Mum’s three-month battle to get heating

Kaysleigh Toyne moved into the house in Sutterton with daughters Jaleena, one, and Taaliora-Lucy, who is five on December 9 last year.

Since then, there have been a number of issues relating to her boiler and central heating which has meant the house has never been properly heated.

The home provider, Longhurst, says after extensive investigations it has identified the cause of the issue, and a new oil tank has now been installed.

But Kaysleigh says there has been one glitch after another and has sometimes taken weeks to resolve the issues.

“I got the keys on December 9 and my heating has never worked since then. It had never been serviced or checked,” she said. “I bought some oil, and now because the tank had not been cleaned there’s a growth on the bottom of it which has contaminated oil I bought.

“There has been problem after problem. When they came to service the boiler it ended up being condemned. I had to wait another week for a new boiler to be fitted.

“When I got the new boiler, they had to change the pump twice so the pump broke and then I realised I had a leak so they had to switch everything off until they could fix it.

“I’ve had about six missed 24 hour emergency call-outs where I’ve stayed in all day and they’ve not even called me or bothered coming after I’d stayed in all day.”

She said Longhurst have dropped electric heaters off as a temporary solution, but said: “Obviously this situation isn’t temporary any more, it’s been three months.

“I do know I have a brand new boiler and the boiler is fine, but there’s an issue with my tank now. It’s just problem after problem and when they find out about a problem it seems to take them weeks before they do anything about it.

“It’s been awful. My oldest refuses to get up in the morning because its so cold. She’s not sleeping properly. My youngest constantly has blue hands and blue feet. Sometimes her lips have gone blue.

“I’m worried about my youngest, who has been very poorly, and with it being so cold that has not helped.

“We are all wrapped up all the time, although Jaleena being her age will pull off her socks and her tights even though its cold, but the oldest is always sat in her coat.

“It’s had a really bad impact on my mental health, that’s for sure. I’ve been cold all the time – I feel the cold anyway. There’s no escape from cold when my home isn’t heated.”

Speaking yesterday afternoon, Kaysleigh told the Standard she still didn’t have working heating, although the oil tank had finally been replaced, as the oil from the old tank hadn’t worked, and she was now waiting for a delivery.

A Longhurst Group spokesperson said: “Following extensive investigations between ourselves and our contractor to identify the cause of this issue, a new oil tank was installed at the property last week. We have also agreed to cover the costs of replacing the oil and refilling the tank. We are now arranging for the old tank to be removed and for the area to be made good as soon as possible.”