The terms we work under: how our quotes work, what happens if you change your mind, when you pay, and what our guarantees cover. Nothing here takes away rights the law gives you.
When you book work with Banks Gas, your contract is with Elsien Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales trading as Banks Gas. In these terms, "we" and "us" mean Elsien Ltd, and "you" means the person or business who has asked us to carry out the work.
These terms apply to domestic customers and to businesses, but a few sections apply only to one or the other. Where that is the case we say so, because consumers have statutory rights that businesses do not.
The price our online tools give you is based entirely on the answers you provide. It is an estimate, not a binding quotation, and it is not an offer we are contractually bound to honour before we have seen the property. We say this on the tool itself as well as here.
After a survey — on site or, for straightforward jobs, by video or photographs — we issue a written quotation. That price is fixed and will not change, provided the information you gave us was accurate and nothing unforeseen comes to light that we could not reasonably have seen at survey. Section 8 covers what happens in that situation.
A written quotation is valid for 30 days from the date we issue it, unless it says otherwise. Prices include VAT at the rate applying on the date of the quotation. If the VAT rate changes before we invoice, we adjust the VAT element accordingly.
Each quotation lists what is covered. Unless it says otherwise, our prices include labour, materials, commissioning, and taking away the old appliance and packaging. They do not include making good decoration, lifting or relaying fitted flooring, electrical work beyond the appliance connection, asbestos removal, or scaffolding.
A contract between us comes into existence when you accept our written quotation and we confirm your installation date in writing. Reserving a date through the website is a request, not a confirmed booking, until we come back to you and confirm it.
Where we take a deposit, the contract starts when the deposit is received and we have confirmed the date.
Because you agree the work away from our premises or online, you have 14 days to change your mind and get a full refund. If you want us to start inside those 14 days, you can, but you must tell us so in writing and you may lose the right to a full refund for work already done.
If you are a consumer, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give you the right to cancel within 14 days of the contract being formed, without giving a reason and at no cost. You can cancel by emailing enquiries@banksgas.co.uk, ringing 0121 517 0286, or writing to us at the registered office. Any clear statement that you want to cancel is enough — you do not need a particular form of words.
If you cancel within that period and we have not started, we refund everything you have paid within 14 days, by the same method you paid.
Most people want the work done sooner than that. You are entitled to ask us to begin during the cancellation period, and we will, but we need your express request in writing first and you need to understand the consequence: if you then cancel, you must pay for the work already carried out and for materials already supplied, in proportion to what has been done. Once the installation is fully complete at your request within the 14 days, the right to cancel is lost.
We include this as a clearly worded tick-box when we confirm your date, so there is a record of you having agreed to it. We will not start early on a verbal request alone.
You can move a confirmed installation date free of charge if you give us at least 3 working days' notice. Inside that, we may charge for materials already ordered specifically for your job and for engineer time we cannot re-book, and we will tell you the figure before charging it.
We may cancel if the property turns out to be unsuitable for the work quoted, if we cannot carry out the work safely, or if you do not provide the access or the information we need. In that event we refund everything you have paid, less the value of any work already properly carried out.
The statutory 14-day right does not apply to business contracts. Cancellation of a business booking is by written agreement, and we may charge for materials ordered and time committed.
Materials remain our property until the invoice is paid in full. That does not entitle us to remove anything from a working heating system, and we would never leave a household without heating or hot water over a payment dispute.
Where you pay by finance arranged through us, the finance agreement is between you and the lender, on their terms. We will give you those terms in full before you sign anything.
To do the work we need reasonable access to the property, to the working area, and to a mains electricity supply and running water. We need someone over 18 present, and we need to be able to park within a reasonable distance for tools and materials.
Please clear the working area before we arrive and move anything fragile or valuable. We take care, but installation work involves dust, pipe cutting and lifting floorboards, and we cannot be responsible for items left in the way.
If we cannot get in on a confirmed date, or the property is not ready for us, we may charge a call-out fee to cover the lost day. We will always ring you first rather than simply leave.
All gas work is carried out by Gas Safe registered engineers, and all refrigerant work by F-Gas certified engineers. Where notification is required — Gas Safe, building control, or MCS for a heat pump — we make it and give you the certificate.
We guarantee our own workmanship for 12 months from completion. If something we installed fails because of how we installed it, we come back and fix it at no cost.
Appliances carry the manufacturer's own warranty, and the length depends on the appliance and on the installation being registered — we register it for you. The warranty is between you and the manufacturer, and most require an annual service to stay valid. We will tell you what applies to your appliance in writing, and the quotation states the warranty length.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill and goods must be as described and of satisfactory quality. Nothing in these terms limits those rights. If we have not met that standard you are entitled to have the work put right, or to a price reduction if we cannot.
Occasionally a job uncovers something that could not have been seen at survey — a corroded pipe run inside a wall, undisclosed asbestos, or an unsafe existing installation. If that happens we stop, explain what we have found, and give you a written price for the extra work before doing any of it. You are never charged for something you have not agreed to.
If the extra work makes the job unviable for you, you may cancel and pay only for the work properly done up to that point.
We are not liable for delays outside our reasonable control, such as extreme weather, supplier failure, or a manufacturer being out of stock on an appliance. We will keep you informed and re-book at the earliest date we can.
We hold public liability insurance and will provide the certificate on request.
We are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of us breaking this contract or failing to use reasonable care and skill. We do not exclude or limit our liability in any way where it would be unlawful to do so — that includes death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, and your statutory rights as a consumer.
We are not liable for damage caused by a pre-existing fault we were not asked to look at and could not reasonably have known about, nor for making good decoration where access was unavoidable — although we always leave a site clean and tidy, and we will tell you before we cut into anything.
For business customers, our total liability is limited to the price paid for the work, and we are not liable for loss of profit, loss of business, or consequential loss.
If something is not right, ring 0121 517 0286 or email enquiries@banksgas.co.uk and we will deal with it directly. We acknowledge every complaint within 2 working days and aim to resolve it within 10 working days. If it will take longer than that, we tell you why and how long.
Complaints about gas safety can also be raised with the Gas Safe Register, which investigates unsafe work independently of us.
These terms, together with your written quotation and our booking confirmation, form the whole agreement between us. Where the quotation and these terms conflict, the quotation wins.
We may transfer our rights and obligations under this contract to another business, and we will tell you in writing if that happens. You may not transfer yours without our written agreement.
If any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest continues to apply. If we do not insist on something immediately, that does not mean we have given up the right to insist on it later.
This contract is governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in your own courts.
We may update these terms from time to time. The version that applies to your job is the one in force on the date we confirmed your booking, and we will send it to you with the confirmation so you have a copy that cannot change under you.