Thanks King, the plumber has tried all of that. He has been here on various days over the past 4 weeks trying lots of ways to fix it and has just got to the conclusion that the build up of sludge is in the system. He poured out a lot of foul black sludgey "water" on Friday to evidence the problem. I have no idea if there is an inhibitor but the property is 15 years old, it is only the past 8 years that our seller was in the property.

Thanks Mike, the plumber has already tried bleeding the radiators and after 4 weeks has said that the problem has to be sludge (already drained a fair bit when trying to sort one of the radiators). We have only been in the house four weeks and the radiators did not work from day 1. They were here for 8 years previously, so surely this would be a balance of probabilities position regarding when the issue has happened? Appreciate any correction on that if I am wrong though!

Thanks for that labrat. The solicitors we used were not much use during the sale but I will contact them at first instance. Solely concentrating on the central heating issue, we have been in contact with the seller who is stating that they only put the radiators on in other rooms, rather than the three that were not working. Therefore they are saying they completed the form in good faith as they did not know that the central heating was not working. They also advised that they paid British Gas to conduct annual services of the system (not sure if the sellers really know whether BG would have checked all radiators or just done the boiler as we have none of the records). Our plumber has said the system does need power flush due to the build up of sludge which is stopping the system working and that this will not have just happened since we moved in. I will obtain a written statement from the plumber on the system as this would presumably required for any legal action. The sellers have clearly stated the following on the SPIF: - - Does the property have central heating? "Yes”. - Is it in good working order? “Yes”. - Are you aware of any defects in the heating system or boiler? “No”. What is the forums view of these answers as creating a misrepresentation? How would you best take this forwards, through a solicitor or issue proceedings through a small claims court myself?

Many thanks all. Our survey was conducted by our Mortgage Company for their needs only. There were various issues with the purchase and I - foolishly in hindsight - chose to rely on the limited information in that, rather than the fuller survey (it would have added to already lengthy delays and put the purchase at jeopardy). There was nothing from the surveyor about any of the specific issues, but of course he was just looking at critical issues for the lender rather than issues that I could rectify, so I appreciate there is likely to be no claim there. Similarly the estate agents did not state anything particularly about the property. Fortunately I have managed to get the drain cleared via the emergency help included on my home insurance policy, so at least that is one less issue. The damp roof is just due to overflowing bath/shower spray because of poor sealant imo and is not "damp" per se, so I suspect I'm struggling there. We are going to get a plumber round to see about the heating issue and if there are any sizeable costs I will contact the previous seller and highlight the various issues they left us with and what they stated. I would be hopeful that they would want to be reasonable, but I was very interested in the legal position given my initial reading of Caveat Emptor. Apologies for posting this in the wrong forum initially btw.

Hi We have recently (12 days ago) moved into a new (not brand new, 15 years old) house. There are numerous problems, including it just being really dirty but there are three problems I would really appreciate the forums thoughts upon. There are three radiators that just do not work. We have tried bleeding them but are resorting to get a plumber around as that has not worked. We have today found that the drain for one of the bathrooms is blocked and is overflowing on the patio. Lastly, there is a damp roof - we think from a bath overflow/shower leak rather than "damp" as such. I have just looked at the form the seller completed where they have said that they are not aware of any defects in the central heating system, that there are no drainage defects and that there is no damp. Appreciating Caveat Emptor, is there any comeback given they have issued signed statements on each of those matters? Cheers

Cheers, really appreciate that. Thought it was confusing and will submit the claim in the next day or so and let you know what response we get.

Hi dx Sorry, I am still struggling with this a little. It might help if I use our actual figures. Our loan was for £35k and the PPI figure used by FP was £6,975.50. Monthly payments were £295.15 for the loan and £58.83 for the PPI (at the outset). If I enter every payment date from 2006 into the spreadsheet - presuming it did not change from £58.83, which it did but I don't want to make this more complex at this stage - then it brings the total value of PPI paid to date to £5,439.42 inc 8% interest. The cashback received in July 2011 was therefore just over £1500 more than this. Presumably the claim is therefore for the remainder of the interest for the next 19 years (circa £10k interest to be paid) and the net £1500 we have received would be knocked off that £10k, The remaining £8.5k would then be taken off the balance of the loan? Sorry if I am still wrong, but this is not something I know too much about. Thanks for any help!

Cheers. So if the figures I used are correct, we would be claiming £6.4k for the PPI paid so far (inc interest). They would want back the £7k paid to us. However they may be due to reduce the overall outstanding loan by c.£10k due to the total PPI payments due for the duration of the loan. Correct? This would suggest, if successful, we would be paying £600 to reduce a debt by £10k. FWIW we have no other debts other than a mortgage as we recently cleared them off via CCCS.

Thanks dx, that is much appreciated. Do you know how they will deal with the cashback amount? We got just under £7k from them. The loan was for £35k and included PPI of just under £7k (£17k inc interest for the term duration - 25 years). From the calculator we think that we would be due £6.4k back from them based on the PPI payments made since the start of the loan until today.

Apologies, but where can I find the FOS questionnaire? Whenever I click on what I thought were hyperlinks it just brings up an explanation of FOS!

Thanks for the quick response! The letter was only received from FP yesterday and I have been reading up on our rights on this forum tonight so I can understand what to do. I guess they have written to people either because they have been directed to or because they are hoping that people will respond with their forms which may include be written in FP's favour (no idea if that is true, just speculating as to why they would be highlighting this). Can't see any harm in claiming and will follow the method set out in your signature. Many thanks to all who have contributed to this excellent forum, it really does help!

Hi all I am a newbie to this forum, apologies for that. I received a letter yesterday from FP highlighting the PPI issue and giving me advice (!) on what my options are. I cannot recall the conversations that took place back in 2006 but we think the paperwork may make comment that the loan is NOT subject to the PPI being taken out and also that the PPI is only for 5 years - I will need to check this. I would have had death in service cover via my employer for the duration of the time I had the PPI cover so I am unsure if it would ever have been required. I also took out the loan in joint names, but the PPI was only ever in mine - I had not thought this was an issue but it is noted on other posts that this is incorrect too. I was certainly not fully aware at the time that the PPI payment was for the duration of the term. Indeed we got that cashback after 5 years which was referred to in FP's own letter as a refund of the PPI payment. If they have stated that the loan is not conditional on the PPI and that the term of the PPI is just 5 years is there a valid claim? Many thanks for your help!