Oil Boiler Service & Maintenance Terms & Conditions

Service and Maintenance Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions (‘terms’) apply to the service and maintenance contract (‘contract’) between the person ordering the services (‘customer’ or ‘you’) and Swale Heating Limited (‘we’ or ‘us’). Please read these terms carefully before agreeing to the contract as they contain important information.

SERVICES: If you have selected ‘standard boiler service’ then the contract between you and us entitles you to an annual boiler service only. If you have selected ‘premium boiler cover’ then your contract entitles you to comprehensive cover for your oil central heating boiler and heating system and includes an annual service. There are no excess fees to pay and parts and labour are included, subject to the exclusions listed below. We will provide the service you have selected to you in accordance with these terms.

EXCLUSIONS TO THE SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE CONTRACT: The following services are excluded from both our

‘standard boiler service’ and ‘premium boiler cover’:

1. Adjustments to time and temperature
2. Replacement of decorative
3. Any domestic water supply from the hot water cylinder or appliances including taps and
4. Any cold-water storage cistern, mains water supply, cold water supply
5. Inherent defects or inadequacy to the original design and installation of the system/appliance(s) not apparent at the initial subject to survey visit, or from visual inspection, and consequential damage or loss arising from defects (not applicable if Swale Heating installed the entire heating system).
6. Pipework, wiring or flues buried in the fabric of the building including this includes underfloor heating and associated
7. Any defects or damage caused through malicious or wilful action, negligence, or third-party
8. Any defects or damage caused by fire, lightning, explosion, flood, storm, frost, impact or other extraneous
9. Any defect or damage occurring from a failure of the public electricity, gas or water
10. Any work arising from hard water scale deposit, system contamination or damage from aggressive water (including blockage of any main/plate heat exchanger and any other components within the boiler or heating system).
11. Removing asbestos associated with repairing appliance or
12. Any unvented cylinder or associated unvented system
13. Replacement or repair of thermal stores, immersion heaters or the repair of fan
14. Replacement of towel rails, Low Surface Temperature and designer radiators, including any associated
15. Replenishment of chemical
16. Complete appliance replacement for any
17. Replacement of oil supply network, associated components including oil tanks and their components.
18. Any increased cost of utilities, loss of water services, loss of earnings, any retrospective cost for items not relating to the repair of the heating components.
19. The cost of any improvements to the heating or hot water
20. Removing sludge from
21. Replacing/repairing any steel or iron
22. Making access to the appliance/system that is not deemed
23. The replacement of any smart/internet-based
24. Any defects or damage caused by rodents, trees, plants or roots
25. Heat Pumps and renewable systems (including air source, ground source and hybrid systems) along with their associated components
26. Direct replacement of existing controls (a suitable alternative will be provided)
27. Damage to boiler and heating system components caused by softened water

PERIOD OF CONTRACT: The contract will run for a period of one calendar year from the date that your first payment is received (‘initial term’), subject to the outcome of the engineer’s inspection at the initial subject to survey visit being satisfactory to Swale Heating. If it is not, Swale Heating may terminate the contract with immediate effect by notifying you. Any remedial work required following the initial subject to survey visit is not covered by this contract and will be quoted for and charged separately.

Warranty customer contracts start date for each contractual year, while the boiler is under warranty, is the anniversary of the installation date.

ANNUAL SERVICE: A service engineer will inspect the central heating appliance(s) once a year on an agreed date and clean and adjust them as necessary using reasonable care and skill. A visual inspection of the system will also be carried out at this time, and any remedial works actioned or quoted for separately as necessary.

ACCEPTANCE ON TO CONTRACT: Acceptance of a system or appliance(s) on to a contract does not imply that it is installed satisfactorily (not applicable if Swale Heating installed the entire heating system) or to current standards or codes of practice or that any spare parts required are guaranteed to be available for the appliance. Please note that a service (chargeable at £105 Inc. VAT unless otherwise stated) will be carried out at the initial subject to survey visit, regardless of whether Swale Heating agrees to provide cover, unless prior request not to is made by the customer.

PRICE AND PAYMENT: The price payable by you is as notified by Swale Heating at the time the contract is entered. The price is inclusive of VAT unless otherwise stated. Swale Heating may increase the price at any time following the end of the first contract year, but you will always be notified of any price increase in advance. Payment is due annually in advance or by monthly instalments and is to be paid as notified by Swale Heating.

RENEWAL: The contract renewal date will be the yearly anniversary of the date that your first payment is received. The contract remains valid as long as payment is continued. If you pay by direct debit, we will automatically renew your policy at the end of each contract year unless notified not to, in which case the contract will expire. Swale Heating reserves the right to refuse to renew a contract. Please note if your contract is renewed automatically, you have the statutory right to cancel within 14 days of the renewal date (your ‘cooling off period’).

If payment is not received, the contract will be cancelled. If a contract is renewed later than 4 weeks after contract expires the contract will be subject to the outcome of a further engineer’s inspection and a subject to survey visit being satisfactory to Swale Heating.

OBSOLETE PARTS AND BEYOND ECONOMICAL REPAIR: Where a boiler, appliance or associated component requires a replacement part that has been confirmed by the manufacturer as obsolete, discontinued or no longer available through approved manufacturer, supplier or merchant channels, we may be unable to complete the repair. We will use reasonable efforts to identify and source parts through our approved and licensed supplier network. However, we are not responsible for locating, purchasing or fitting parts from unapproved sources, including private sellers, online marketplaces, second-hand suppliers, or non-authorised merchants.

If a suitable replacement part cannot be obtained through approved channels, the appliance will be treated as beyond economical repair or beyond repair. In these circumstances, the repair will not be covered under your boiler cover plan and we will have no further obligation to carry out the repair. Where appropriate, we may provide advice or a quotation for replacement of the appliance.

YOUR RIGHTS: It is our responsibility to supply you with services that meet your consumer rights. If you have any concerns that we have not met our legal obligations please contact us, our contact details are given at the bottom of the page. If you are unclear about your rights or require advice, you can contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 040506 or www.adviceguide.org.uk

ACCESS: It is your responsibility to let us into your property. If you do not allow us access to your property to perform the services as arranged (and you do not have a good reason for this) we may charge you additional costs incurred by us as a result. If, despite our reasonable efforts, we are unable to contact you or re-arrange access to your property we may end the contract.

We unable to enter the property if there are no adults over the age of 18 on site at the time.

LANDLORDS: We will make every reasonable effort to undertake a gas safety inspection at your property. We will also make you aware if we fail to gain access to your tenanted property. It is the landlord’s responsibility to ensure Landlord and tenant details are up to date and correct on our system. Swale Heating Ltd cannot be held responsible if we cannot gain access to carry out your gas safety inspection. It is your legal responsibility as a landlord to ensure that the property has a valid Landlord Gas Safety Record and arrange access to the property. We are unable to collect keys from any third party office.

ADDITIONAL LANDLORD APPLIANCES: Included in a landlord gas safety check is an annual service and safety check of the boiler or primary gas appliance in the property only. If any other landlord owned appliances (including, but not limited to, gas cookers, gas fires, gas hobs or any other gas fired appliance) require a gas check, inspection and test, an additional £50 per appliance will be payable. It is the responsibility of the landlord to ensure any other gas appliances are checked and deemed as safe to use. You must inform us if you would like any other appliances checked as part of the landlord safety check so this can be added to your contract. In line with gas safe guidance, a visual check only will be carried out on any gas appliances owned by the tenant or not covered under contract. A visual inspection only cannot deem an appliance safe to use. Should any safety concerns be identified during the visual inspection, these will be recorded on the Landlord Gas Safety Record and the tenant and/or landlord will be advised accordingly. Repairs for these appliances are not included in the contract.

CANCELLATION OF CONTRACT: You have a right to cancel the contract between you and us without giving any reason within 14 days of it being entered into. This is known as your ‘cooling off’ period. In order to exercise your right to cancel you must inform us of your decision by a clear statement (e.g. a phone call, letter, fax or email). You may use the cancellation form below, but you do not have to. We reserve the right to cancel the contract if you have given any false information or you do not make an agreed payment on the due date or you do not allow us access to your property within a reasonable period of time or you change your boiler or an appliance that the contract covers.

EFFECTS OF CANCELLATION: If you cancel this contract during the cooling off period, we will reimburse you all that you have paid us, subject to certain possible deductions set out below. If you want us to start providing services straight away and before your cooling off period ends, we will need a specific request from you. If we start work before your cooling off period ends, you will still have a right to cancel within 14 days, but you will have to pay labour and parts costs for any work that we have undertaken up to the point when you inform us of your decision to cancel. You do not have the right to cancel where the service is fully performed during the cooling off period. You may use the request to start work form below to inform us of your request to start work, but you do not have to. We will make any reimbursement due to you without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel the contract. You will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement. If you cancel your contract outside of the cancellation period, we will not normally give a refund. If you are paying by monthly instalments, any instalments still outstanding shall remain payable until the end of the contract year.

CANCELLATION OF MONTHLY DIRECT DEBIT AGREEMENTS: Customers paying for their agreement by monthly Direct Debit acknowledge that their payments are collected in equal monthly instalments to spread the annual cost of the agreement and are not payments for individual services or repairs as they are provided. The annual service is automatically scheduled at or around each renewal anniversary in accordance with the terms of the agreement.

Where a customer cancels their agreement after the annual service has been completed, the customer will remain liable for the cost of that service where the total Direct Debit payments received at the date of cancellation are less than the standalone price of the service. If the total Direct Debit payments received are less than this amount, the outstanding balance will become immediately due and payable upon cancellation. We reserve the right to collect any outstanding balance using the customer's existing payment method or to issue an invoice, which must be paid within 14 days of the cancellation date.

No refund or credit will be given in respect of an annual service that has already been completed prior to cancellation of the agreement. Nothing in this clause affects the customer's statutory rights.

EVENTS BEYOND OUR REASONABLE CONTROL: We cannot accept liability for any delays or non-performance of our obligations under this contract as a result of any event or circumstance beyond our reasonable control. Where possible, we will take all reasonable steps to minimise the effect of the delay.

LATE PAYMENT: If you do not make payment to us when it falls due we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 3% a year above the base lending rate of Barclays Bank from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the date the payment falls due until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.

LIABILITY: If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable (but we do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so). We will make good any damage to your property negligently caused by us while providing services. However, we are not responsible for the cost of repairing any pre-existing faults or damage to your property that we discover while providing the services (e.g. damage caused by water leaks).

OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS: The following other terms apply to the contract between us:

1. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation, but we will contact you to let you know if we plan to do this.
2. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in
3. This contract is between you and No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
4. You are a customer of Swale Heating however Sureserve Compliance South will be responsible for the service delivery of your heating maintenance contract.
5. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.
6. These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in the English courts. If you live in Scotland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Northern Irish or the English
7. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
8. Swale Heating reserve the right to cancel a contract in the event of abuse or aggressive behaviour towards any Swale Heating staff member.