On ruddy nora. Gas boiler condemned and no money for a new one!

[edam]

Arrggh etc. etc. etc. Had the gas man round today because our central heating wasn't working properly, only for him to tell us our boiler was dangerous and he had to not just switch it off but prevent it from ever being used again.

It is winter. We have no money to replace it - these things cost thousands. dh has been unemployed for a year and we have been struggling to pay the bills/living on overdrafts that were granted in happier times.

No idea what we'll do or how we'll heat the house for ds...can't borrow money as I'm sure our credit rating is shot. My family certainly don't have several thousand pounds spare they could lend us and while dh's Mother probably could, she going into a home in a couple of weeks and is not able to - too confused for it to be fair and £8k deposit required for nursing home!

I knew that single magpie I saw this morning was bad news...

Talkin, what on earth did you say that got deleted? Can't imagine what controversy a thread about central heating has caused!

LOL
I said pretty much what Farrow and ball had just above that post - but somebody clearly took umbrage !

Drat, that's not half as entertaining as I'd hoped!

OMG, there was nothing in that post that justifyed in it being deleted.

Oh Edam, that sounds like shit.

I second though what people have said about British gas saying all sorts of doom laden things. They said the same to my PILs and they believed them and stumped up thousands for a new boiler. Madly, one of their sons is a plumber and he said there was nothing wrong with the boiler, it was old and needed servicing but was fine. But because it was British Gas PILs thought he was the oracle and paid for the new boiler. Very frustrating.

I would get a second opinion from an independent plumber or two.

Also, is your boiler a Worcester Bosch? Because mine in, and mine is probably older than me. It broke last year, called the Worcester Bosch people and they have a fixed fee service, cost 150 quid and that includes everything. They had to replace the circuit boards, switches, back plate and other components but all covered under the fixed fee. Brilliant service if that applies to you.

What fantastically helpful people on this thread, how kind people are.

Agree with Talkinpeace.

Last year, I had to sell my mum's house to meet her care home fees after her death. She had a service contract with BG who had not been undertaking the servicing as they should. I rang and asked them to please do what my mother had paid for and they told me that as matters were now in Probate, they would not. I insisted, because they had taken the money.

Man from BG came round and condemned everything (I had a feeling this would be the case). My husband, who is an engineer, had a look and said it was completely repairable. It was and I had it done for minimal cost. However, BG still insisted on condemning the living room fire. It was not because it was dangerous, it was due to new regulations (sorry I cannot recall what this was) which would condemn a large number of gas fires.

I found British Gas a total nightmare to deal with, greedy and unsympathetic. Get independent advice.

Our BG cover has been amazing and I would not be without it.

Reported, as spam.

Another thumbs up for BG. I've had a home care agreement for years, and every service they say don't think about changing boiler as can still easily get parts for mine, that it was one of th event boilers made etc, yet it must be 23 years old. I like that they come out so promptly when I ring with a problem. It's very difficult to get plumbers round for small issues, inmy experience. I haven't used my shower in months as its leaking, no one wants the job to fix it.