Boiler broken between exchange & completion

[IncyWincySpiderOnRepeat]

Anyone experienced this before? If so what was the outcome?

We sold our house at the end of November. During the two weeks between exchange & completion our old (but up to that point reliable) boiler developed an intermittent fault.

We couldn’t find an engineer to fix prior to completion so declared the problem to the solicitors resulting in them holding back a retention of £2k.

Now, a week later the only possible apparent solution is to completely replace the boiler for a brand new one, at exactly the amount of the retention. We are being told it is not cost effective to fix and that no engineer can guarantee the first thing tried will solve the problem as the fault is intermittent.

I have no access to the property or any way to independently verify the current condition of the boiler.

What would you do? At the very least surely we should have the right to shop around for the best price for the replacement boiler seeing as we are the ones paying for it??

Any advice or previous experience very welcome at this point... thank you!

Have you completed? If so, there is nothing more for you to do. It’s the new owners house so they can choose any boiler they like. If the cost is less than the £2000 their solicitors should send yours the excess. If it costs more they cant come after you for the additional sum.

Yes, we have completed. So I just have to trust that the boiler really can’t be fixed for a price less than £2k? On the day we moved out it was producing copious amounts of hearing and hot water, and was serviced a few days before exchange and given a clean bill of health.

Any person would obviously favour a new boiler over an old one repaired if they aren’t paying....

Very frustrating situation, I guess we have just been incredibly unlucky.

Why did you agree to a £2 retention? You could have said “no” at that point and offered another solution.

Because it happened two days before completion was due and we were in the middle of a chain of 5. Literally as we were moving out an engineer was stripping the boiler to try to find the exact fault but couldn’t pinpoint the problem in time.

Had we have had more time I would obviously have resolved the issue myself prior to completion but unfortunately this wasn’t an option without delaying completion for the whole chain..

And I think if you delay completion after exchange has happened you can then be liable for breach of contract anyway?

Yes but you had completed, in between completion and exchange it's the new owners problem. What is your solicitor saying?

Solicitor is saying that we are legally required to hand over the property as it was at exchange, eg with a boiler working without fault.

Therefore because we weren’t able to do that due to not having time between the issue developing and completion we are still liable to resolve it now post completion.

"Solicitor is saying that we are legally required to hand over the property as it was at exchange, eg with a boiler working without fault. "

Really? but any boiler or other mechanical item for that matter could fail at any time - say as you moved out. Is that really part of the house sales? Am interested in the answer, and obviously sorry for the mess you find yourself in.

I have always understood that the purchaser must insure the property at the time of exchange. Isn’t that because at exchange they bear some responsibility for the property?

The vendor handed me keys and told me the hot water tank had been leaking which they only noticed when they cleared out the cupboard.

They paid a "goodwill gesture" of £200 toward a brand new tank that cost me £700. But the solicitor's letter that accompanied it said it was in no way an admittance of fault just that, a goodwill gesture. They were in no way liable for any payment.

I am confused as to why a £2k retainer was needed. It is not your responsibility it is the new owner.

Well in that case you can disagree and tell them you’ll take them to court. You are responsible for an old working boiler and that is all you are willing to fund. They can’t buy a new boiler because it wasn’t there at exchange.

If the repaired old boiler costs £1k theoretically to repair and breaks down again a week later, tough shit. You still only pay £1k and not £2k. Of course it’s madness and most people wouldn’t do that but the point is you’re only liable for repairing the old one. If it breaks down 2 days later - not your problem. Threaten that and suddenly they will be happy to deduct your “repair” costs and put it down toward a new boiler they pay themselves.

Can't believe you did that tbh. You're a more generous person than I am. It was working at exchange & intermittently after that. They bought the house knowing the boiler was old & likely to need replacing soon so probably budgeted accordingly. You did them a massive favour. No point attempting to claw back money now you realised it was a bad idea. Just cut your losses & enjoy your new home.

Your a kind and honest person. The people I bought my house from just left it broke and said nothing... crap bill to face as new home owner.

I hope karma smiles on you for being honest

Your solicitor is correct but it is your retention.

Say you want to send you own engineer round to carry out a report/quote.

It may be that it will cost 1500 to repair and like you say no one would normally do that but you would obviously rather that.

I think you need to satisfy yourself that they are being reasonable.

Unfortunately, unless you'd had a quote from someone to replace the boiler and can prove it's much less than the amount of the retention, in practice there's not much you can do. It sounds as though the retention is a one-off sum ie if it costs more, that's for the buyers to bear and if it costs less then tough for you iyswim.

OP, retentions come with specific terms and conditions both parties agree to. Ask your solicitor for a copy or dig them out. It’s not the same as knocking off 2k from the price. It’s a retainer to be used for a specific issue in a specific way.

Thank you all for your comments, this has been a very frustrating situation.

The engineer that was trying to help us on completion day by locating the fault has now been back to the property and has verified the situation independently for us.

He advised that a new boiler is our safest option, as if we spend £1k on trying to fix the fault and the fix fails we would then still be liable for providing a replacement on top of what we have already spent.

He has however come back with a much lower quote for a replacement at £1500 which we have had approved by the buyers solicitors today.

Still an annoying situation but I am now much happier as I no longer feel like I am being ripped off and have had someone I trust independently verify the situation... a huge relief.

The new boiler will be paid for from my retention and the balance returned to us as soon as this has been done.

Thank you for all your help!