Boiler Engineer voided my boiler cover - Please help

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Hi Guys

I've had a Scottish Power boiler engineer void my boiler cover within just a few minutes of his visit without examining it in any detail:

His report states

1) The heat exchanger is full of sludge ( he didn't remove a single pipe so how could he know this ? )

2) Flue Seals have perished ( he visually noticed some condensation inside the flue )

3) Combustion door seal is perished ( some smoke came of his oily finger prints after touching it )

4) Burner seal has perished POcs are escaping ( some smoke came of his oily finger prints after touching it )

I was there during the engineers visit and it was a complete farce and he literally spent 5 minutes purely looking for contract exclusions rather then trying to repair the boiler, I have a court case this Friday and will have an opportunity to question or try and discredit his report.

Can anyone advise some questions I could raise at the court hearing to try and show he didn't carry out a thorough enough check, for instance should he have used a gas analysis machine to show/prove the flue was recirculating fumes back into the intake rather then just making a visual check ? I'm just looking for some insight on further checks he should have made before jumping to some pretty extreme assumptions.
 
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TBf most of them faults are visual checks and can be spotted within 5 minutes.

The heat exchanger full of sludge im not sure about.

I don't see how that can void your boiler cover unless you took the policy knowing there was a fault and didn't wait for the 3-6 month period.

When we do reports at work we take photos of all the points we notice and take photos of the work being carried out.

Your boiler sounds like it has suffered a lack of servicing over the years and if it has been serviced it's been done badly.

I don't know how you've managed to get as far as a court case on this with little evidence and knowledge,

I would have at least expected you to have got a 2nd opinion from an independent heating engineer before getting as far as court, so I can't help but think there is information missing here.

Think you need to provide a bit more information and facts before any further help can be provided.
 
Was the boiler turned off at all? Did you ask them to repair the boiler, knowing faults existed? The heat exchanger being blocked - could be a visual telltale sign. Agree with SX, more information would be required but probably not enough to solve within your time period (2 days). Do let us know how you get on though.
 
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i’ve already written my witness statement, opening and closing statements and most of my cross examination questions especially how I was dealt with by scottish power during freezing cold weather with a small baby but as regards to a second opinion I did ring numerous engineers but as the boiler had been physically cut off from the the gas mains none of them were able to write a report due to it no longer functioning ..I was put into a catch 22 situation..I did however get 3 engineers (one a Worcester engineer) to visually inspect it when they were installing my new boiler and they removed the heat exchanger showing zero sludge, they also carried out a flow test on the heat exchanger again showing no issues.

as i said the only sign the combustion chamber was leaking was a tiny amount of smoke which came off his dirty finger prints when he touched it previously, I remember him doing it as he nearly burned his fingers and said **** that’s still a bit hot.

I guess i’m just looking for a some tests he should have run with a gas analysis machine to prove the flue seals were perished or leaking ? or any other tests for the other issues he found
 
I’ve had a really bad leaking flue, but it passed a flue integrity check, but would still be at risk. Combustion chamber door seal would (unless visually evident) need to be checked for integrity.

If your boiler was cut off from the supply, I’m guessing you refused an immediately dangerous situation and Cadent chopped you off?
 
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If it's got as far as going to court on Friday, then I can surmise two things...
  1. This has been going on for a very long time and we need much more information about what has happened in order to make any judgement
  2. Scottish Power are very very confident of winning this case
What was the original fault they were called out for?
 
I’ve had a really bad leaking flue, but it passed a flue integrity check, but would still be at risk. Combustion chamber door seal would (unless visually evident) need to be checked for integrity.

If your boiler was cut off from the supply, I’m guessing you refused an immediately dangerous situation and academy chopped you off?

Thanks what is a flue integrity test and how would you check the integrity of the door seal ?

i appreciate your possibly on the side the engineer but i had issues with the company few months previously when the same engineer refused to wear a mask and i had to ring up and complain to his company..after that i was a marked man by him
 
Thanks what is a flue integrity test and how would you check the integrity of the door seal ?

i appreciate your possibly on the side the engineer
A flue integrity check confirms the integrity of the flue using the flue gas analyser, and similar check on the door seal, can’t really say anymore as it’s then offering gas advice on an open forum. I’m not siding with anyone, just trying to ascertain facts, as will any solicitor/judge.
 
i’ve already written my witness statement, opening and closing statements and most of my cross examination questions especially how I was dealt with by scottish power during freezing cold weather with a small baby but as regards to a second opinion I did ring numerous engineers but as the boiler had been physically cut off from the the gas mains none of them were able to write a report due to it no longer functioning ..I was put into a catch 22 situation..I did however get 3 engineers (one a Worcester engineer) to visually inspect it when they were installing my new boiler and they removed the heat exchanger showing zero sludge, they also carried out a flow test on the heat exchanger again showing no issues.

as i said the only sign the combustion chamber was leaking was a tiny amount of smoke which came off his dirty finger prints when he touched it previously, I remember him doing it as he nearly burned his fingers and said **** that’s still a bit hot.

I guess i’m just looking for a some tests he should have run with a gas analysis machine to prove the flue seals were perished or leaking ? or any other tests for the other issues he found

One of those 3 engineers if not all of them could have written you a report, and it should be those reports that form your evidence in court, the report should advise the tests which should be carried out, and the items that would be replaced as part of a service.

The 3 engineers that turned up also didn't need to replace the boiler, they could have fixed it by replacing the seals and flushing the heat exchanger, but instead chose to replace the boiler, so was there further issues with the boiler?


I had a similar issue with homeseve a couple of years back, each time an engineer arrived the boiler was made worse, 1 engineer came out twice spoke to my and my wife like crap and left the boiler not working so we refused to have him round any more, they still sent him so we wouldn't let him in. After 3 months in the height of winter with no hot water and electric heaters homeserve changed their terms and conditions and decided they will no longer support my boiler brand, and advised me there was nothing else they could do to fix my problems (upstairs rads not getting hot), I also tried a couple of heating engineers who were just as bad as the homeserve reps, I fixed the boiler and the fault myself. And swore never to use these firms again and to save the £30 per month I was paying them.
 
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Should we assume it's the 35CDi combi from previous postings?
These heat exchangers are pretty tolerant to sludge and you would normally be getting fault codes if there were problems.
Flue integrity is checked by measuring for contamination on the air side and for correct flue gas readings....any visual check is subjective.
Perished heat exchanger and burner seals are common on boilers that have not had a full service for many many years...and replacement of those seals is routine.
 
One of those 3 engineers if not all of them could have written you a report, and it should be those reports that form your evidence in court, the report should advise the tests which should be carried out, and the items that would be replaced as part of a service.

The 3 engineers that turned up also didn't need to replace the boiler, they could have fixed it by replacing the seals and flushing the heat exchanger, but instead chose to replace the boiler, so was there further issues with the boiler?


I had a similar issue with homeseve a couple of years back, each time an engineer arrived the boiler was made worse, 1 engineer came out twice spoke to my and my wife like crap and left the boiler not working so we refused to have him round any more, they still sent him so we wouldn't let him in. After 3 months in the height of winter with no hot water and electric heaters homeserve changed their terms and conditions and decided they will no longer support my boiler brand, and advised me there was nothing else they could do to fix my problems (upstairs rads not getting hot), I also tried a couple of heating engineers who were just as bad as the homeserve reps, I fixed the boiler and the fault myself. And swore never to use these firms again and to save the £30 per month I was paying them.


thanks yes the engineer was extremely rude and shouted at us saying he was to busy to wear a mask and went to leave despite us having a newborn baby, when I said it was all being recorded on camera and i'd forward his comments to his manager he came back and said he was having a bad day and too many calls thrown at him by head office...unfortunately it was the same engineer a few months later and as he walked in the door before even viewing the boiler said we had hard water and BER'd it before even looking at the boiler ..it was a bizarre situation as he didn't even take the cover off before diagnosing the boiler...when I refused to accept his diagnostics he just went on and on ripping the boiler a new hole...I've never felt so helpless and he used his power to decomn our boiler and cut it off from the gas supply...hence the court case
 

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