our worcester bosch junior has been playing up for the last month or so(fortunately weather has been mild and we ve got a gas fire and a power shower, but prefer baths in winter and showers in summer)sometimes we had hot water, sometimes we didnt, same as heating. it was 8 1/2 years old. we had a new vaillant fitted yesterday. our plumber did it for 1600 supply and fit. not too bad a price and it had to be done but could have done without that cost.still, hot water and heat is essential especially for someone like me who feels the cold these days.
the saying goes you get what you pay for and to the OP your mam might be better off getting a better quality boilerfor a few hundred quid extra. might work out cheaper in the long run.hope she gets her water/heating sorted soon though.

The warranty on this is 2 years whereas the Worcester one they offered had a 7 year warranty but that would have come to £1900 anyway by the time we paid for a new floo and stuff, she's having to get a loan out so needed to be the cheapest option unfortunately.

Someone mentioned to me that they have a home care plan with british gas and that it saved her a fortune for about £20 a month. I'm a bit sceptical but anyone with better knowledge than me know if they are good value?

You need to be sceptical, some of those contracts will repair while it suits them but do not include complete replacement, so they'll stand in front of your ten year old boiler and one day tell you its obsolete and they'll get their sales people to ring you - BG are very good at writing contracts, so much so that when I had my own company I based my maintenance agreements on their contract terms

You'd be better off going with the Ideal Logic+ combi which has a 5 year guarantee for a couple of hundred quid extra.

Boiler was installed yesterday , Turned out to be a pro combi exclusive 30 by ideal. Lot better than our last boiler by the looks of it, and certainly has a much more powerful flow from the taps. Unfortunately cash was very tight so couldn't be stretched to accommodate a pricier boiler but she paid £1190 for the boiler with a vertical floo and a thermostat and 2 year warranty.

Thanks for all the advice! glad to finally have some hot water and heating!