Where do I stand

[Beckmeister General]

My CLAS HE 30 Ariston Boliler is one day over its 2 year guarentee. My mate whose a gas safe Plumber who didn't fit the boiler has come to service it and found that the exhaust is leaking into the boiler due to the top of the boiler being corroded where the flue is. He has given me a Warning/Advice notice. He only installs baxi and told me to get the Ariston engineer to assess the situation and he'll be there.

1. Whats the chance of me getting anything from Ariston due to this corrosion must have been happening since day one.
2. Has anyone else experienced this

Untitled

• Beckmeister General
• 18 Oct 2009
• 1

Untitled

• Beckmeister General
• 18 Oct 2009
• 1

Please see attached photos

 

[namsag]

For corrosion there i would say flue has not been installed properly inner duct not sealed somewhere and condensation running down outer flue duct back to boiler.
Unless top of boiler case comes seperate you would be as well getting new boiler than trying to transfer everything over into a new case IF avialable

 

[Beckmeister General]

Thanx namsag
If Its a fitting problem that the Ariston engineer identifies could I sue the installer or would it be better to go through gas safe

 

[twgas]

I wouldn't be surprised if the flue was not fitted properly in first place and the condensate has run down inside and caused the rusting, I doubt Ariston can be held responsible, they may however help/advise you (I have not had any dealings directly with them)

 

[Boilerman2]

Having experienced Aristons "Customer relations" I wouldn't expect to get anywhere there! as has been said, this looks like an Installation fault with the flue seal etc, so go back to the original installer and see what he can do, if he is a nice guy, he might be able to help, so don't go in guns blazing!

 

[bengasman]

Don't forget that as you would be the initiating party, the onus of proof is on you. As you are not a heating engineer, I'd say your chances of winning the case in court, are about the same as Brown's chances of winning the elections.

 

[D_Hailsham]

Don't forget that as you would be the initiating party, the onus of proof is on you. As you are not a heating engineer, I'd say your chances of winning the case in court, are about the same as Brown's chances of winning the elections.

But he will have the report from the Gassafe Registered engineer explaining what is wrong with the boiler and why he issued the Warning/Advice notice.

THe OP's first port of call is the installer. If there is a fault with the boiler, it's up to the installer to involve Ariston.

 

[heatingman]

If it can be proven in court that the installer has failed to install the flue correctly as per instructions and you can prove that the flue has not been interferred with since he would be held responsible. In other words it would be a mine field of litigation and counter claims. Try Aristons, for a bit of good CR, as a gesture of goodwill you might be able to blag a unit at cost.
I wouldn't hold my breath for anything fantastic to happen.

 

[bengasman]

Don't forget that as you would be the initiating party, the onus of proof is on you. As you are not a heating engineer, I'd say your chances of winning the case in court, are about the same as Brown's chances of winning the elections.

But he will have the report from the Gassafe Registered engineer explaining what is wrong with the boiler and why he issued the Warning/Advice notice..

Which has no relevance to proving the installer caused that problem.

 

[Agile]

I wouldn't be surprised if the flue was not fitted properly in first place and the condensate has run down inside and caused the rusting, I doubt Ariston can be held responsible, they may however help/advise you (I have not had any dealings directly with them)

I am sure this is totally correct.

Its not the manufacturer's fault. They did not install the boiler and all their other boilers are working fine.

NOW the important part! You need to get a VERY competent boiler engineer to inspect it and that must be someone competent to make up a formal report with photos. It will not be cheap either, perhaps £300-£600. And it has to be someone who would be plausible in Court. You will have to pay for that at this stage.

You could free of charge complain to Gas Safe ( was CORGI ) but they will not be a witness in Court and my experience of their inspectors is that they may well be hesitant to apportion blame.

I would suggest you start by a formal letter to the installer headed "Letter before Action" explaining that the boiler has been found to have damage caused by an installation fault and you are holding him liable for the cost of repairing/replacing. You should give him the opportunity to put things right quietly and without further costs.

In reality the installer who does that kind of thing is possibly a cowboy and may not be registered or have any insurance. Easy way to check, did he compete the Benchmark Certificate and/or notify the installation to CORGI ( at the time ) now Gas Safe. Gas Safe should be able to advise you if it was registered.

You have not mentioned the installer. Either you bought the property after the boiler was installed or you already know that he was dodgy !

Please tell us the truth about the history and we can best advise you.

Tony

 

[bengasman]

To prove in court that it was the installer's fault, he would not only have to be very good indeed, he would also have to be extremely good at presenting his findings.
If I was acting on behalf of the installer, I don't think I would have much problem presenting arguments that leave reasonable doubt, even though it sounds like it is clearly a bad install.

 

[Agile]

Les from the News forum used to represent householders ( free ) because he had a strong sence of justice and does not like to see anyone ripped off. He says he had never lost any of his 13 (?) cases !

The courts bend over backwards to find in favour of the householder against plumbers because everyone knows they are all cowboys.

The reality is that virtually none ever get to court because the amounts concerned are usually very small compared with the cost of employing over paid solicitors and even more overpaid baristers. Then there is the cost of legal representation for the defendant. No point in paying fat cat lawers £5000 to defend a claim for £2000. So they are mostly settled out of court where an insurance company is involved.

Of course few cowboys have any insurance so you are up against the man himself. That can mean difficulty in getting paid any amounts awarded against you.

If you paid them by cheque then you will have their bank account details which could be very helpful. ( G.... O....etc. ) If you paid by cash with no receipt then..................

Tony

 

[bengasman]

The main problem here when it comes to legal action is that it seems the op has 2 major things going against him. Only 1 of those has to be shown as likely, and case fails.

 

[Agile]

The main problem here when it comes to legal action is that it seems the op has 2 major things going against him. Only 1 of those has to be shown as likely, and case fails.

I cannot agree with that at all.

It was quite simple, the installer should have known what he was doing and badly fitted the boiler so that it leaked and failed.

The other 60,000 of that model installed are all fine so its clearly the fault of the installer.

As we know all plumbers are ignorant cowboys!

 

[Beckmeister General]

I had the boiler fitted and The Gas installer has supplied a corgi building regulations compliance certificate.
My mate who was servicing the boiler thinks the flue was fitted correctly but as he's never fitted Ariston told me to contact them.
If an Ariston engineer says it due to bad fitting I was going to get back in touch with the installer.