Heating provider refusing to provide hot water - its been weeks

[RobinHobb]

I'm posting in desperation, in case some of the wonderful and wise mumsnetters can help or advice me.

I own a flat in London (there is a leaseholder and management company for the block). They have appointed Switch2 as the heating network provider - this is communal, and I cannot change them or sack them.

There is no hot water as of 30th January. We have called Switch2 and begged them to fix it. They said it needs a new heating interface unit, and their scheduling team will be in touch to book it in. No one has called us, we have tried again and again to contact them. We escalated via complaints, and they had nothing new to say. I reported them to Ofgem last week who have given us a case reference number & nothing more.

What do I do? What can I do? We haven't been able to take showers because every time we try to turn the shower on there is not enough water to come out of the shower head and only a trickle comes out of the tap. There is no water at all for an extended period of time after you flush the toilet, if you then open the tap to try to wash your hands nothing comes out. The dishwasher and washing machine also give a 'No Water' error.

I have called them everyday and they won't do anything....What else can I/should I try?

Hello! Thank you, yes I’ve emailed consumer watch and guardian this evening, but they get a large volume of complaints so it may well come to nothing. I’ve gone on twitter and tagged the company in complaints as well

That sounds worthwhile, I do hope things get sorted for you ASAP.

Is there cold water at the taps ?

Upper tier property tribunal to take to task the management/leaseholder. Not expensive to do & very effective.

Thinking about it it does seem to be a mains supply issue? Otherwise why would the loo cistern filling affect your taps etc? The loo cistern isn't filled wih hot water is it??

What is the pressure like from your kitchen cold tap?

If the mains supply is compromised I can imagine this would stop the heat interface unit working properly - it is a heat exchanger and the water has to take a deliberately convoluted route to pick up heat from the circulating hot pipes in the building.

So because of that the hot water supply may well ne the most sensitive bit of the plumbing to a compromised mains supply, but not actually be the problem iyswim

Which potentially means that when someone does eventually turn up to look at the hiu they will just say "sorry love, its a mains water issue" and you'll have to start all over again!

My recommendation is that you ALSO complain about your mains supply ( which as pps have pointed out has more statutory obligations attached to it). Complain about this as well to the the freeholder/management company and demand they send a plumber to look at your mains supply (which probably starts in a plant room somewhere at the bottom of the building) as your issue might have nothing to do with the heating/ hot water system .

So yes what @catipuss and @michealsmum1998 said 👍

Ok, I will look into this. I have no idea what it is but google should help. Thank you

I have some cold water, but I assumed it was a hot water issue only and they are both tied together, because the Switch2 engineer attended the property a few months back and confirmed there was an issue with HIU and it needed replacement and that was what was causing the issue. I will also get someone in now to look at the mains water - I'll contact the management company again. The problem is no one listening - it's like screaming into the void.
I've actually complained to the ombudsman, and case has been logged, and let Switch2 know and there was no response to that even.
Thank you for alerting there may be a mains issue, I will get on top of that.

Good luck, it sounds terrible 😬😬

I agree with @Dexy7655
Normally when there's no hot water, that means the water coming out of the hot tap is cold. I think you need to complain that you have no water and no pressure. Take a video of the dribbling and send it with any complaints.

Is it just your flat or everyone?

Surely if the management company appointed them they can threaten to unappoint them! Bizarre they're saying there's nothing they can do?!

Maybe you could ask for advice on facebook, there is a group called National leasehold campaign.

Sounds like the problem is the water supply. Do you know where the stop cock is? Try closing and reopening it. I’d be considering getting a plumber to take a look.