Somerset homeowner takes on developers in boiler row and wins

Ryan Mills, 29, who took on national building firm Crest Nicholson in a court row over his faulty central heating and won thinks other people may have faced the same problems as he has. As soon as he and his two brothers moved in they started having problems with their electricity powered central heating system.

A legal battle ensued following a series of problems and the firm eventually agreed to pay the three brothers £5,000 to have a new boiler installed. Ryan is convinced other residents in the development have suffered from the same problems and has had more than 20 e-mails to back this up.

The brothers were also paying bills of around £800 a quarter to heat their newly built home, as the faulty system struggled to keep the modern house heated and broke down on numerous occasions. Problems also continued after Crest Nicholson first agreed to replace the boiler.

The Mills brothers took Crest Nicholson to the small claims court and were initially offered an out of court settlement of £2000 on the condition they did not speak to anyone about the case. This action however convinced them to take the case to court where they were eventually awarded £5000.

A spokesperson for Crest Nicholson said, “The case of Mr Mills is a one-off situation, which does not apply to any other properties at Port Marine, Harbourside or any other Crest Nicholson development.

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