Combi Boiler Advice Needed

If your having a complete refit in the house then nothing short of 2k upwards is the norm.

British Gas will charge you a higher premium as they are a major player in the market and if you dont take their business, someone else will.

Use a local fitter that should be able to give you a far better quote than you got with BG.

There are quite a few freelance businesses out there that will do the job for you minus VAT.

That meaning they will actually pay the VAT just to get the business from you, and NO they are not all cowboys. I just paid a good price for a refit as we had an en-suite bathroom fitted and had to rid the combi as we now have 3 bathrooms.
 
Not necessarily for the boiler as they buy it at trade and therefore don't pay VAT on it which can save quite a bit.

You talking about plumbers here? Of course they pay VAT on items, they can claim it back but then are suppose to charge it again if they sell or fit the boiler. Of course there are dodgy ways of getting around this but I doubt they will be passing those benefits on the customer. Don't fall for that old we don't pay or won't charge VAT on items nonsense they come out with half of the time. Most of these plumbers aren't even registered for VAT!

Unless I'm missing the point here and there is some legit way that I'm not aware of?
 
You are talking about the labour costs here aren't you? That is fair enough but I was referring to the actual cost of the boiler.

Exactly, I'm a one band man and not registered for VAT :o

Someone please report this poster to the Inland Revenue! ;)
 
Someone please report this poster to the Inland Revenue! ;)

I know you are joking, but just incase anyone thinks otherwise, individuals don't have to be registered for VAT, therefor I have to pay it, and I can't reclaim it.
 
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Plus they may have included thermostatic valves in the cost as they like to fit those now when overhauling an old system.

That's not going to make a lot of difference, they're hardly expensive.

£4,500 sounds an awful lot, even including swapping from a tank to a combi. I recently had my boiler replaced and British Gas were quoting roughly double what everyone else was. Literally. I had three or four quotes all around the same figure (plus or minus a couple of hundred quid) but BG were almost exactly double for the same spec equipment.
 
I think you'll find that quotes could vary quite a bit. Depending on a few factors:
What boiler your quoted for (goodun or a cheapie) Do check, plumbers can talk a cheapie upto big money status!
What installation work is required
What work/materials required to make your system comply with building regs

Proper plumbers cant just fit a boiler nowadays and job done! The system as a whole including the new boiler has to comply with current building regs. Boiler, rads, trvs, timeclock, roomstat, flushing, electrics etc....

BTW, It would be very difficult for anyone here to tell you what you should be paying to have a system fitted/upgraded. It could be a case that £4.5K is whats needed........But I very much doubt it from rip-off BG

Whoever you have to do the job, make sure they are qualified and make sure he follows the installation specs for the boiler...Have a read of the book yourself if in doubt. All the paperwork should be filled out by him and left with you. Mr plumber should register your boiler too, make sure he does it!

Have fun
Mick
 
I know you are joking, but just incase anyone thinks otherwise, individuals don't have to be registered for VAT, therefor I have to pay it, and I can't reclaim it.

If your turnover is over 60k per annum you have to register.

I dont know many plumbers whose actual turnover is less than that.
 
If your turnover is over 60k per annum you have to register.

I dont know many plumbers whose actual turnover is less than that.

I will have to cry the poor tale then :(

But seriously, I didn't know that :eek: Do you have any Links?

I assumed a business with income above a certain level may have to be registered for VAT, but I never guessed the threshhold would be that low (60k).

It could even to be my advantage, maybe reclaiming VAT on my PC and its components, for use as my "customer database" ( or whatever ), maybe desks, chairs for the PC, Printer paper, cartridges.

What do you think, recommend ?
 
You have no choice if your turnover is over that, you HAVE to register. It would give you no advantage whatsoever, better to let your customers buy the materials and just invoice labour only jobs. That way you have a better chance of staying below the reg limit
 
You have no choice if your turnover is over that, you HAVE to register. It would give you no advantage whatsoever, better to let your customers buy the materials and just invoice labour only jobs. That way you have a better chance of staying below the reg limit

Sorry, I don't understand. Surely if you are registered for VAT as a company that means you can reclaim/ not pay VAT, and if you are not registered for VAT, that means you have to pay it on all purchases like everyone else, So why would being registered for VAT be to no advantage?

Again, could you please explain more, or give me a link to this legislation, I can't find it.
 
Sorry, I don't understand. Surely if you are registered for VAT as a company that means you can reclaim/ not pay VAT, and if you are not registered for VAT, that means you have to pay it on all purchases like everyone else, So why would being registered for VAT be to no advantage?

Again, could you please explain more, or give me a link to this legislation, I can't find it.

If you are registered then you can claim the vat back on your purchases but you have to charge vat on your sales (and pass the difference on to her majestys' tax collector). Assuming you make a profit i.e your income exceeds your costs, then you will have to pay more than you can reclaim. Ultimately, you will pass this on to your client but it can make you less competitive with your unregistered peers.
 
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Consider this:
- The best Bosch designed multi zone combi boilers on the market for three bathroom bed and breakfast setup where two baths can be filled in the same time cost just a tad over £1300.
- 100 meters of copper pipe and set of 50 fittings costs less than £300 from retail outlet
- 7 absolute top quality branded dual panel radiators with full set of top quality thermostatic valves cost less than £500, even if purchased from regular DIY shop.
- The best heating and water design engineers in the country charge £260 a day of contract.

And even 7 days of their art work using 100 meters of copper and best branded stuff on this side of marble, it still doesn't come up to £4500.

No heating setup for 2 bedroom house should cost more than £2800-3000 all in, that includes not only radiators and boiler but removal of old system and replumbing every single part of heating system to decent standard and proper programmer and thermostat setup.

No backboiler to combi boiler only conversion (where the rest of the plumbing stays intact) setup should cost more than £1500, including paperwork and safety check after a week.
 
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If you are registered then you can claim the vat back on your purchases but you have to charge vat on your sales (and pass the difference on to her majestys' tax collector). Assuming you make a profit i.e your income exceeds your costs, then you will have to pay more than you can reclaim. Ultimately, you will pass this on to your client but it can make you less competitive with your unregistered peers.

Thanks doopydug, for that explanation, I really appreciate it.

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And thanks for for the link.
 
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