It is important for your benefit and protection that you read these terms and conditions. These and your agreement, and any changes we notify you about (at renewal or otherwise), forms your agreement with us. We intend to rely on the terms and conditions set out in this documentation.
Service Agreement
Definitions
Agreement : service plan – standard, bronze, silver or gold.
Company/We /Us /Our: Vassell’s Commercial & Domestic Engineers Ltd.
You/Your : Name/s on the service agreement
Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old and resident in the United Kingdom to be eligible.
Important Conditions
The following conditions apply to this agreement :
- You must provide us with any information that we request when you apply for the agreement. All information must not be false, exaggerated or misleading;
- Your appliance must have been installed and used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Your appliance must be owned by you and kept for domestic use only.
- Your appliance must be easily accessible and meet all relevant safety standards and be safe to work on.
Your Obligations
You must arrange any work required to make your appliance accessible and compliant with all relevant safety standards and safe to work on.
Prices
Your statement will show the price of your agreement. The price stated will not fluctuate throughout the period of this agreement, unless there is an amendment with your agreement, or products, or changes to the relevant tax rate caused due to inflation. Advance notice will be given in writing or other mediums, notifying you of any change that will affect the pricing arrangement of your agreement.
Hourly charges
For any additional works that are not covered under this agreement, our standard hourly rates will apply:
- Mon – Fri 08:30am to 05:00pm: £30 per every half hour,
- Sat – Sun 09:30am to 05:00pm: £45 per every half hour,
- Mon – Sun (night time) 05:00pm to 08:30am: £60 per every half hour.
Payments
On acceptance of the agreement:
- Payment can be disclosed on an annual basis as a one-off payment by debit or credit card – or monthly by Direct Debit.
- If you pay monthly by direct debit you must make regular payments in accordance with the “payment schedule” outlined in the service agreement.
- We may use a collection agency to recover any amounts owing to us.
- If we are unable to collect payment or you have instructed the bank to stop making payments to us, we reserve the right to suspend your agreement. Any request for repairs past this date will not be approved unless payment is received.
Duration and Renewals of your agreement
- The initial plan period begins on the ‘start date’ and continues until the ‘renewal date’ as specified on your agreement (unless ended in accordance with these terms and conditions).
- Before your agreement ends, we will write or call to inform you of your renewal. Your renewal notice will show any changes made to the cost.
- If you pay by Direct Debit, each year your protection will automatically continue for another year with a new agreement, unless you tell us otherwise. Unless you have advised otherwise, the fee will be collected from your specified bank account, to ensure you are covered.
Changes in your Circumstance
If you move to a new home, you need to tell us as soon as possible. We may start a new agreement or transfer your current agreement to your new address.
Keeping us up to date
It is your responsibility to keep us informed of any changes to your contact details. If you change any appliances that are covered by us, you need to inform us, and we may reassess your cover, terms and premiums.
If you do not tell us about any changes, any future claims might be rejected, or your agreement might be invalidated, you may not be entitled to a refund of premium.
Authorised Persons
With our permission you may inform us to add or remove any authorised /unauthorised person on your account. It is your responsibility to let us know who they are so that we can add it to your online account and agreement.
Cancelling the agreement
You can cancel your agreement or a product at any time, by calling 020 8320 1050 – or email us at info@vassellengineers.co.uk
Cooling off period – changing your mind
The cooling off period is fourteen (14) days from the initial start date of your agreement.
If you cancel your agreement within 14 days from the date you have accepted our agreement and we have completed any work for you before the cooling off period ends, you will be liable to pay the cost for the work that was undertaken in your property at our standards rates.
If you cancel your agreement after 14 days and you have received a repair, no refund will be given (on the month’s payment), also you will have to pay cancellation charges for the remaining months on the agreement plus the cost for all work that was undertaken in your property, at our standard rates.
If you are paying by Direct Debit and you have instructed your bank to cancel your Direct Debit, it does not mean that you have cancelled your agreement with us. If you stop your Direct Debit without telling us, we will contact you by writing to collect the money you owe. If we do not hear from you and you have not made any arrangements to pay, we will cancel your agreement no less than 30 days after the first payment had failed. You will have to pay cancellation charges in addition to the remaining months on the agreement.
Our rights to cancel your agreement or bring it to an end
If at any time we have completed work for you since you bought or renewed the agreement and you or the company has cancelled the agreement you will be liable to pay the cancellation charges in addition to the remaining months on the agreement.
We reserve the right to cancel your agreement:
- If we have been given false or misleading information,
- We find a pre-existing fault during your first service,
- We are unable to find the parts required to repair your boiler, appliance or system,
- Despite our attempts, you put our engineers’ health and safety at risk, for example, physical or verbal abuse, your home or property is unfit or unsafe to work in,
- You do not give our engineers’ access in to your home to undertake work,
- If you fail to comply to make amends to any recommendations of any unsafe situation, it may bring your agreement to an end,
- If you fail to comply with the conditions and obligations of the agreement,
- When installment payments are not kept up to date.
We will write informing you of our decision to cancel the agreement, any monies owed should be paid in full to avoid interest or any additional charges. If we do not hear from you and you don’t pay, further actions will be taken to recover monies owed.
Getting into your property
Our engineers will only work in your property if you or an authorised person is there during the visit. It is your responsibility to ensure that our engineer has access to your property. If we can’t get access or has been denied access, you will be charged a set amount of £80.00 excess. This cost will have to be paid in 5 working day. Failure to do so will lead to an additional 2% increase per week.
After three failed attempts to get into your home, we may cancel your agreement, but we will inform you 14 days prior to the cancelation date.
Parking
Before arranging for an appointment, we will ask if parking is available, close or on your property. Where parking is not available, we might not be able to carry out the work requested by you.
Working in dangerous conditions
Before our engineers commence work on your premise a risk assessment will be undertaken to highlight the risk associated with job at hand. If our engineers believe that their health and safety is at risk, for example: verbal or physical abuse, harassment, hazardous chemicals, pest infestations etc The responsible person will be informed by VCDE Ltd’s Customer Relation Manager of the engineer’s decision not to return to finish the work until the risk is gone.
If asbestos is discovered in your home, the responsible person will be informed for he/she to arrange for a specialized asbestos contractor to assist with the removal before any further work on the appliance can be undertaken or in and around the vicinity. (This is determined on the job). A Certificate of Reoccupation will be issued by the competent contractor after the 4th stage of removal to advise asbestos clearance – a copy of the certificate will need to be sent to our office for our records and to inform engineer for future work.
Warranty
If your boiler, appliance or system is under manufacturer’s warranty, it’s your responsibility as the homeowner to inform us about the warranty and the work that can be undertaken without affecting the warranty.
Online security instructions
It is your responsibility to follow manufacturer’s security instructions related to any internet or mobile connected devices which are used to communicate with boilers, appliances or systems covered under this agreement.
First service
The boiler’s first service will usually be within 30 days into the agreement or if you are changing your address. Our engineer will check that your boiler does not have any pre-existing faults and if it is not over 7 years old. If we’ve installed a new boiler for you, the first service will be carried out as part of the installation process.
If the boiler is over 7 years or if there are any pre-existing fault, we will inform you of the work to be done to rectify the fault – and how much it will cost, we might offer you a different cover for your home or we might cancel your agreement.
Annual service
Our engineer will visit your home once a year to check that your appliance, boiler or central heating is working safely and in accordance to the relevant laws and regulations. The engineer will carry out a flue analyser test to test the gases your appliance or boiler produces. If our tests show that it’s necessary to take your appliance or boiler apart to clean it, the engineer will carry out a full service which entails stripping down the boiler and thoroughly clean mechanical part ensuring that they work properly.
After each visit, our engineer will fill in a job report that will be accessible live on your online account to be viewed at your own convenience at any time. If the engineer discovers any faults or parts that are not covered under your plan, we will provide you with a quote to do the work.
If your plan has an excess or fixed fee, you will be advised, and payment arranged before an engineer is booked to attend your property.
When your annual service is due, we will contact you and book an appointment for one of our engineers to attend your home and do the service. If we cannot get in touch with you after two times, you will have to contact us or go on our website to book the annual service.
Replacement of a faulty boiler (applies to Silver and Gold Plan Agreement)
If we determine that the repair of a boiler is beyond economic repair, for boilers less than 6 years old at the start of your first policy, a maximum contribution will be made between £700 – £1,000 towards the cost of a replacement and for boilers over 7 years but less than 10 years a maximum contribution between £300 – £500 towards the cost of a replacement for a new boiler. Installation cost of the new boiler is not covered under this agreement and we will inform you of the cost before any parts are ordered and any work undertaken.
Replacement of the distribution board (applies to Gold Agreement)
If we determine that the repair of the distribution board is beyond economic repair, for distribution boards less than 6 years old at the start of your first policy, a maximum contribution between £150 – £200 towards the cost of a replacement will be covered and for distribution boards over 7 years a maximum contribution between £100 – £150 towards the cost of a replacement. We will cover the installation cost up to £250. If the total cost for the installation and parts will be higher than the amount covered under this agreement, we will inform you before any parts will be ordered and any work undertaken.
Reasonable timescales
We will give you our best time estimated for doing the work and we will do our best to keep to this, if at anytime we are unable to meet our time frame due to any unforeseen circumstances we will let you know as soon as possible and arrange a new time.
All maintenance work is to be carried out during normal working hours (08:30am – 05:00pm) unless otherwise stated. Should we be required to carry out service works out of hours, our costs will increase accordingly, and we would request confirmation of the additional premium time by receipt of a written instruction.
Engineers
All our engineers are competent and fully trained to undertake the job at hand. If we are unable to send one of our engineers to carry out the work requested, we will, in some cases, send one of our qualified approved sub – contractor instead.
Plan’s Excess fees
Your online statement will show you how much excess you have agreed to pay each time we complete a repair or replace your appliance.
If a fault that we have repaired, reoccurred within twelve months of completion, you will not be charged an excess fee. But if the engineer attends your home and the fault is not related to the previous repaired fault, you will be charged the excess fee on completion.
In order to secure your booking of an engineer to attend your property, you are required to pay the excess fee, online or over the phone. If payment is not made, we will not be able to book in the appointment for you.
Safety advice
From time to time, depending on the age of your appliance, we will advise you of any repairs or improvements that are not covered by your agreement to keep it working safely, for example, if your ventilation doesn’t meet current gas safety regulations. If you do not comply with our recommendation it will affect or invalidate certain parts of your cover – but your agreement will keep running until you or we change or cancel it.
Spare parts
We will provide replacements with similar functionality but not necessarily the same features or an identical make and model or type of fitting. For example, we may replace a specific shower head with a standard one from our range or replace electrical fittings with our nearest white, brass or chrome version. Or you can give the engineer a replacement part that you have bought yourself, from a reputable company, in a good condition.
We will try and obtain the parts from the original manufacturer or our approved suppliers. If we are unable to source the parts, we may need to cancel your agreement or change your plan with a suitable one.
If we have agreed to cover a boiler or appliance but advised you that it might be difficult to find spare parts, we will try our utmost best, within reason, to repair it.
Obsolete parts – VCDE Ltd uses reputable suppliers who stock the usual parts required to fix most boilers. However, if when attempting to fix your system we find that the relevant manufacturer’s spare parts are not available or that parts may be available but will take longer than 28 days to source, we will not be able to complete your repair.
Our guarantee
We guarantee to repair or replace any faulty parts we’ve supplied or fix any faulty work that we’ve done for twelve months from the date that we did the work.
This doesn’t affect your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, if applicable, and any laws that replace it.
If you want independent advice about your rights, you can speak to Citizens Advice or Trading Standards.
Power flush
Over time, gas central heating systems build up sludge that can block or narrow your pipes, radiators and boiler parts. Power flush is our way of removing that sludge from your system. Our engineers will advise you if your system needs a power flush to work properly. You’ll need to pay for it separately – it is not included in your agreement.
Age of your appliances
Our office will require you to produce a receipt or a dated guarantee or proof of when it was first installed so that we can obtain as much information about the appliance. If you do not have any of these documents, our engineer will estimate the age of the appliance
Creating access
In the event of an incident, our engineer will try and locate the source. If direct access is not available, for instance if there are floor tiles or floorboards in the way, the engineer will need to create access. If you want our engineer to do this, you will be asked to confirm it in writing while the engineer is at your property, this plan does not provide you with cover for any damages which may be caused to the property, its contents, fixtures, fittings, floorings or sanitary ware (unless such damage is as a result of our engineer’s negligence). If you do not require our engineer to create access, we will be unable to proceed with the repair until you have arranged for access to be made.
General Exclusions
- Any item not forming part of your policy coverage.
- Your failure to follow manufacturer’s instruction after appliance installation
- Any events, loss or damage arising from circumstances known to you before your policy start date.
- Your plan only includes cover for your property if it is used for normal day to day living purposes, including renting, and not where the main purpose of the property is for commercial purposes.
- Any problems which may arise from your utility supply i.e. gas, water and electric
- Repairs which put the health and safety of our engineers at risk e.g. where work is required in a loft space and permanent boards, railings, lighting or ladders are not in place.
- Any cosmetic damages which arise from the installation or repair of a boiler or appliance
- Any situation where due to health and safety, a specialist person is required, e.g. where asbestos is present.
- Any loss or damage arising as a consequence of: war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, terrorism, hostilities (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, coup, riot or civil disturbance; ionising radiation or contamination by radioactivity from any nuclear fuel or from any nuclear waste from combustion of nuclear fuel, the radioactive toxic explosive or other hazardous properties of any explosive nuclear assembly or its nuclear component; any defect, loss or damage occasioned by fire, lightning, explosion, tempest, flood, earthquake, impact or other extraneous causes, unless the consequences of any of these are expressly stated to be included elsewhere.
- We will not be responsible for system design or its performances in maintaining design conditions.
- We do not cover: oil boilers, electric boilers, solid fuel boilers, hot air boilers, any gas boilers above 70kW or non-domestic boilers
- Our plans are covering just one boiler. If your property has more than one boiler, a separate plan will be required to cover the second boiler.
- Faulty gas meters, electrical meters and water meters are not covered under this agreement.
Pre-existing Faults not covered under your plan:
- Recommendations from previous visit by our engineer – not acted upon.
- Faults caused by third party that was result of negligence or poor workmanship
- Any changes or additions made to the boiler, appliance and system, that have generated faults on the system
- We would not repair any faults that have been known about before. For example, faulty pipes that don’t have the correct protection, which are buried under concrete floors or prevent access because a part of your system has been permanently built over.
- We won’t repair any damage that’s caused by changes in, or problems with, the supply of your gas, water or electricity.
- If we are unable to isolate the main water /electric /gas supply to the property to complete the repair, it’s the responsibility of the homeowner to contact the service provider.
- Any damage caused by extreme weather, flooding, structural issues, fire or explosions – or any other kind of damage that’s normally covered by household insurance
- We are not responsible for any loss or damage caused by malicious, inappropriate or unintentional interference with the software, internet communications or radio signals of any boiler, appliance, device or system covered under this agreement.
Other losses or damages
We will not be held responsible for any loss of or damage to, or cleaning of property, furniture or fixtures as a result of your boiler, appliance or system breaking or failing unless we caused it. For example, damage caused by water leaks, electrical overload.
Making any improvements
The terms and conditions only apply to the products specified in the selected agreement i.e. repairs or replacing your boiler, DB board, light fixtures and fitting, sockets etc. We will not make any improvements or upgrades for example: replacing electrical cables, fuse boards that still work, replacing working radiators, changing standard radiator valves for thermostatic ones.
Where we have told you that an improvement is necessary, we may not continue to make repairs on that part of your boiler, appliance or system unless the work has been carried out.
This agreement shall be construed in all respects in accordance with English Law and the parties hereto agree to accept the jurisdiction of the English courts.