Following recent announcements about the changes in government policy surrounding the Clean Heat Market Mechanism, both City Plumbing and Plumb Centre parent company Wolseley Group have each announced they will be refunding customers for the added costs applied by manufacturers to boilers from 1st January 2024.
Adam Foy, Chief Commercial Officer at City Plumbing, commented: “Customers have lots to keep track of in this ever-changing landscape as we transition to low temperature heating and more renewable technologies. Keeping things fair and straight-forward for our installers is fundamental to how we do business at City Plumbing, which is why we’ve been working closely with all the leading boiler manufacturers to create a process for refunds for the additional cost that was applied, and ensuring this process is quick and easy in order to give the best possible customer experience.”
Similarly, in an open letter to customers (see panel below), Wolseley Group Chief Operating Officer John Hancock said: “We are pleased to confirm that we have reversed these CHMM price increases. You can also expect to receive a refund for any CHMM related price increases on Worcester Bosch, Baxi, Vaillant and Ideal boilers incurred from 1 January.”
City Plumbing said refunds will range from £95-£120 per boiler, depending on manufacturer. The company says it will be making contact with all its customers, with direct communications starting from the week commencing 2nd April 2024.
The Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM), which has now been delayed until 1st April 2025, mandated that manufacturers of fossil fuel boilers must sell a percentage of heat pumps proportional to their fossil fuel boiler sales. This resulted in an increase in the cost of boilers from the start of 2024, with manufacturers passing the cost on into the supply chain.
Main image: ©Adobestock/Ronstik
The open letter from John Hancock, Chief Operating Officer, Wolseley Group:
Dear Valued Customer
We are refunding all CHMM price increases. We have been the UK’s plumbing and heating merchant of choice for generations of tradespeople, who have trusted our expertise and relied on us to do the right thing every day. We recently relaunched the Plumb Centre brand to celebrate that. There is lots of change going on in our industry – with the cost of living crisis and transition to net zero significantly impacting how we heat our homes – but we continue to be here to help you through.
At the end of last year, the government launched the Clean Heat Market Mechanism (“CHMM”). It intended to impose fines on boiler manufacturers not meeting certain targets for the sale of air source heat pumps, to support the move to low carbon heating in the UK. In anticipation of not meeting these fines, several manufacturers increased their prices from 1 January. This has been called a CHMM levy by some and reported as a “boiler tax” in the press. We have always resisted these increases or levies, and have always stated an intention to be transparent with you.
We are pleased to confirm that we have reversed these CHMM price increases. You can also expect to receive a refund for any CHMM related price increases on Worcester Bosch, Baxi, Vaillant and Ideal boilers incurred from 1 January. We are hopeful that this will enable you to recompense your customer, as the CHMM was never intended to impact consumers and we do not seek to profit from its application.
As the market leader, we have an important role to play in our transition to net zero, and will continue to engage with the government on any consultation in relation to home heating technology, installation, training or otherwise. We also recognise our responsibility to you, our customer, to ensure you are well represented and have what you need to run your business and service your customers at a fair price. It is something we have always taken pride in – always have, always will.
Yours faithfully
John Hancock, Chief Operating Officer, Wolseley Group
