My boiler quote seems too high, is it?

You have a quote in your hand and the number is bigger than you expected. Before deciding anyone is trying it on, it is worth being clear about what too high can actually mean. A price can only be too high relative to the job it describes, and most people judging a boiler quote are not comparing it to the job. They are comparing it to a number they saw online, or to what a neighbour paid for a different house years ago.

We place boiler enquiries with local installers around Northampton and Milton Keynes, which means we regularly see the same property priced by different firms. Genuinely padded quotes exist, but they are rarer than the internet suggests, and they give themselves away in a particular manner. Here is how to tell which kind you are holding.

Why the internet average cannot help you

The figures published on national comparison sites describe a hypothetical straight swap in a hypothetical house. Your quote describes your house: your flue route, your gas run, the state of your system, and whatever your installer found when they looked behind the boiler. A real quote sitting above an internet average tells you almost nothing, because the average has never seen your kitchen.

That is why this article will not give you a figure to check yours against. There is a better test, and it does not need one.

First test: can the quote explain itself?

A justified price can show its working. Look at the document rather than the total. A quote that names the exact boiler model and guarantee length, describes the flue work, states which cleaning method the system is getting, lists the controls, and says what is excluded has given you everything you need to see where the money goes. A quote that is one line and a number has given you nothing to judge, which cuts both ways: you cannot show it is fair, and the installer cannot show it is not padded.

If your high quote is the detailed one, that detail is often the explanation. Itemised quotes look dearer because they have written the whole job down, including the parts a vaguer competitor will bill you for on the day.

Second test: was it surveyed or assumed?

A price produced after someone stood in your house, measured the gas run and looked for a condensate route describes the job that exists. A price produced over the phone describes the job the installer hopes exists. The surveyed price is usually the higher of the two, and it is higher because it is complete, not because it is greedy.

So ask where your number came from. If the installer surveyed and the price reflects things they found, ask them to point at each finding in the quote. A firm that has genuinely priced your house can do this in two minutes, and the conversation usually turns a frightening total into a list of understandable lines.

The lines that legitimately make a quote expensive

Some jobs are simply dearer than a straight swap, and the difference is the house, not the margin. The usual suspects:

• A flue that cannot go straight out of the wall behind the boiler: vertical runs, extensions to clear windows or boundaries, and any scaffolding to reach them.
• A gas supply pipe that needs upsizing for a modern boiler, which can mean a new run across the property.
• No easy condensate route, so one has to be created.
• A system dirty enough to need a power flush rather than a chemical cleanse.
• A change of boiler type or position, which brings pipework, wiring and making good with it.
• A longer manufacturer guarantee. Accredited installers can offer ten years or more on some brands, and that guarantee is part of what the price buys.

When a high quote really is too high

Padding has habits, and they are behavioural more than numerical. Be wary of a quote that stays vague when you ask for itemisation, a price that drops sharply the moment you hesitate, pressure to sign today because the price expires tomorrow, or a demand for most of the money before any work starts. None of these are how a busy, competent firm behaves, because a firm with a full diary does not need to trap anyone.

Check the basics too. Every gas boiler must be fitted by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and you can check any firm's registration on the Gas Safe Register before taking their number seriously at all.

Source: Gas Safe Register

What to do with the quote you have

Do not open with an accusation, open with questions. Ask what happens to the price if the flue turns out simpler than allowed for. Ask why this cleaning method and not the cheaper one. Ask which lines would change if you chose a different boiler. An honest installer answers easily and sometimes finds a genuine saving. An inflated quote gets defensive, because questions are exactly what it cannot survive.

Then get the number its real test: another price for the same, fully described job. One quote is a claim, three are a pattern. If you would like quotes from vetted local installers who price from a survey and itemise what they find, tell us about the job and we will arrange it, with no obligation.