Alternatives to British Gas Boiler Repair & Servicing

[moorfield]

Have finally reached our wits end with British Gas Boiler Repair & Servicing, I won’t bore you with a long litany of rescheduled appointments, engineers turning up at the wrong time (when told them we were out), and a call centre through which it is virtually impossible to speak to someone competent. And I’m a Centrica shareholder!

So we want to bin them asap, and find another arrangement which ideally will cover us for annual servicing and the cost of replacement parts as/when needed. (We have two boilers at Moorfield Towers, both now nearing 10 years old. A combi in which the heat exchanger has a habit of failing every 3-4 years, and main system boiler in which the expansion valve has just failed.)

Or we could just find a reliable local engineer to do the annual servicing, and take a hit on the replacement parts when they happen, currently paying nearing £500/year for cover.

Can LFs recommend the next best option to British Gas?

Thanks
M

[Alaric]

Or we could just find a reliable local engineer to do the annual servicing, and take a hit on the replacement parts when they happen, currently paying nearing £500/year for cover.

That can work well if they are rapidly responsive to emails or texts. As a downside, they may well not take credit cards, but if well organised will send electronic invoices (from their phone) and accept payment by electronic banking.

[tjh290633]

Find a reputable gas fitter by personal recommendation. Get him to do jobs as and when needed. Forget annual contracts and servicing. Your boiler doesn't need it unless it's a warranty condition. In fact, the less they are fiddled with, the more reliable they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

TJH

[Alaric]

In fact, the less they are fiddled with, the more reliable they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

You are supposed to have an annual inspection for gas safety reasons.

SSE have just sent me an offer of an electricity price fix bundled with Heating Breakdown Cover. As seems increasingly common, there's an excess of £ 90 on each breakdown. I get the impression that modern boilers are more prone to breakdowns or short lives than their heavyweight predecessors from the 1980s or earlier.

[dubre]

go onto www.gassaferegister.co.uk

type in your post code and find local qualified gas fiters

[dubre]

go onto www.gassaferegister.co.uk

type in your post code and find local qualified gas fitters

[Sussexlad]

If you have a local area magazine, look in there for a nearby guy. Anyone unreliable wont last too long.

[Watis]

If you're on Facebook and have a local group you can join, ask there for recommendations from the people that live around you.

Watis

[beseeinyou]

Depends if they cover where you live, I have priced all of these in the past:

Saltire
24/7
Gas Sure
Scottish Power
SSE
The AA
Homeserve
EDF

I have used Saltire, Scottish Power, SSE and Homeserve all without any issues.

Beseeinyou

[pochisoldi]

In fact, the less they are fiddled with, the more reliable they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

You are supposed to have an annual inspection for gas safety reasons.

Do you have a reference for that?
Specifically for non-rental residential properties which have a room sealed/balanced flue boiler?

[Alaric]

Do you have a reference for that?

Isn't more of a generally known truth or something the Gas Boards / British Gas convinced everyone of? Like having your car serviced, it's only the MoT that's enshrined in legislation.

[tjh290633]

Do you have a reference for that?

Isn't more of a generally known truth or something the Gas Boards / British Gas convinced everyone of? Like having your car serviced, it's only the MoT that's enshrined in legislation.

Possibly brainwashing by British Gas, who I moved away from many years ago.

TJH

[supremetwo]

Do you have a reference for that?

Isn't more of a generally known truth or something the Gas Boards / British Gas convinced everyone of? Like having your car serviced, it's only the MoT that's enshrined in legislation.

Possibly brainwashing by British Gas, who I moved away from many years ago.

TJH

It is usually a condition within the boiler guarantee.
https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/guarantee-terms-and-conditions
g. The product must be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s user instructions and serviced annually, by a Bosch Thermotechnology Ltd or other competent engineer. Proof of servicing may be required to validate a guarantee.

[tjh290633]

Isn't more of a generally known truth or something the Gas Boards / British Gas convinced everyone of? Like having your car serviced, it's only the MoT that's enshrined in legislation.

Possibly brainwashing by British Gas, who I moved away from many years ago.

TJH

It is usually a condition within the boiler guarantee.
https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/guarantee-terms-and-conditions
g. The product must be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s user instructions and serviced annually, by a Bosch Thermotechnology Ltd or other competent engineer. Proof of servicing may be required to validate a guarantee.

It wasn't a condition for my Potterton boiler, which had no annual services but was fixed twice under guarantee by their engineer.

TJH

[supremetwo]

It wasn't a condition for my Potterton boiler, which had no annual services but was fixed twice under guarantee by their engineer.
TJH

It is now.
This is their current pdf:-
https://mediacdn.baxi.co.uk/-/media/web ... 30T160343Z
1. The installer must be registered with Gas Safe and complete the Benchmark commissioning checklist in full at the time the boiler is installed. This checklist must be made available to us if we ask and is found at the back of the installation instructions.
2. If this condition is not met, this warranty is not valid.
3. The boiler warranty must be registered with Baxi by either the installer or you, the householder, within 30 days of the boiler being installed. For new build properties, this must be done within 30 days of the sale being completed.
4. The boiler must be serviced each year in line with the manufacturer's instructions. The service must be carried out by an engineer registered with Gas Safe. The service can be done up to 60 days before or after the original anniversary of the boiler being installed without invalidating the warranty.
5. If the service is not carried out by Baxi Customer Support, our service division, you must give us proof of service if we ask.
6. If you do not meet conditions 2 to 4, this warranty will be limited to 12 months from the date of installation, as recorded on the Benchmark
commissioning checklist.

[pochisoldi]

Ah - so it's nothing to do with gas safety, and everything to do with ensuring that Gas installers recommend <insert manufacturers name> so the manufacturer gets a sale in return for increasing demand for the installer's services... (aka I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine).

[mutantpoodle]

pretty much the same as with cars. todays motors do not need anything like the attention that cars of the 70/80s did. high mileage of course require more attention.
normal to low only superficial oil water etc etc....ie...common sense


i realise that rules out quite a few folk

[stewamax]

Local is best - but when selecting one do check Gas Safe's online register. This won't weed out all the undesirables but it is a start.
It is worth asking around to find neighbours who have had a new installation done from someone reasonably local and ask if you can see it. Attention to detail or alternatively shoddy workmanship will often be apparent, particularly in pipework, vent and so on. You are not supposed to open the boiler case yourself, but there is little useful to see inside either (apart from how the quality of boiler parts has cheapened and degenerated over the last few years....

[staffordian]

When we moved to our current address a few years ago I decided to give up on British Gas and rely on local tradesmen.

It worked well enough for a while, but I found when I needed a quick response, the chances were that he was on holiday or booked up, then it was a case of trusting to luck finding someone else who might or might not be free, or reliable, or, as we eventually did, return to BG and accept the higher cost for a guarantee of better (or at least prompter) service...

Staffordian

[Stompa]

...return to BG and accept the higher cost for a guarantee of better (or at least prompter) service...

Have you tried getting a BG engineer lately?

I too used to use them, because they'd typically turn up pretty quickly. However, when I needed an engineer a few weeks ago, the best they could manage was a 10 day wait, or 5 days if you were without either heating or hot water. They also appear to have dispensed with the system of actually being able to speak to a person to book an appointment (which used to have the advantage that you could get a 2 hour time slot). Now the phone system seems to be completely automated. Out of curiousity, a month later I went online to see if the situation had improved, but it was the same.

Anyway, I had a new boiler fitted a few days ago with a 10 year guarantee, and so have now dumped BG.