance, you should be sure to read the contract very carefully. The typical contract says in effect "we will come and glance at it once a year. Any significant fault is not covered".
As they get older they do start going wrong .... I had 6 failures in a 3 year period ...some of the faults in the boiler life were:
Gas valve x 2 Thermocouple x 5 Pilot flame guide Ignitor Heat exchanger tie rods fracturing - twice (big leaks each time) Pump seals
Now I can't blame Ideal -Stelrad, as each part (except tie rods) were standard parts - i.e. Honeywell gas valves,
First 10 ish years no problem, and faults definitely increased with frequency with age.
As for new condensing boilers being reliable- my new Baxi Barceleone has had
2 ignition circuit board failures in less than 6 months.Rick
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