Compensation for home inspector trainee

becstarr

Hi,

I'm posting this trying to get a bit of help for my OH. A few years ago (before we met otherwise i would have warned him off!!) he signed up with and started to train with beahomeinspector.co.uk - this involved taking out a pretty hefty loan of around £6000 which we are still paying off. I'm not sure if he actually finished training but either way the company went bust and the government cancelled HIPS so either way we have been left with a lot of debt for nothing.

Does anyone know if there is anyway of attempting to get any of the money back or compensation of some kind?

Any advice would be welcome - the loan had a period without payment and has only just kicked in and it really is draining our money each month

McKneff

I really wouldnt think so, he signed a binding contract for the loan (probably a loan company and not the training company) which he has no choice to pay back, the loan company would have paid the training company upfront so he has no choice but to pay the loan company the debt. Thats the way I see it anyway.

Does he not know whether he finished the training course. Could he use any of these skills in finding a new/better job.



Dont think yu could take on the government either about cancelling HIPS either. It was legislation at the time of it coming in and going out.
Sorry, cant be of any further help.

wantsajob

Some people still want HIPS as they can be a good marketing tool for energy efficient homes.

SailorSam

I looked into that same training 'cos at the time it seemed to offer a well paid job at the end of it, i remember the there was a questions and answers section in the paperwork i was given. One of the questions was 'what happens if the govt changes its mind and decides not to bring in Hips, can i get my money back'
The answer was No.
I'm glad i decided not to go ahead, the only thing that stopped me was there wasn't a centre in this area so i would have had to add travel and hotels to the cost.

becstarr

Just spoke to him and he didn't get the qualification - the company went bust before he finished so he's well and truly out of pocket with nothing to show....

Ho hum just pay it off and learn the lesson i guess

becstarr

Just a quick update on this - i know it was a long time ago.. I decided i had nothing to lose and wrote to the loan company about getting the money refunded. Long and short of it, they refused so i went to the financial ombudsmen who found in our favour and we have had the loan plus all interest etc refunded.
Obviously this is specific to our case and not everyone will have the same outcome, but there is hope for people out there!