Try not to panic. Unless it's a catastrophic failure, the engineer will be able to replace the faulty part. Once he's done that get some boiler cover. My boiler went a couple of times last winter but I had peace of mind because of the cover. Boilers, like cars, have moving parts that break and cause the whole thing to stop working and these parts just need to be replaced. I hope the engineer is with you soon and can put your mind at ease.

Mrs Mac,

As with all things in life, listen to what the gas man has to say about your boiler and if you're unsure about his advice or what work is required to fix it, ask someone else to have a look at your boiler for a second opinion.

Hopefully it's a faulty part and not a new system.

Gas man been. Boiler fixed for the meantime with no call out charge as its covered under service contract. It just shows how vulnerable we are whilst in this financial mess. If I hadn't got that fixed today we were in big trouble with no money or credit facilities. We would have had no hearing for our children!

Hi Mrs Mac.

I'm really pleased that this didn't turn out to be the problem that you feared.