New Home - Register Warranty

[Mr Me]

Hi, we bought a new build home 2021 which was our first. Wasn't aware we needed to register the appliances for the addition warranty. The unvented hot water cylinder has started leaking now and seems like an issue with the exterior of the cylinder as water is leaking from the bottom. Vaillant offer a 20 year guarantee with the model however they have now shirked responsibility for this as the cylinder was never registered with them.

The cylinder was installed in 2018, we moved in during the last days of 2020. The home builders/sellers nor the contractors registered the cylinder and the T&C's suggest it needs to be registered within 30 days of installation to be able to honor the 20 year warranty. Obviously to help matters we haven't had it serviced since moving in and appreciate this may be a large issue either way with the warranty however I'd imagine we could prove (in small claims court if needed) that the service wouldn't have stopped the tank from breaking somewhere internally had it been serviced regardless.

Any legal thoughts on this? Appreciate this might be off to a loser and ends a loser due to all of the above.

[Mr Me]

Update on this. G3 engineer just came out to check. New cylinder is required and an annual service wouldn't have saved it. He obviously couldn't see into it but a cracked weld or something similar. Something that the 20 year guarantee would have covered.

[Mr Me]

So, logistics for this are - New build, cylinder installed in 2018. We moved in late 2020. Trying to work out who the sale of goods act applies to in this instance. After speaking to Vaillant they obviously have the buffer of the reseller so trying to work out. Bought the home from a developer, who paid a home builder to physically build the homes. The installation was completed by an independent company who bought the cylinder through a plumbers merchant.

Normally you would go to the plumbers merchant however with this being a new home build, question is do we go to builder/developer/merchant? Quite difficult and need to do so quickly bearing in mind we have no hot water or heating. Warranty hasn't been registered, I believe it was sent off but regardless Vaillant don't have it registered. Vaillant offer a 20 year guarantee on the cylinders so these issues are rare.

This should be covered under the sale of goods act but ultimate question is, who is legally responsible under SOGA for the 6 year 'guarantee' if anyone in this situation? I know who built the home, who the developers and sellers are, who installed it and who they bought it off...

[des8]

You bought your home from the developer.
Your contract is with the developer.

The home is unsatisfactory in that the hot water cylinder has failed within the first six years, whereas one would expect it to last ? years.

Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to property sales so, as long as you can show the cylinder was unsatisfactory when you purchased the property (durability is one aspect) IMO you have the basis of a claim against the developer.

[Mr Me]

You bought your home from the developer.
Your contract is with the developer.

The home is unsatisfactory in that the hot water cylinder has failed within the first six years, whereas one would expect it to last ? years.

Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to property sales so, as long as you can show the cylinder was unsatisfactory when you purchased the property (durability is one aspect) IMO you have the basis of a claim against the developer.

Hoped this would be the case. Thank you for the response. I have reached out to them and will update as necessary.

[atticus]

Have you considered your home insurance cover?

[Mr Me]

Have you considered your home insurance cover?

Not yet other than to not consider it. This will cost us money at renewal, in addition to the policy excess. Bearing in mind the cylinder should be covered by the seller or the manufacturer this would be a last resort. I'm pretty certain they wouldn't cover this in the same way they wouldn't cover a boiler or oven breaking down. No structural damage and only minor cosmetic damage to the property.

[Mr Me]

You bought your home from the developer.
Your contract is with the developer.

The home is unsatisfactory in that the hot water cylinder has failed within the first six years, whereas one would expect it to last ? years.

Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to property sales so, as long as you can show the cylinder was unsatisfactory when you purchased the property (durability is one aspect) IMO you have the basis of a claim against the developer.

So the developer has come back in the first instance with "You should have ensured the warranty was registered and you are responsible for the replacement and installation costs"

This is of no surprise. They have a snagging issue already that is nearly a year old (raised 18 months into ownership) of no flashing on a balcony door which has resulted in water ingress and damage to the wall and surround of the door.

I have gone back to them to re-explain their position, as I see it, and given them a few days to collect their thoughts before I pay for the replacement etc. myself and issue them Small Claims. Just waiting for the quote to replace and then can tack that on to the letter before action. They may come around once they see that.

[des8]

So the developer has come back in the first instance with "You should have ensured the warranty was registered and you are responsible for the replacement and installation costs"

... but the warranty had to be registered within 30 days and you didn't take delivery until two years after installation.
Wasn't it their responsibility to register it?

[Mr Me]

... but the warranty had to be registered within 30 days and you didn't take delivery until two years after installation.
Wasn't it their responsibility to register it?

I've tried to research this, no answer is really concrete. If they registered it 30 days after the install as per the manufacturers T&C's then I would have 2 years less warranty as it would have sat there, effectively not owned during the time the plot was unsold. White goods usually has a set up where the new owner registers the warranty upon taking ownership of the property.

Obviously the T&C's for the Vaillant cylinder doesn't mention this and simply says '30 days of install' so technically yes the developers should have registered it but we know why they wouldn't do this. Tough one to know where the law stands on this specific point. Hopefully it will be irrelevant with the SOGA covering (hopefully) the first 6 years of ownership. One would certainly assume a boiler or water cylinder would last longer than it has.

[des8]

Rather than SOGA you should consider CRA 2015

[Mr Me]

Sending this out today, with reference to CRA 2015. Ideally don't want to wait 14 days and would rather install it myself and chase costs. Are we in agreement that, even though it's quite urgent, I should wait the 14 days before installing a new water cylinder?

To xxxx,

REFERENCE: xxxx - Vaillant unvented water cylinder

We purchased the above property in December 2020, which included a Vaillant unvented water cylinder, from xxxx.

Vaillant unvented cylinder has a water leak. This is guaranteed for 25 years by Vaillant and should not break with less than 3 years of ownership. A G3 certified engineer has inspected the cylinder and concluded that a replacement is required. As xxxx are the vendor in this circumstance as the cylinder was bought in conjunction with the house, our claim is against yourselves. You may be able to seek recourse through your vendors for the cylinder separately. I am more than happy to have your preferred contractor, xxxx, install the replacement and for xxxx to purchase the replacement. I have a quote from a local company, xxxx, who have inspected the leaking cylinder and quoted £1,687.50 for a direct replacement and £1,850 for a slightly larger cylinder (of the same spec' and manufacturer) which I would upgrade to. Naturally I would only expect xxxx to cover the direct replacement and would cover the difference myself. The installation process and costs are identical and the difference in price is only due to the larger tank capacity. As this matter is urgent, I am sending this ‘letter’ before action. I give you notice that it is my intention to take legal action against you in court within the next fourteen days. The cost of this action will be added to my claim.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 makes it an implied term of the contract I have with xxxx that goods be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality. As you are in breach of contract and I've owned the product between 6 months and 6 years, I am within my statutory rights to ask for it to be replaced.

I have attached the report from the G3 certified engineer to confirm the outcome of the investigation.

I await confirmation that you will provide the remedy set out above within 14 days of the date of this letter.

[des8]

Fine, I would only consider deleting " I give you notice that it is my intention to take legal action against you in court within the next fourteen days. The cost of this action will be added to my claim."
and substitute something along the lines of "If I do not receive a satisfactory response within 14 days I will initiate court action without further reference to yourselves "

[Mr Me]

Fine, I would only consider deleting " I give you notice that it is my intention to take legal action against you in court within the next fourteen days. The cost of this action will be added to my claim."
and substitute something along the lines of "If I do not receive a satisfactory response within 14 days I will initiate court action without further reference to yourselves "

All done thanks. It'll be interesting to see where it ends up. House sales aren't part of the CRA 2015, obviously white goods are but wonder if they can wiggle out of it as it is part of the house sale and they are a housing association. Not that we bought it as a housing association scheme, they developed a one off 'normal' set of a few houses to sell freehold like any homebuilder.

[Mr Me]

Update on this for anyone reading - I contacted Vaillant to ask for their assistance, as they'll end up replacing it however you look at it. They invited me to go forth and multiply. I was quite shocked at the way they dealt with it. First person I spoke to 'assured' me there was no warranty/guarantee on water cylinders. Next person wouldn't let me get a word in, next person interrupted me constantly and the complaints department (on email) were rudely dismissive.

Not a particularly nice way to treat customers so will post some reviews online. A few plumbers I spoke to were pretty shocked at Vaillant and have heard a similar story from a Megaflow customer, with Megaflow being very helpful and resolving the situation quickly.