Eon left a leak after it fitted my new boiler and the ceiling fell in

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My wife and I paid £3,800 for a new boiler to be installed in our bungalow by Eon Next in January 2022.

However, the installer left a leaking joint that went unnoticed for some time because the boiler was in the attic. It flooded part of the loft and also brought down part of the ceiling.

Eon sent someone to repair the leak, but I was unable to get the company to pay me for the damage to be repaired.

Turn on the water mains: After AH had a new boiler installed, a leak developed that went undiscovered for some time and eventually flooded part of his loft

We had contractors to assess the damage, including two independent contractors and two from Eon.

In September 2022 I was told by Eon that a settlement of £2,580 had been reached, but I never received the money. I email every week but hear nothing back.

I am in poor health and this causes me stress. Can you help? Ah, by email

Helen Crane replies: What a pity that this little mistake of a boiler fitter has put you in such hot water.

Most people notice a leaking central heating boiler quickly, but you live in a bungalow, so the unit was in the attic.

This meant that it drifted unnoticed for some time – long enough for the resulting puddle to fall down part of your ceiling.

It’s fair to say that your frustrations with Eon have reached boiling point. You say you have exchanged 65 emails with the company since the problem started, more than one per week.

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Initially, you said you were told to get quotes from two repair companies so that Eon could decide how much you would pay for the damage to your ceiling and attic.

You say you sent these along with pictures of the damage – although Eon says you only provided one quote.

Eon then also sent two of its own contractors to your house to further assess what had happened.

What happened next is where your and the power company’s stories differ.

Eon told you it wanted to send a third person to your house. You and your wife say you were under the impression that this person was just there to get a third party quote for the repair, which you thought was excessive.

You say the stress of going back and forth got too much for you, so much so that your doctor increased your medication and you weren’t willing to go through the hassle of having someone else inspect your house when four contractors already had done. That seems like a reasonable response to me.

However, Eon says that the third person who wanted to send it to your house – which you disagreed with – would repair the damage to the ceiling and not just give you another quote. Your refusal, it says, delayed the process for so long.

There are clearly two sides to this story, and it seems there was some miscommunication between you and Eon about who would be doing the work and when.

But it doesn’t seem right to me that it should take more than a year for this problem to be fixed – especially when the blame for the original leak was on Eon.

Check out: AH says the damage to his home was assessed by four contractors, though Eon says it was only three (stock image)

Check out: AH says the damage to his home was assessed by four contractors, though Eon says it was only three (stock image)

You say that a few months ago in September you were told that a sum of £2,580 had been agreed for the repair, but it has still not appeared on your account.

Even if you have knowingly refused entry to Eon’s contractor, I don’t understand why the money can’t be paid to you on the spot so that you can fix the problem yourself.

It’s your house and it’s your right to choose who works on it.

I imagine it’s cheaper for Eon to use its own contractor to fix your ceiling than to hand you the money. But even the £2,580 promised to you was determined by Eon, based on the quotes – not you.

Since it has sent its own repairmen to your house, it cannot claim that you are trying to get more than you owe.

By the way, Eon’s most recent results show it made £3.5bn profit in the first half of last year, so I don’t think £2,580 should be too much of a problem.

Eon said another reason for the delay was that your wife had not provided her bank details, although you say she had.

Again, your version of events and Eon’s differ on this. But I’m inclined to believe you when I remember you staring at a big hole in your ceiling every day all this time.

I think that would be a pretty good reminder to forward your bank account details, in case you missed it.

The back and forth I had between you and Eon over this overflowing fight made my head spin, so I can only imagine how you and your wife feel.

After reaching out, I’m happy to report that Eon has now made sure it has your details and has promised that the money will be in your account within five to 21 days.

An Eon spokesperson said: ‘We have advised [the customer] that we would need three independent quotes for the cost of any repair work, but she only got one.

‘However, we proceeded to resolve this complaint by instructing our own contractors to assess the property and provide a quote, but when we went to make the repairs [the customer] refused to allow us access to the premises, which delayed the process.

‘We have agreed to pay the sum of the original quotation [the customer], but this process was delayed because she did not give us her bank details. Now that we have the necessary data, we have started the transfer.’

Hopefully your ceiling can now be repaired and you can move on.

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