Need new boiler, British Gas quote, need some advice/ handholding

[whataboutbob]

My Dad died in January and used rent out a house to a family, at a low rent. It is currently in probate. It turns out the tenants have been soldiering on with an old boiler which now needs replacing (Dad had the Landlord's contract with BG so they were providing free repairs/ services etc). BG now say it needs replacing, but also that it can't be put back in the same place as the flue is "illegal", the pipes will need to be re routed and the flue taken out via the roof. They have quoted £4900 for the work. I obviously need to deal with it and pay for the work, but just wondering about not going with BG.
My record for finding good independent traders though has been woeful, my last plumber disappeared mid job, and previously I employed a builder to do a flat renovation and unbeknown to me he botched the new shower leading to burst pipes and irate downstairs neighbours (both were personal recommendation/ found on Which ? trusted traders). So should I try and find an independent again for quotes, or just bite the bullet and get BG in with their big prices? I'm in the SE. Thanks for any advice/ insights.

[Herschellmum]

My husband works for BG and I do think they are the best but tend to be the most expensive too, saying that my cousin had a quote the other day and his BG one was cheapest!

Get a few quotes in from various places, also see what BG can offer, they sometimes will offer a discount off a new boiler, trade in things etc. BG can also be spread out on finance which is another reason they are popular.

But do get quotes in, look for local recommendations from friends though as there as dodgy people out there.

[wowfudge]

BG are hellishly expensive for that kind of thing. Find someone local on the Gas Safe register and get at least another quote. New boilers need to be registered after fitted so make sure that gets done.

[purplecollar]

We had our entire heating system replaced for much less than this. I think it was about £3.5k for all the radiators as well as the combi boiler. It's worth getting some quotes I'd say.

[whataboutbob]

Sorry to ask a basic question: do you need to be Gas Safe registered to install a new boiler?
If so, is being GS registered usually a good indication of competence/ honesty?

[ChunkyHare]

We had a new boiler fitted last year from HelpLink.

It included 10 replacement radiators, the fitting of 2 dual fuel towel radiators (no electric hook up though we arranged that with our electrician) new pipework to change from 15mm to 22mm from the meter to the boiler (entire width of the house) this also involved lifting the floor and converting the current Y plan to an S plan (where the pipework/pump etc are in the tank cupboard) not a combi boiler just a like for like.

Cost me £4500.

My friend also had Helplink which is why I did, hers cost £3500 for 7 new radiators and a new boiler, I think pipework too.

It is worth getting them out to quote you. We also had BG for annual service etc, and we knew ours was going to die, we had BG out so often we knew the engineers by name

[PigletJohn]

You are obliged to have the boiler installed by a gas-safe registered installer or firm.

In some cases the installer may employ unqualified people

It's worth asking around for recommendations of good local gas people who do installations and also annual servicing.

See if your local Electricity company has a boiler installations division. None of the big companies is likely to go bust or run off with your money, and if necessary they can deal with complaints.

Look on the websites of good manufacturers, they may have a list of Approved Installers in your area. Using one off their list will usually get you a better warranty.

Three good brands are Vaillant, Worcester-Bosch and Viessmann. Gasmen argue incessantly and never agree.

Some people think that a new boiler must be a combi. This is not true. Combis are suitable for smaller homes with only one bath or shower; less suitable for larger homes. All modern boilers are Condensing.

[PigletJohn]

"is being GS registered usually a good indication of competence/ honesty?"

No, it's a minimum standard, like having a driving licence and car insurance. You aren't allowed on the road without it (legally) but not all drivers are good drivers. They all think they are.

[whataboutbob]

Thanks Piglet, pithy as usual! I have had some recommendations form one of Dad's neighbours so will be contacting them tomorrow to see if they can do a quote. I would want a Worcester Bosch boiler.
Chunky thanks for the tip re Helplink, I hadn't heard of them, will look them up.

[AyeAmarok]

What area of the country are you in OP?

Some British Gas guys are just subcontractors for them and they will do it much cheaper for you themselves.

[LadyMetroland]

I would go with Bg for peace of mind. We did and they've been brilliant. If anything goes wrong ever they are there within hours to fix it, whereas your average plumber, in my experience, is unreliable.

[whataboutbob]

That's very true ladymetro. I have paid lots to BG over the years but using independents has resulted in heartache ( plumbers anyway , I've done better with electricians). For my own financial self respect​ I'm getting an independent firm in to do a quote, I'd they're not much different to BG I'll go with BG.

[OrangeFluff]

We had a quote for a new boiler from BG last year, it was about £1000 more expensive than the quote I finally went with, and that was with the discounts that BG offer to make it seem like a good deal.

I went with a local guy, who had great reviews on check a trade, and was one of the recommended engineers by Worcester Bosch.

[whataboutbob]

OK so I should now have 3 quotes by Wednesday (inc BG), will post again with the figures. Thanks to everyone who's posted.

[m0therofdragons]

My inlaws had bg in to service their boiler and he went nuts that it was unsafe etc. It was 2 years old and was gutted by bg! Queue bg sending another bg employee to check and what a surprise, once they'd realised they'd fitted it suddenly it wasn't "unsafe" just not conventional fitting. I wouldn't trust bg ever. They charged a fortune and did a poor job. Mil has anxiety that led her to quit her job so she did not cope well with weeks of calls to bg and as she was scared it truly was unsafe she spent 4 weeks of the winter not using her heating or hot water!
Get recommendations - there's good and bad everywhere.

[PetraDelphiki]

If you are in Essex I can recommend you someone..

And afaik gas safe is no guarantee...plus they have no teeth. If a gas safe registered plumber does something wrong gas safe won't do anything to fix it...they might go an monitor the plumber but you have no comeback other than the courts...

[Craftypuss]

If you want a worcester bosch,go on their website and there's a link to 'installers in your area' - we used this earlier in the year, very pleased with the system! Final bill was about half of what British Gas had quoted a year before.

[Lesley1980]

Th boiler in our old flat broke & we called out BG as we had their service plan & we were told it had to be replaced & they arranged a sales guy to come for a quote. He wanted to charge us £3500 for a cheap brand boiler. We told him we had already received a quote for £1400 for the same boiler & he basically went on to slag off the other company calling them cowboys & we were fools not to go with BG. We had actually used the other company before & we knew they were good & not cowboys.

[whataboutbob]

Thanks everyone. There's obviously a lot of strong feelings out there on the subject of BG and their big quotes! I am sure they charge over the odds, BUT you do usually get peace of mind.
Thanks for the tip re Worcester Bosch website Craftypuss, that's definitely worth knowing. Petra I am not in Essex, but in Kent other I'd gladly take a personal recommendation.
Hope your in laws got their boiler sorted now mother.

[PickAChew]

I don't know if it's national, but a lot of trades are registered with checkatrade around here - a sort of tripadvisor for plumbers, roofers, electricians etc! It's at least a good filter for finding out which ones bail on a job halfway through.

We've been using an excellent gas fitter for years and we have built up a great little black book of go to people - some recommended by our boiler guy and some by DH's cousin who worked as a plasterer for years. Word of mouth can't be underrated because the guys he recommended to render our house have ended up fixing up half our street, over the past couple of years!

[PigletJohn]

Google "checkatrade complaints"

[PinkBuffalo]

If you're in kent OP, try Kent Boiler Maintence. They are fab, but don't know whereabouts in Kent they go (used to be North Kent Boiler Maintence) they don't have a big presence online, but if you call &I leave a message, there's always someone helpful who calls you back. Another option for you to look into maybe.

[User06383]

We work in the industry and have just been to a boiler services by BG to find that they haven't actually removed the cover so we're unsure what they have actually been paid to do.

My recommendation would be to look for an installer via the Worcester Bosch website

BG are overpriced, you pay for the name but often the quality isn't there.

[User06383]

Gas Safe is a basic legal requirement, unless you are GS registered you cannot even legally remove the case on a gas boiler, even in your own home.

If you have a good sparky ask them to recommend someone, we only recommend reliable nice tradesmen to our customers as it reflects on us if there are issues with our recommendations!

[ChunkyHare]

Helplink fitted a Worcester Bosch boiler for me.

You can have your boiler fitted by whoever and still have your British Gas home service plan. Helplink also do a home service plan which is cheaper than normal if you have had a boiler fitted by them.

I cannot fault BG service plan, they were there same day within hours for me, but having talked to the service chaps a lot I knew their boiler fitting would be the most expensive quote.

[SunnyUpNorth]

We had a quote from BG for a new boiler and it came in around £4500.

We had a few other quotes which all came in around the £1800 mark give or take a couple of hundred pounds depending on the brand. We eventually went for a large top of the range Worcester one, also installed a magnaclean and a new flue and the whole lot was about £2200 I think. We are in the north west, but we also had to replace a boiler at our old flat in London and again it was around £2300 I think for a Worcester. For the london one we used Plumbmintos who I think are based towards Kent but cover a high area. We have used them for a lot of jobs now and they are really good.

So what I'm saying is don't go with BG - an independent will be literally half the price.