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Advice, please. I can’t tell whether I should be upset with the insurance company or the plumber, but something smells off.
Mom and Dad are in their 80’s and live in a small town about 4 hours away from us. They came home from the store last month to find the carbon monoxide detector alarm going off in the house. The cause was some sort of the leak with the boiler. It was installed when the house was built in the mid-1990's.
The local HVAC guy came out and charged $400 to repair the leak. He told them that the boiler needed to be replaced, and sent them an estimate for the replacement. The cost is approximately $15,000 for a new high-end system with on-demand hot water. They were planning to make the purchase, but it has not yet been installed. The installation appointment is 4 days away. It is a small town with only two HVAC/plumbing suppliers, and Dad trusts this guy.
Meanwhile, Mom spoke with the insurance agent, and realized that they have boiler insurance. They filed a claim and an inspector came to their home last week. On Friday afternoon, there was a voice message from the insurance company stating that the boiler did not need to be replaced, nothing was leaking or dangerous, and they would not pay a claim for replacement. The boiler insurance is thru Hartford.
At this point, I told them to hold off on getting the new system installed. Are they getting ripped off?
They are not wealthy, and $15,000 is a big chunk of their savings.
What exactly did they fix for the CO leak? The main concern with a boiler is it starts leaking because it's usually not worth fixing, this has nothing to do with CO leak. I would ask them specifically what is wrong with it that it needs replacing.
You're between a rock and hard place because the insurance company is not necessarily going to tell you it needs replacing.
Prices vary by area but $15K is lot of money to install a boiler unless it's a huge house and there is mopre involved that boiler itself. That's the kind of price I might expect the full install of a boiler including pumps, controls, baseboard etc. I would definitely get some other estimates on that. If the house was built in the 90's I would assume they are just removing old one and attaching the new one. It's a one day job for two guys with a long lunch.
What exactly did they fix for the CO leak? The main concern with a boiler is it starts leaking because it's usually not worth fixing, this has nothing to do with CO leak. I would ask them specifically what is wrong with it that it needs replacing.
You're between a rock and hard place because the insurance company is not necessarily going to tell you it needs replacing.
Prices vary by area but $15K is lot of money to install a boiler unless it's a huge house and there is mopre involved that boiler itself. That's the kind of price I might expect the full install of a boiler including pumps, controls, baseboard etc. I would definitely get some other estimates on that. If the house was built in the 90's I would assume they are just removing old one and attaching the new one. It's a one day job for two guys with a long lunch.
I totally agree with thecoalmans appraisal and that home and house warranties are a waste of money!
The main concern with a boiler is it starts leaking because it's usually not worth fixing,.
To be clear I meant to say leaking water. A CO leak or flue gases leaking could be something as simple as bad flue pipe. Perhaps they saw something else that promoted the recommendation for replacement. Whatever the case find out what that is.
Another suggestion is find a plumber, if the company specializes HVAC they aren't plumbers. That's not to say they aren't competent for boilers but someone that deals with boilers mostly is who to look for.
Thank you for your comments. We really do need to get another opinion.
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