Bosch E9 and EON Central Heating Cover

[jeffo489]

I have signed up for EON Central Heating Cover a few months ago. My boiler was fully inspected and tested at the time I signed up and was found to be very efficient.

The boiler is a 35CDi HE combi Boiler. It is about 6 years old now.

A few weeks ago I started to get an E9 error on the boiler when filling a bath or running a shower. It doesnt happen everytime.

EON came out to look at it; sure enough the fault is NOT covered by the insurance and is a chargeable repair. What they are saying is that the fault is caused by sludge build up inside the heat exchanger. Apparently the temperature differential across the plates was tested and is too high, indicating sludge. According to the small print faults caused by sludge are not covered.

They are sending a technician next week, because I asked the plumber to "prove it" to me. He can not.

Can someone please explain...Can and E9 error, and the excessive differential across the plates (whatever that means), be caused by something ELSE? Could the "its not covered" be a standard get out of jail statement that they use?

Thanks
Jeffo

 

[Dan Robinson]

Sludge is the get out cause of all the marvellous policies that people take out from these companies because they think they are going to do it all for the love.

The initial checks they carry out are not going to prove sludge is present or not.

To prove it all they will have to do is bleed some water out of a radiator. If it is anything other than crystal you can kiss your free repair good by.

E9 if a major overheat. if it does it in hot water mode then it would point to a weak pump or blocked plate heat exchanger.

Either way I would say you are screwed.

 

[mcmoby69]

i have just gained a new customer due to Eon's lack of ability!

yep they are a big company with loads of employees. i am a one man band with a crappy transit van. but they cant do what i do.

get the heating back on within two weeks.

 

[jeffo489]

Is it likely my E9 fault can be fixed?

or does it mean a new heat exchanger?

 

[Dan Robinson]

Yes it can be fixed.

Can it be fixed for free?

doubt it.

will they insist you get a powerflush?

Probably.

Will they make a fuss if it isn't done by one of their contractors/subsidiaries?

Probably

Is your first years premium spunked?

Almost definitely.

 

[gas_man_gaz]

5.2 EXCLUDED WORK
This Contract does not include the following types of Work:
• removal of sludge or hard water scale, such as by power flushing;
• replacement of parts which are faulty or damaged as a result of sludge or hard water scale in Your Central Heating System;
• repairs due to design faults or pre–existing faults;
• repairs where parts are no longer available;
• repairs which are required because of intentional or accidental damage by You or any third party;
• reinstatement or redecoration required as a result of our Work unless we have been negligent in causing such damage;
• improvements required to get a Central Heating System up to current standards, such as installation of modern controls;
• resetting controls, such as thermostats and programmers following wintertime or summertime changes (unless these are done during a scheduled Service) or failure as a result of meter forced disconnection, for example, when credit meters run out;
• repairing faults if We have already told You Your Central Heating System needs a permanent repair or improvement to make it work properly;
• removing asbestos, or working where asbestos has been previously removed unless We have seen a clean air certificate;
• replacing Your Boiler if We consider it is beyond economic repair and over 7 years old;
• any maintenance or repair of Your Boiler which is covered under the manufacturer’s guarantee.


http://propertyservices.eonenergy.com/UserFiles/PDFs/CHC_1yr_TCs.pdf


they are worse than bg's t&c's!!

 

[Agile]

EON came out to look at it; sure enough the fault is NOT covered by the insurance and is a chargeable repair. What they are saying is that the fault is caused by sludge build up inside the heat exchanger. Apparently the temperature differential across the plates was tested and is too high, indicating sludge. According to the small print faults caused by sludge are not covered.

They are sending a technician next week, because I asked the plumber to "prove it" to me. He can not.

Thanks
Jeffo

I dont know if you were just being argumentative or difficult.

The boiler E9 error and the engineer's temperature measurements demonstrate that the plate HE is blocked.

A very common situation because the system has not been properly cleaned when the boiler was fitted. Thats why its excluded from the EON cover.

The cover is made cheap and affordable by making these exclusions.

I clean plate HEs or fit a ready cleaned one all for a fixed charge because its such a common occurance. Diagnostic fee and solving the problem is usually just £136. Many others will only fit a new plate HE which are about £80.

I dont know why you wil not just accept the situation and pay what is needed.

Tony

 

[jeffo489]

I know I asked for that...after all I posted the original question on an open forum and therefore must accept the open replies.

but I dont understand why people would make comments like "just accept it and pay what is needed".

For starters, I accepted this cover because they called me and said you are fully protected for just £25 per month. Yes, there is small print but how many of us actually have the time or inclination to read the pages and pages of T&Cs of these plans.

Next, I am well aware that everytime these types of policies send out a first response team, it is to identify if there is any way out of paying for the repair. For starters, I have had a small leak in the system for months now; it only requires a 15mm isolation valve replacing that I could do myself (except that it requires draining the system to do, and if I have paid for a service I might as well use it). On 3 seperate occassions they have sent someone out to inspect the leak. 2 of those occassions they didnt have an isolation valve on them despite me telling them what was needed and on the other time they fitted a new filling loop for some reason by mistake.

Now they are saying it is "sludge" one of their standard "get out of paying" clauses. But of course I need it proving to me. I have paid for a service and if it cant be proven, then it should be covered. I have heard that this fault can be down a weak pump not pumping the water through quick enough. If this is the case, it should be covered or at least proven why it should not be.

To say "just pay" is not really helpful. I dont know of ANYONE who "just pays" out money after already paying for something, willingly.

the purpose of these forums, is to ask for helpful advice to try and save money, generally, otherwise the forums are redundant and we mighth as well just offer the simple advice "throw it away and replace the boiler" everytime someone asks for help.

Another example, is when I first got the policy, they didnt inspect the boiler. They came out after 6 weeks and inspected it and said the gas valve was leaking. As it was an existing fault, it wasnt covered. What they didnt know is that I had the boiler inspected, serviced, and tested 2 weeks before they called to offer me the service (completely by chance). When I sent them the service results, they finally admitted that they could not prove it was an existing fault an accepted replacing the gas valve under contract.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[HERTS P&D]

Welcome to the cheap policy's that people are taking out and not using their local tradesman. Only to find that when there is a problem, you're told 'sorry sir you're not covered, but we can send someone out .................and charge you!'

Rant Over!!!

Andy

 

[Dan Robinson]

I'm not sure what you're moaning about.

If you didn't read and understand the terms of your contract - tough.

If your boiler has failed due to sludge - tough.

I think you are going to have a shock when you see how easy it is to prove the system water doesn't conform.

But like it or not it is the agreement you signed "willingly"

As stated, these contracts are not there for your benefit. They are there to make the providers money. They're not going to do that by doing work they can get out of.