British Gas new boiler - how much discount should I try to get?

[Babybluegiraffe]

Getting a quote from British Gas tomorrow for a new boiler. A bit scared because it's obvious I know nothing about central heating (and I will have 6 week old DS with me who may well impede my thinking ability).

The engineer who came out today kindly suggested that I shouldn't accept the first quote, but how much discount should I realistically expect to get?

From looking at google it seems they may well be 20% dearer than other companies, does that mean I should start by asking for a discount more than this?

Then should I ask for further discount if I don't pay by credit card/ finance (or is that just cheeky).

Any ideas welcome!

I had a quote from British Gas when my boiler needed replacing last year. They were nearly double the price I eventually paid to a local engineer.

Do you have to buy the boiler from them? If so I'd be asking for a 50% discount if I were you. But I'm sure you'd be able to get it done more cheaply through someone else.

Good luck!

Babybluegiraffe
Are you in Scotland? You might be entitled to a grant to help with a new boiler/heating system.

Buying from British Gas is for people with money to burn! I have someone great in Gloucestershire otherwise use a site such as Thebestof... and pick someone from there.

Don't do it unless you have no other option. Ask around friends and family first to see if they know a good gas engineer/plumber. Failing that put your enquiry on rated people.com.

Our boiler packed up totally in October 2011 and we had to go down the route of a new boiler, so got five quotes in. They ranged from £1600-2400. To be honest we went for the higest quote as it included a power flush, 7 year warranty for parts and labour, good quality Worcester Bosch Boiler, limescale treatment and something or other which picks bits up in the system, on top of which we had five glowing recommendations from friends for the the particular engineer. It will start getting warmer soon, so don't be panicked into having British Gas because they can deal with it quickly. It took us four weeks to get a new boiler due to the fact engineers were busy dealing with breakdowns when the heating was first put on for the winter, but this is less likely this time of year.

I would try other local heating engineers first. British gas quoted us £5000 to replace our boiler. A local heating engineer (gas safe certified) quoted smae boiler for £2100