Pigtails

A few weeks ago we ran out of bottled gas. This was a surprise as we only usually use a 19kg bottle a year and a new one was bought late last summer.
It sounds like a major problem but its only the cooker hob that uses gas so we were without rings for a few days. When the man delivered the new bottles I explained what had happened and he suggested it might be the pipes that connect the gas to the house, known as Pigtails. These should be replaced after five years or so, ours were at least 12 years old.
Today we had new Pigtails fitted, all links checked and bottles connected. All now seems OK. 
As we live in the country we are not connected to the gas (or sewage) system and need the bottled stuff. We have oil heating with log burners as backup. We also need a water softener, filled with salt, for the water. Up to last month we had only run out of 3 of these essentials since we moved in, I have now a complete set.