He said “some circuits don’t have an RCD so there could be a neutral to Earth fault so the electricity could come back out and electrocute me” after I seemed a little sceptical of needing a new consumer unit for £600. He seemed to be saying a N-E fault could occur in the future, which is why I needed the new consumer unit and not that there was a N-E fault now, as far as I could tell.
Yes, I imagine that's what he was saying - but, as you have been told, it's total nonsense, most certainly does not warrant a C1 (if any coide at all - even C3 would probably be debatable). As said, he's either (essentially fraudulently) trying to create work for himself or is seriously incompetent.
I think everyone has agreed that the 2 recommendations either shouldn’t be on there at all, or should be C3 “improvement recommended” which is good in terms of the installation being ok....
As above, certainly for the CU. However, to be fair, we know nothing about the other finding/recommendation ("bathroom light needs improving"), so don't really know whether that was in any way justified or not.
... but I still have the EICR form that says it is “unsatisfactory” so if I come to sell the house soon I imagine the “unsatisfactory” form is what people will focus on
People do not usually have EICRs to present to a potential buyer, so I'm by no means sure that you would be under any obligation to admit that it had even been done. If/when you sell the house, you will be asked if any
electrical work has been undertaken since 1st January 2005 (and for any details/paperwork that is available, if the answer is yes) - but I don't recall any questions about inspections. Particularly if another electrician tells you that the codings and recommendations on the EICR are incorrect, such that the the report is misleading (and possibly fraudulent), then I'm far from sure that you would be under any obligation to admit that the EICR had even been undertaken - but you obviously would be best advised to seek legal advice about that at the time.
In the meantime, there's certainly no harm to come from complaining to NICIEC, and if they upheld your complaint (which didn't ought to be difficult, certainly in relation to the CU), they might 'insist' that a corrected/revised EICR is issued.
Kind Regards, John