Loft insulation via walk-in surveyor?

farazfastian · 31 May 2011 at 10:45AM

Hi All,

Spent really cold nights last winter especially upstairs, i believe it's definitely because of insulation and i already had plan to do it before this year's winter. Last week a surveyor knocked at my door from a company called SIG energy management. He said I’ve only 2-3 inches of insulation and it has to go up to standard 11-12 inches. He estimated £1000 for the following work but with the grant I’ll be paying only £200:

- Mineral fibre insulation
- hatch board insulation
- Tank insulation
- Air sofits

I need my boarding back, so they can raise the joist for additional £140 but I’ll have to board them back by myself.

Is it the best way to get grant or i can be entitled for more?
Has anyone got experience with SIG energy management?
Are they doing everything(above) to keep my heating inside or more could be done?
Also is it the right time to do it or better to wait till fall?

Apologies for so many questions, your help is much appreciated.

Many Thanks
Faraz

richardw · 31 May 2011 at 10:53AM

BTW http://www.tescohomeefficiency.com/loft-insulation/

keystone · 31 May 2011 at 11:02AM

farazfastian wrote: »

Last week a surveyor knocked at my door....

No he wasn't he was a salesman.

and it has to go up to standard 11-12 inches.

No it doesn't - thats the recommended level when using glass or mineral fibre and although the required level for newbuilds its not retrospective for older properties. There are other alternatives which are lower profile.

He estimated £1000 for the following work

Overpriced by between 50 and 80% IMHO

but with the grant I’ll be paying only £200:

You can lay additional insulation without compromising your storage requirements on top of the existing. Probably do it yourself for £ 200.

Cheers

ic · 31 May 2011 at 11:09AM

Never, ever, trust anybody who knocks at your door. Good deals don't come looking for you. Contact your energy supplier. British Gas recently ran an offer where they provided all existing customers with free loft and cavity wall insulation - your supplier may be doing something similar. The price you've been offered sounds expensive to me, normal prices look to be around £100 for a loft top-up now, I paid £175 via my energy supplier's chosen company over five years ago. You could probably do the work yourself for maybe £50 if you don't mind crawling around the loft.

keystone · 31 May 2011 at 11:48AM

OP - look at this http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=44056850&postcount=1 thread and tell me if you got a reasonable price from this salesperson.

Oh and BTW IIRC the grant available is up to 10% but if you are on benefits you can get up to 100%. I half suspect he was pulling your plonker on that one too.

Cheers

imho · 31 May 2011 at 4:45PM

I just ordered 19 rolls of Loft insulation at £3 a roll with free delivery from here http://www.npower.com/web/diyloftinsulation/index.htm I called the Build Centre number and ordered it.You dont have to be a Npower customer.
We have loft insulation already but its so thin so just topping it up and at £3 a roll its a bargain.
Your over 70 you get it free https://www.npower.com/at_home/Tactical/specials/FreeInsulation/FIApplicationForm.aspx?Referrer=Loft

farazfastian · 31 May 2011 at 11:59PM

Thanks for the help, this is exactly what i was suspecting as well. Will contact my supplier (EDF) and cancel this insulation.

But it means i'll have to do lot of research to find best material for insulation and someone who can do it for me as i'll have to do joists and boarding as well.

Hopefool · 29 June 2011 at 11:41AM

I was able to buy 18 triple pack rolls of rockwool (1200cms wide) loft insulation from B&Q in west of Scotland on Monday for £3 a roll. I think we were lucky as it just came into stock and probably will not last long.

Suspicious_Mind · 12 July 2011 at 8:32PM

As a lone female, I was very concerned about the cold call and pressure sales tactics that I had to suffer. I don't know whether it is a legitimate business or not, but here is my story.

I was visited by a nice french woman on Friday. She spoke very quickly; I caught the following: "didn't you get your grant?" "free" "SIG Energy" "all of your neighbours have signed up" etc....

Before I knew it, she had made her way into my house (forget the fact I tried to tell her I was in the middle of feeding my 9 month old grandson). I tried to get rid of her by telling her that I didn't have a ladder to the loft, but she said it didn't matter - she was used to climbing. She fell in my bath (with unemptied bath water - oops!) I did not feel sorry for her at all! But it didn't stop her.

She then phoned for her boss who was outside my house in less than a minute! So then there were 4 of them (3 were men), and I felt pressured and I told them I was uncomfortable with so many of them in my home. That didn't stop them; they made themselves comfortable in the front room, uninvited (remember, the french woman had wet feet from falling in the bath!). They asked for ID, then said some more about "free" then I heard £199 and clear your own loft. I quickly took the contract, scanned through it to find the cancellation in 7 days option, signed it and they left. I did this to get rid of them and although I class myself as a strong woman, did not feel brave enough to deliver a "no thank you - please leave!" Before this though, they used my phone to ring the office, allegedly a freephone number (I'll be checking). The person on the other end of the phone tried to give me an installation date of less than 1 month. I said it wouldn't happen as I would not be available; they said they would need to use that date anyway and I could change the date later.

Anyway, on Monday, I filled in the cancellation form and sent it to them, recorded delivery. If I'm going to do loft insulation, I will not be railroaded into making the decision. It felt to me like I'd had a visit from ruthless salespeople, on commission. The sad thing is, their business could be quite important, after all, we could all appreciate savings!

I'm quite suspicious anyway, but I'm tracking my recorded delivery letter with Royal Mail, to make sure they get it!

By the way, below is an excerpt from the Companies House Register, for SIG Energy Management:

Previous Names:
Date of change Previous Name
12/04/1989 MILLER ENERGY SERVICES LIMITED
10/04/1984 A.M. MILLER INSULATIONS (NORTHERN) LIMITED
22/10/1985 MILLER FIBREGLASS INSULATIONS (NORTHERN) LIMITED
06/01/2011 MILLER PATTISON LIMITED

Does anyone know why a company would have to change their name so often?

KateLiana27 · 12 July 2011 at 10:14PM

I'd have asked them to leave, and if they did not, or I felt threatened, I would have called the police.

Same goes for any cold caller. Cannot stand them.

PDEdinburgh · 18 August 2011 at 10:03PM

Today my wife had a very similar experience to the one described above. Three male employees from SIG Energy, including one who claimed to be a surveyor, called at our home and pressurised their way into the house. Within two minutes they were in the attic and claimed we needed loft insulation. They then proceeded to persuade my wife that she should order loft insulation. After unsuccessfully trying to defer a decision until I arrived home, my wife signed the form to get rid of them as they clearly had no intention of leaving without a signature.

It is extremely intimidating for a woman to be door-stepped by three men, two of whom had no obvious role in the proceedings. My wife is also disabled, with limited mobility, so this increased her feeling of vulnerability, particularly once the individuals were in the house and had made their way upstairs and into the attic.

The individual who claimed to be the surveyor also lied about the process for cancelling the order. He said this could be done very easily with a phone call, whereas the company’s terms and conditions actually state that this has to be in writing.

My conclusion is that SIG Energy seems to be an entirely sales-driven operation with an approach to gaining customers which mirrors the worst excesses of the double glazing industry. Senior management must be aware of their own culture and practices, because the sort of examples I have read about on this forum and elsewhere are too similar to be the result of 'rogue' salesmen. There is clearly a process being followed.

I would recommend that people be extremely cautious when dealing with SIG Energy.

Loft insulation via walk-in surveyor?

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