We take having hot water for granted until it stops working.
A few years ago, I took out a boiler cover with Domestic and General, which was a whopping £35 a month.
On Tuesday, 2 July, the Baxi boiler was serviced, but because the engineer said he found corrosion, he capped off the gas meter; this means we haven’t had hot water since.
The next day, Domestic and General sent one of their approved Baxi installers to quote for a replacement because the boiler was old and some of the parts no longer existed.
I was quoted £2,900 to replace the old boiler with a new Baxi combi boiler. I must say that Domestic and General boiler cover offers a generous £750 towards the cost of a new boiler, and the quote already included the £750 deduction.
I found cheaper quotes to replace our old standard boiler with a combi boiler, and that took me days to sort out, so I asked D&G if they could provide me with a list of other approved installers, but they didn’t reply.
We don’t have £2,900 in savings, so my solution was to find an affordable loan at a decent interest rate. Being employed and trying to save with a Credit Union, I asked the credit union, and they offered me a “Green Loan” at a cheaper rate of 12,5%.
The boiler will be delivered on Friday, July 19th, because I placed the order today after 12.30. The boiler will be delivered to me, and the installer cannot do the job on Friday but Monday instead. The installer told me that if I paid on Monday, he could do the job on Tuesday. He didn’t tell me the caveats.
I don’t know what you think, but I have been paying for an expensive boiler cover, and I doubt its effectiveness and value for money. What about others who can’t afford to replace their boiler? How do you do?
I am lucky that this happened in the summer, though.
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