Cycling UK Forum

I,ve just recieved paperwork for a new boiler contract,which includes parts,labour and annual service.Going through the"general exclusions", I came upon a paragraph stating," any faults found,leading to a failure of the annual service"----i.e.engineer finds faulty parts,they won,t be liable.I did a double take and started ringing around.They all assured me the engineer would fix it but nobody would put it in writing despite this clause effectively making the "contract" not worth the paper written on.This is a major energy company.Anybody else come across this?
My boiler is 12 years old and my thinking is this;install new wiessman boiler,£1500,add extra parts and labour to extend the warranty to 10 years,£150,10 yrs annual service,£700------total £2350.Keeping the old boiler going--10 yrs @£240 p.a. is£2400 if it doesn,t need replacing that is.In the event of replacement,my new contract would pay£750 toward costs for a boiler of their choice thus I would still need to find about £750 to replace.
I,m inclined to ditch the present contract and install a weissman boiler with extended warranty.Any thoughts or general observations on "service contracts".

Check your local council for details:

Some are offering a brand new free boiler if you present one is old and obsolete, and to qualify you must be either very low waged or retired [a few conditions are attached]

Caveat - the above may only apply to 'oil burner boilers', i don't know, but checking with your local County Council won't cost you anything.

You can buy insurance to cover every eventuality. You need to ask yourself is it worth it? Just remember insurance isn't meant to help you, it provides income and profit for the supplier of these financial products. I keep my insurance to a minimum. Ie car, house and contents. Everything else is not covered. I have my boiler serviced by a local Gas Safe technician and take his advice about life expectancy (the boiler that is)
You can go over the top and have insurance on your domestic appliances but after a few years you will have paid more than a replacement would have cost.
However sods law says as soon as you cancel your insurance you will have a breakdown.

I don’t believe in any service contracts or appliance insurance. These people don’t run these schemes out of the goodness of their heart.
I didn’t see your workings for running the boiler for another 10 years giving it an annual vacuum savings £2500. And if you Need a new boiler in 10 yrs time you’ve got the money to choose and buy whatever you want.

on a different note
I think boiler insurance is overpriced but when you wife is recovering from a stroke and you have 2 young kids it pays to know if something goes pear shaped then you can get it fixed the same day

[quote][I think boiler insurance is overpriced but when you wife is recovering from a stroke and you have 2 young kids it pays to know if something goes pear shaped then you can get it fixed the same day
/quote]
The typical premium is about £150-200.It is likely your boiler will not fail,so use the money saved to buy several heat appliances such as oil filled radiators etc.In the following year use the money to have an electric shower installed.In subsequent years open a savings account and build a fighting fund.I have rented houses for 24 years and my highest repair was £200 for a PCB replacement.One boiler lasted 14 years without a repair,another required £200 over 16 years.If I took out insurance It would have cost me £2400 to cover a £200 bill.