Government boiler grant - this is a stupid system!!

[Zofloramummy]

So my boiler has packed in, repeated flame failures. Currently on day 2 of no hot water and no heating.

I’m an owner occupier, minimum income, on universal credit, I have a 7 year old child. I can’t afford large unexpected bills.

So I do some online research, find out about boiler grants. I fit the criteria for a new boiler, possibly with a one off fee of £249 to pay. But I’m in credit with my energy supplier so that should cover it. Great no problem!

Oh no, silly me. I ring them today to be told that the scheme only covers broken boilers. Yes I say, mine is broken. Nope I have to have a qualified engineer certify as irreparable. Which means I need to pay for a gas engineer visit. If it’s fixable then I’ll not qualify for a new boiler even if I can’t afford the repairs!

They then say if it is condemned that I will then qualify no problem. It’ll take 4-5 weeks if I’m lucky to get the new boiler in. I say as I have no other source of hot water or heating and I have a small child that is ridiculous.

It’s one of those bloody red tape jobs. I think I can get some help, but no, not until I fork out money I simply don’t have and then the time span is ridiculous. If we get a cold snap it’ll be jumpers and hot water bottles. We will have to pay for swimming to access a shower.

So fed up.

Take out homeserve cover or similar too if you can op! OH and check your home insurance if you have a policy. They can cover boilers. Ours does!

EDF do specify it has to be broken too

OP may not be able to get boiler cover if ger boiler is very old. We had a 12 yr old boiler and because the parts were hard to source, British Gas wouldn't cover it anymore. We ended up getting a new boiler as we simply couldn't get it repaired any longer.

As above, my boiler is too old to cover. It’s more difficult to find cover for boilers over 10 years old.
I’m not sure if my house insurance covers it but I doubt it. My chimney stack needs remortaring and that is classed as wear and tear and not covered.

We have just had this offer done with Eon's version. We qualified with child benefit, home owner & 20year old kinda working boiler (on its last legs)
Had the new boiler fitted last Tuesday and it hasn't worked since last Wednesday as the electrician broke the fuse section so no hot water or heating since then 🤬

Due to the tradesmen/company being based in Glasgow (we're in Aberdeen) they can't get a sparky here till this afternoon, hopefully 🤞We had a huge runaround trying to get someone back to fix it 🤯

Eon use C Hanlon for the tradesmen and Worchester boilers. I was so chuffed that for once we qualified for a bit of help but At this point I wish we hadn't bothered and saved/got a loan to cover the cost of a new boiler.

To be clear, the Eco scheme is to replace inefficient boilers, so someone may still qualify (subject to other criteria) even if there is no fault at all. They have a list of boiler models that will automatically be replaced, and if one is twelve years old it will more than likely be on the list.

(Not aimed at you zoflora, but at those giving "advice" without the first idea of what they're talking about.)

I wonder why EDF are saying (and it says on their website too) that the boiler has to be broken then? Maybe individual companies are tailoring the criteria?

Just wanted to let you know it's not a quick process. But if you live relatively close to me I have some heaters I could give you. I Haven't read to the last post but I had a boiler from e.On on this grant. I am blind, disabled, live alone and haven't had central heating or hot water since September 2017 and had tried getting it fixed 3 times, none worked and I had run out of money. I had nothing left.

I asked if they could do the boiler as a priority and they couldn't, saying everyone in the list is in thr same position.

From date of application to date of fitting was 15 weeks.

I paid £240 as my part contribution.

They all start with the basic criteria and then add additional criteria enough to ensure they meet the government's Energy Company Obligation quota.

I had a boiler through this scheme, my boiler went in the middle of winter. I made a choice to manage with electric heaters and the boiler functioning enough for hot water. It cost me £289. Ot took about 12 weeks but we managed.

I’m struggling to find a supplier doing the boiler grants. It seems the government hasn’t released the funding for next year. One company just quoted me £1000 as a contribution.
I’m trying the nest scheme (Wales) to see if I can get one through them.