Message Forums

Not mine I hasten to add. I'm asking this for a friend of a friend, I think I already know the answer but would like some confirmation.

A few weeks ago my friend's friends got home from spending two weeks at their son's to find the downstairs floor in the house covered in a lot of water, at first they thought it was due to all the recent rain but then discovered the cause was the central heating boiler which had burst and the water from the system had flooded out all over the place. The property belongs to a housing association so the friends contacted them straight away to get things sorted.

Now the problem is this - although the housing association have replaced the complete central heating system they are refusing to compensate the friends for the ruined carpets, furniture and decorations, saying it's not their responsibility. Unfortunately the friends don't have any contents insurance, they are in their sixties and only have a pension so cancelled the insurance a while ago as they couldn't afford it. The heating engineer who fitted the new system said the old one was obsolete and should have been replaced years ago.

The question is, exactly who is responsible for replacing all the ruined stuff? Is it down to the friends to bite the bullet and pay for it themselves, or is it down to the housing association as it's their property and their obsolete central heating system which did the damage? Are they trying to wriggle out of any responsibilties by saying it's not up to them? Going off what the heating engineer said I think it's safe to assume that had the system been an up-to-date one this catastrophe would never have happened.

The boiler may have been obsolete but this does not mean it should have been replaced, as long as the housing association had the boiler serviced yearly then the boiler could have kept going for years.

How do you work that out? If the boiler had burst then it means a part is required as normally things cannot be "bodged". A yearly service helps but it cannot garuantee things will not happen in the future.Obsolete means that spare parts are no longer avaliable.

I do know what I am on about as I am a Gas Safe registered enginner.

Quote: Originally posted by baggiesfan on 13/8/2012

---

The boiler may have been obsolete but this does not mean it should have been replaced, as long as the housing association had the boiler serviced yearly then the boiler could have kept going for years.

How do you work that out? If the boiler had burst then it means a part is required as normally things cannot be "bodged". A yearly service helps but it cannot garuantee things will not happen in the future.Obsolete means that spare parts are no longer avaliable.

I do know what I am on about as I am a Gas Safe registered enginner.

---

Quote: Originally posted by baggiesfan on 13/8/2012

---

The boiler may have been obsolete but this does not mean it should have been replaced, as long as the housing association had the boiler serviced yearly then the boiler could have kept going for years.

How do you work that out? If the boiler had burst then it means a part is required as normally things cannot be "bodged". A yearly service helps but it cannot garuantee things will not happen in the future.Obsolete means that spare parts are no longer avaliable.

I do know what I am on about as I am a Gas Safe registered enginner.

---

Quote: Originally posted by rochford6 on 13/8/2012

---

Quote: Originally posted by baggiesfan on 13/8/2012

---

The boiler may have been obsolete but this does not mean it should have been replaced, as long as the housing association had the boiler serviced yearly then the boiler could have kept going for years.

How do you work that out? If the boiler had burst then it means a part is required as normally things cannot be "bodged". A yearly service helps but it cannot garuantee things will not happen in the future.Obsolete means that spare parts are no longer avaliable.

I do know what I am on about as I am a Gas Safe registered enginner.

---

--------------------------------------------------------
My old Austin princess car is obsolete and has been for many years but parts are still available for it.Obsolete meaning the item is no longer produced does not mean that parts are not available.

 

 

---

I agree , housing assoc wont cover the cost. Mine didn't when our toilet broke and flooded the tilet and hall.  Was down to their shoddy workmanship too, but they didn't care.

My boiler is also obsolete according to the service blokes, who come every year. But as they can use parts from other boilers it keeps getting repaired.