New Boiler

[BlueShoes]

Has anyone experienced having to replace a central heating boiler during their IVA?

Ours is at least 20 years old and despite having it serviced regularly is becoming increasingly unreliable leaving us with either no hot water or heating-or worse, mid way through a hot shower the pilot light goes out and it turns freezing!

My parents have just had quotes for a new boiler for their property, that have come in between £3000 and £5000. I am dreading the boiler giving up on us completely and having to have it replaced-how would we do this in the IVA?

We have already had one variation due to increased expenditure-is it possible to have a second? And if so, will the term of the IVA be extended (we are already looking at 6 years due to probable lack of equity in our property!)

Thanks

Blue

[Adam Davies]

Hi
A boiler is essential so if it does need replacing I am sure that your IP will agree to a payment break to fund a new boiler. The missed payments can be added to your IVA term
If the time comes to replace do shop around as there are some really good deals to be had
Regards

[Til]

Hi we are just in the process of having a new boiler installed and the prices range from £1300-£1800 just for a boiler. This is because we will use all our existing pipes and radiators for now - then we will change the radiators one at a time later on when we have more money. We live in Lancashire so not sure if prices vary regionally.
There is also the government scheme running where you can get £400 rebate when you install a new boiler if your old one is G rated I think. If you shop around you should be able to get a much lower quote than you were mentioning - boilers on their own trade prices are about £600-700 so if you know any gas safe engineers through friends or family you could ask them about installing it on the cheap for you?
Good luck )

[Shining]

I have had numerous boiler problems since the onset of my IVA and still to this day have no hot water, I manage with luke warm and as soon as this IVA is completed, I'll sort it but sadly I've missed too many payments paying out over £800 to fix it and still no hot water, so I do think we need a new one. We have heating so I guess we can't have everything. x

[Skippy]

I really feel for you Lesley, I don't know how I'd cope if our boiler packed up. Luckily we've got an electric shower but if anything happened with the heating I couldn't manage - I made Dave take out cover with British Gas in case anything happened!

[MelanieGiles]

I would much rather see a payment towards boiler insurance than to put forward another variation so soon after the first one. It is a shame that creditors often remove essential items of expenditure such as boiler insurance,leaving their customers at risk in the event of a boiler failure. You cannot be without hot water, but every time a variation is put forward to reduce payments or seek forgiveness for missed payments it loses more credibility. I would discuss this with your IP directly to see if some form of compromise could be worked out.

[back on track]

i replaced my boiler just before christmas.
it cost £485 from mr central heating(website name)
and £185 fitting
those prices you been quoted seem very high.
mine is combi boiler and i just did a like for like

[kallis3]

We paid about £1200 for our boiler, which is a combi boiler.

Our plumber is excellent and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anyone who lives in the Midlands.

[Shining]

We're used to no hot water Skippy, we've got electric shower and a dishwasher so don't miss it too much. Not had a bath in a couple of years though lol x

[Beans on Toast]

We too have a 20+ year old boiler, and we have had to call out on our insurance since christmas. Fortunately they are still stocking parts for this boiler but we have been warned it will only be a matter of time until they stop. With another three (possibly 4) years left in our IVA, I don't know how we would cope if it packed in altogether.

I think a lot of people misunderstand boiler insurance. It will cover parts and labour for minor breakdowns and sometimes an annual service, but it will not cover the replacement of your boiler if it is unsafe to operate or the parts are no longer available.

At the very cheaper end of the scale, it still costs between £750 - £850 to replace one including labour, even with three payment breaks we could not cover this so what would happen then?

[kallis3]

We have hot water and I haven't had a bath in years either! I much prefer showers!

BOT, I do hope your boiler hangs on until you have finished.

You might find that if something did happen you could negotiate a longer payment break.