An Eaglestone pensioner who opted for a free gas meter upgrade found herself with a bill of £168.

And what made matters worse, she was left with no heating, or hot water.

The 73-year-old responded to a British Gas offer to update customer’s technology which is part of a countrywide initiative.

An engineer made the visit, fitted the new meter and then tried to relight the pensioner’s boiler. After three attempts he gave up and left, saying it was no longer his responsibility, leaving the boiler unlit and the house cold, and without hot water.

After repeated calls to British Gas to try and resolve the situation – and with British Gas doing their best to distance themselves from the problem – she was told that they would send an engineer out to fix the problem, but that it would cost £168.

The pensioner refused the offer and had the foresight to ring her local newspaper to tell them about her predicament. Within two hours of the call a British Gas engineer was round to her house, the boiler was relit and there was no word about a bill.

Corporate apologist Sara Powell-Davies of British Gas apparently said: "As a gesture of goodwill, we did arrange for one of our engineers to visit … on Friday afternoon and he was successful in getting her boiler relit. We advise all our customers to have their boilers serviced on an annual basis to ensure they remain in good working order."

So, there you are then. We are left to decide that whilst making their apologies, British Gas were making the point that the pensioner’s boiler had not actually been regularly serviced.

Gas boilers must be serviced every 12 months by an engineer from the Safe Gas Register. If you don’t, you could face worse than an unlit boiler, but death by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

An update to our earlier story – Landlord Faces Jail Over Gas Boilers – sees a Great Yarmouth landlord banged up for his refusal to comply with health and safety orders to make his gas boilers safe.

After being already fined nearly £25,000 for previous health and safety offences for other flats he owned, he had consistently refused to have checks carried out by registered engineers on his remaining two properties. The 34-year-old has been jailed for 12 weeks by Yarmouth Magistrates Court.

In mitigation, his solicitor claims his client is suffering from the economic downturn and says that the although the tests have now been carried out on the properties, he cannot afford to pay the engineer who would then release the certificates.

The Health and Safety Executive, who brought the case against the landlord, believes the man’s fate is a lesson for all landlords and that they should take their responsibilities seriously, otherwise they will end up in trouble.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

A U.K. company has launched a device which could save thousands against the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Flowtech Controls has created a valve which turns off the flow of gas when carbon monoxide has been detected. Traditional alarms only signal the presence of the silent, but deadly gas. The new device is triggered by a carbon monoxide alarm which then sends a wireless message to the valve to cut off the supply of gas, thereby cutting off the production of carbon monoxide.

One of the biggest problems with carbon monoxide leaks is that they are nearly impossible to detect and without an alarm, no-one can act to stop the problem. But even with an alarm, all it does is to signal the presence of the gas. If no-one hears the alarm, then nothing is done to stop the leak.

Flowtech Controls is a new company formed within the North Wales Peerless Group and has the rights to sell the new device. It was conceived by inventor Sean Linden in 2003 who said that he was determined to get the device to the market after hearing about the deaths of children Christie and Bobby Shepherd from carbon monoxide poisoning. They died in Greece in 2006 when their Corfu holiday apartment suffered a carbon monoxide leak.

The device can be used in a number of situations, not just properties. It has already been used in the marine industry, where carbon monoxide leaks are a major problem on boats.

Soon it will become available for use in flats and houses, and commercial properties within 12 months.

It has already received the backing of the Parliamentary Gas Committee and is set to make a huge difference to boiler safety.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Residential landlords are confused as to whether they can apply for a tax allowance should they wish to replace old boilers in their rental properties.

A number of professional bodies are voicing criticism over the current tax laws which they say are confusing. It comes down to whether all the costs (direct and related) of a boiler replacement in a residential property can be claimed as part of the ten per cent tax deduction which is allowed for improvements made to a rental property. The Revenue, claim the professional bodies, are not making matters clear and this is only having an adverse effect on landlords replacing new boilers for old.

New condensing boilers can be up to 40% more efficient than old boilers and, say the experts, if the landlords of private homes were encouraged to replace more through advantageous tax concessions, then it would greatly benefit the environment.

And what’s more, it might help curb a growing trend for landlords, in these harder economic times, to try and repair their old boilers themselves in order to put back their eventual replacement. A report from the Gas Safe Register concluded that landlords making DIY boiler repairs were on the increase and were putting tenants at risk. Landlords should be well aware, say the authorities, that only CORGI registered engineers are allowed, by law, to work on boilers, in order to try and reduce the number of deaths caused by carbon monoxide poisoning every year.

So, say the experts, good visible tax benefits will have the dual effect of helping the environment and tenant safety.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

When the temperature drops, out come the cowboys.

And we’re not talking about men wearing large hats, riding horses and carrying six shooters. We’re talking about guys wearing woolly hats, carrying tool boxes and masquerading as qualified tradesmen.

When cold weather strikes and inevitably pipes bursts, boilers stop and radiators rupture, your first thought is to get the repair done as quickly, and cheaply, as possible. And that’s what the cowboys prey on; a sense of urgency and desperation.

But professional bodies are warning people to be on their guard against bogus tradesmen. Few people when stressed over a broken pipe, or faulty boiler, think to check the qualifications of the people answering the urgent call to put things right. But, say the trade organisations, its vital to ask to see if they are registered with a recognised body before they start work.

And unfortunately, these tradesmen are often the cheapest and, say the professionals, the ones more likely to offer ‘cash deals’ (which don’t involve VAT). This is usually a sign that the tradesmen does not have the proper status.

This is especially important when it comes to work on a boiler say the professionals. They point out that people are still not aware that for anyone to work on a boiler, they should be CORGI-registered. And this is not just a recommendation, it is the law of the land with stiff penalties for those that break the rules. Over 30 people are killed in the U.K. every year through carbon monoxide poisoning and this is usually caused by boilers which have not been serviced regularly, or have been serviced by a non-registered workman.

There is also a growing trend for landlords to service their own boilers and heating systems, in this time of economic austerity. This, believes the health and safety executive, will lead to more avoidable deaths as boilers go without proper checks.

But it not just boilers. Plumbers should ideally be qualified to at least full City and Guilds NVQ Level 3 Qualified Plumber Certification. And what’s more, all tradesmen, should have in place a public liability insurance which protects them should things go wrong with their work and they cause actual bodily injury.

So, recommend the trades bodies, you’d do well to ask your plumber, or heating engineer, to see copies of their relevant certification, or qualifications. And what’s more, when the weather turns cold, you can bet that the cowboys will start riding across the horizon, raring to help you. But beware, you literally could be putting your life at risk.

Guest Article by Neil Camp