Warm Front Grant saved me a fortune!

Lady_K

The inspector rang me a little while ago even though she said 4-5 weeks so thats good. Just have to see what he says now, hope it goes through ok

Rebob

Update - I had a call from the installers the other day and they told me to get the quote sorted for laying gas to the house and once it has arrived I have to phone them back and they will then prepare the quote for the energy team.

I am really pleased!!!!:j

margaretclare

Poppycat wrote:

Hi Lady you can claim these if you ring Eaga partership

http://www.eaga.co.uk/Grants/warm_front.htm

If you own your home, or rent it from a private landlord, you may be able to claim a grant of up to £2700 under the Warm Front Scheme.

The following people may be able to claim a grant under Warm Front:

1.Householders aged 60 or over and are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Council Tax Benefit
• Housing Benefit
• Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based)
• Pension Credit

OR

Please add to this list:

[*]Attendance Allowance

Margaret

cattie

DLA should also be added to your list Margaret, as this is what qualified me.

margaretclare

I've read through this thread, also see the other thread on the same topic: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=221419

People seem to have been told different things depending on who you speak to. A boiler may/may not be replaced according to age. Some say it can be replaced if over 8 years old. Others say it can only be replaced if completely unrepairable. I was told by one person that our boiler could be repaired, but then was told by someone else that a back-boiler was now illegal and would therefore be replaced.

It is going to take some little time before we get a definitive answer on this! In the meantime, we had an offer from Npower, and a heating engineer is coming to see us tomorrow - this is nothing to do with the WarmFront scheme. Our friendly local heating engineer has also given us a quote, but some searching on the Vaillant site by DH has revealed that the local man appears to have quoted for a boiler which is now obsolete and no longer quoted by Vaillant themselves! He's going to phone them on Monday morning to clarify this point.

I've just had the following conversation with DH after he's been doing a lot of searching on sites, measuring and calculating the cubic capacity of this property etc:

Me: 'Why do you feel you have to do all this - aren't we going to have experts come around to advise us?'

DH: 'I've met these experts before and haven't always agreed with them. After all, this is the last time you and I will ever have this done, and it's got to be right'.

I can't argue with that!

BTW, the large-bore flue which is said to be unsightly - this is why the boiler, unless it's in the loft and out of sight, is supposed to be in a cupboard. We kicked one heating engineer into touch who quoted us - he wanted to put the boiler on the kitchen wall, thereby messing up my picture tiles. We said no to that one straight away. Another one actually suggested the loft. We wait to see.

Margaret

margaretclare

Further to this, DH has just phoned Vaillant's office in Rochester, Kent. Our local installer has quoted us the very latest version of their condensing combi boiler and it's called Ecotec 831. It was good to clarify this - we think Richard's wife types his quotes and has mis-spelled.

We have a man from Npower coming round this afternoon, and then we have the man from the installer approved by WarmFront coming some days/weeks later after DH gets home from hospital (he goes in on Wednesday probably for a week). So we will see what they're all prepared to quote, what they suggest, what they can do for us and at what price. But the bottom line is, we want the latest version Vaillant as above and we want it in the loft. When we know more we'll be able to make a decision.

About our planned trip to Niagara next July - the last time we crossed the big pond (the 'whale's bath'!) - we did it all on a 0% credit card and paid it off in the 9 months that the card lasted. We possibly might do the same again! Just another of the thoughts we're tossing around between us.

Margaret

seneca

Hi everyone,
I’ve just joined this form and here’s my story, well actually it’s my Mum’s, but I thought I’d get your views on it. She applied for a warm front grant back in February because here boiler was playing up and was rather old. Her old boiler is in a utility room downstairs and she has a hot water tank in an airing cupboard upstairs in the spare bedroom. It’s quite a big cupboard and there is only room for a single bed in the room. A constant complaint when her sons/daughters come to stay with her is that the tank is always making noises in the night and when it come on in the morning it makes an almighty racket. Added to which if the room was a bit bigger, ie. the airing cupboard was removed, she could use the space for her hobby (sowing- which is currently all over the house.) I thought that if she got a new boiler put in into the utility (in place of the old boiler) she could get rid of the airing cupboard and make the room into a hobby/guest room. Then she got a visit from an engineer sent by Warm front from a company named Harland Rise. He told her the only place a new combi condenser boiler could go was in the airing cupboard upstairs, in place of the hot water tank. He said the utility room would mean the flue was too close to a window and the neighbours boundary, so that was out. The garage was a non starter because the flue would have to go through the flat roof, something his company refuses to do. He told my Mum, and her friend who was there for support, that the airing cupboard was the only place. She reluctantly said ok and signed for it. Now she has changed her mind and is thinking she would prefer not to take the grant and to pay for a boiler herself, and have it in the garage with the flue coming out of its roof. Or maybe find someone who could re-route the flue so it is not near a boundary or window. I thought the saving of £2700 was a lot to give up, but she was adamant. Now she got a letter saying the cost of the new boiler is £800 and the work is £1900. The grant would cover everything. This seems a bit cheap for a boiler, and a bit expensive for the work of fitting it in. Has anyone any experience of Harland Rise? There refusal to site the boiler somewhere else and excessive costs has made me suspicious. Are they trying a scam whereby they fit a cheap boiler and inflate their fitting fee. I know they are approved by Warm Front, but I am not impressed. Also, as she has signed for the boiler and the company says they have ordered the parts, does this mean she cannot cancel. If she could do you think Warm front would still consider her for a another grant ie. Loft insulation?
We’re in a bit of a tricky situation at the moment and don’t know what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

margaretclare

Hi all

See my posts on this topic in Silver Savers. As I wrote there, we had 2 young guys come round on Monday from the Chelmsford office of the approved installer in Royston, Herts. And they have agreed with everything we said we wanted! No question of replacing the existing boiler even though it's working - they said 'not worth the trouble'. And we are having a new condensing combi boiler in the loft. The gas supply comes in on that wall, it's the gable-end of this semi-detached bungalow, and the young guys agreed that it was the ideal place for the boiler. Digital programmable wireless controls in the hall - just tap in times, temperatures etc and Robert is your mother's brother.

This is saving us £2,700. It's not a question of not doing it because we couldn't afford it - we would have afforded it ourselves if the installers weren't prepared to do what we wanted, we'd had quotes from local installers. The £2,700 that we don't have to spend means no worries at all about our holiday next year at Niagara Falls! We have the money in savings already - we just received £525 from HSA for the 7 nights that DH spent in hospital recently, can't be bad! The bad news is that the car has just had its MOT, it failed, to put it right will cost £130 and we think that possibly/probably this time next year we'll need to replace it.

I'm really pleased about the £2,700 though!!!

Margaret

Lady_K

A man from the contractors phoned today to tell me they will be coming tomorrow to have a look. I was very surprised to hear from him seeing as the assessor only came round on Sept 4th but still it might not mean it will be any quicker getting it done I'm just glad they are coming at least so I'll get an idea of whats going to happen.

The combination boilers in the loft and water is working but heating isnt its 18 yrs old and I'm really hoping they will let me have a new boiler. Any ideas on what to say and what not to say?

Will this man need to see my documents for benefits and the like tomorrow? and will I need to give him any money if he says it may be over the £2700 now?

Loft is already insulated and draught proofing is done apart from front and back door so thats all that needs doing, heating repair or replace and front and back door.

I did ask the assessor if there was any chance having the radiators made bigger they are under sized for the rooms but he said no they dont update systems they only repair whats in. Would it be worth me asking this guy thats coming if theres any way I could have some of the radiators made bigger?

margaretclare

Hi Lady_K

I don't understand why your boiler is working but the heating isn't. The boiler is supposed to provide heating, isn't it?

No, your benefits etc have already been agreed on. This is the installer, or installer's representative, who is coming. He's not interested in all that. You're now down to the technical stuff - what they can do and what they're prepared to do.

You're hoping for a new boiler - well, just say that!

According to what we were told on Monday (see my other posts) the age of the boiler is irrelevant, and we were asked if it was working, we said 'yes' and they still said they would replace with a new boiler, exactly where we wanted and some time between now and Christmas!

Would it be worth asking....well, of course it would! It's all down to negotiation, isn't it? Negotiate, negotiate!

What the assessor (for WarmFront) told you is not necessarily the same as what the installer is prepared to do. We were just put down for a 'heating repair' (by the assessor back in July) and we were told along the way (by WarmFront's helpline) a variety of different things, from 'we won't install a new boiler if the existing one is repairable' to 'the existing back-boiler is illegal and not allowed'. So, as I said before, it depended on who you talked to, which quarter the moon was in etc. I can't emphasise too strongly that the installer, the contractor who's actually going to do the work is the one who will come to see you and that's the bloke to convince.

Best wishes

Margaret