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

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

However, the installer left a leaky gasket which, due to the boiler being in the attic, went unnoticed for some time. It flooded part of the attic and also knocked part of the ceiling down.

Eon sent someone to repair the leak, but I couldn’t convince the company to pay me for the damage to be repaired.

Turn on the Aqueduct: After AH installed a new boiler, a leak occurred, which went undiscovered for some time and eventually flooded part of his loft.

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

In September 2022 I was told by Eon that a £2,580 settlement had been reached but I never received the money. I send an e-mail every week but I don’t get a response.

I am in poor health and it stresses me out. Can you help ? Oh, by email

Helen Crane replies: What a pity that this small mistake by a boiler installer left you in such hot water.

For the most part a leaky boiler would be spotted quickly, but you live in a bungalow and so the unit was located in the attic.

This meant it was left to drip undetected for a while – long enough for the resulting puddle to knock down a section of your ceiling.

It’s fair to say that your frustrations with Eon have reached a boiling point. You say you have exchanged 65 e-mails with the firm since the beginning of the problem, more than one per week.

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

You say you sent them, along with photos of the damage – although Eon says you only provided one quote.

Eon also sent two of its own contractors to you to further assess what happened.

What happened next is that yours and the energy company’s start to differ.

Eon told you he wanted to send a third person to your house. You and your wife say you felt like this person was just there to get a third estimate for the repairs, which you thought was excessive.

You say the stress of going back and forth got to you, so much so that your doctor upped your medication and you didn’t want to go through the hassle of having your house inspected by someone else when four contractors had already done. That seems like a reasonable answer to me.

However, Eon says that the third person he wanted to send to your house – which you didn’t agree to – was actually going to fix the damage to the ceiling, not just provide another quote. Your refusal, he says, is what has delayed the process for so long.

There are clearly two sides to this story, and it seems there was a misunderstanding between you and Eon about who would do the job and when.

But it doesn’t seem fair to me that it takes more than a year for this issue to be resolved, especially when the blame for the original leak lies with Eon.

Verification: AH says the damage to his home was assessed by four contractors, although Eon says there were only three (stock image)

You say you were told several months ago in September that £2,580 had been agreed for repairs, yet it has still not appeared in your account.

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

It’s your house and it’s your right to choose who will do the work there.

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

Since he sent his own repairmen to your house, he can’t claim that you’re trying to get more than you’re owed.

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

Eon said another reason for the delay was that your wife did not give him her bank details, although you said she did.

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

I think it would serve as a pretty good reminder to send your bank details, if you missed it.

The back and forth I had between you and Eon about this flooding fracas has left my head in the air, so I can only imagine how you and your wife feel.

Having made contact I am happy to report that Eon have now made sure they have your details and have promised that the money will be in your account between five and 21 days.

A spokesperson for Eon 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 attempted to resolve this complaint by having our own contractors assess the property and provide a quote, but when we went to carry out the repairs [the customer] refused to give us access to the property which delayed the process.

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

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