Green Deal MSE Guide Discussion

Lpg

If you have just moved into your property how do you get a honest evaualtion of your use.

I thought about asking previous owner but there would be a differnce as we are a couple previous ownerswas single.

Also they worked we are retired.

aberant

wacsa wrote: »

Can anyone advise if they think my mother would be eligible for help through this scheme? I won't get in to why and how the house is the way it is as it's too long a story and personal.

As I said her income is just over 20k in pensions, she owns her home outright and does not receive any benefits, including pension credit.

Not with that kind of income. See my earlier post for the eligibility criteria for free boilers. That said, they wouldn't install the boiler till the water pipe has been fixed anyway. She may get insulation under the other ECO obligations which are based on postcode not circumstances. British Gas are doing loft and cavity insulation for everyone at the moment in any case. If she can't afford the upfront cost of 1.5 - 2k for a boiler, you could look at everlasting boilers (google it).

captainhindsight_2

wacsa wrote: »

Can anyone advise if they think my mother would be eligible for help through this scheme? I won't get in to why and how the house is the way it is as it's too long a story and personal.

As I said her income is just over 20k in pensions, she owns her home outright and does not receive any benefits, including pension credit.

Yes she would benefit from £1000 cashback for installing two eligible measures plus a £100 refund for the GDAR.

And she would get upto £6000 towards the cost of installing solid wall insulation.

aberant above is talking about ECO just one part of the Green Deal which she wouldn't benefit from.

What work is she after doing?

Also about a couple of points that have been made over the weekend, the free or cheap GDAR assessments (£100 or less) are not worth while!

The assessor will only do the bare minimum and you will end up with a useless report.

You get what you pay for, and for the sake of saving £50 people are missing out on £1000s.

And no news on ECO funding being released at rates to pay for the full cost of the work.

captainhindsight_2

Lpg wrote: »

If you have just moved into your property how do you get a honest evaualtion of your use.

I thought about asking previous owner but there would be a differnce as we are a couple previous ownerswas single.

Also they worked we are retired.

The assessment will make assumptions based on how you heat your home, even though you have just moved in you will have an idea of what temperature you like the house and how many hours you have the heating on for etc.

Although it won't be as accurate as it would be with 12 months utility bills it still gives a good estimate.

captainhindsight_2

Lpg wrote: »

Used the Green deal site to find an independat assessor in Norfolk.
Not one was from there, plenty in the North or Scotland.

Seems daft as I want assor with loal knowledge.

Also when I asked if I could speak to the person that would do the assessment it was impossible.

look on epcregister, this will give you a list of individual energy assessors. Not all of these can do Green Deal Assessments but a few will. That way you will get a local person.

lstar337

captainhindsight wrote: »

Also about a couple of points that have been made over the weekend, the free or cheap GDAR assessments (£100 or less) are not worth while!

The assessor will only do the bare minimum and you will end up with a useless report.

You get what you pay for, and for the sake of saving £50 people are missing out on £1000s.

Really helping the people who need it aren't they.

Just like most things in life, the only people who can benefit from a saving, are the very people who don't need to.

I'm really happy knowing that while my family scrapes by, the taxes I pay are helping people far better off than me improve their homes, or second homes.

captainhindsight_2

Consumer_Advice_Cardiff wrote: »

Yes, you can complain to your local Trading Standards or Citizens Advice Bureau if you have one nearby (Or the national helpline). Essentially this is a contract and delayed assessments may be a breach of contract.

Some of the stories on this thread are frightening and reveals a couple of obvious issues with the scheme.

The first and most pertinent to anyone wanting to explore the viability of the scheme after hearing about it from a neighbour or in the press etc is the way its being advertised in general.

Its being promoted as an easy way to get funding for a new boiler, or double glazing, or insulation when the reality is its a far more complex scheme. Its a double edged sword because the gov know that if they promote the scheme in a more informative way, many might be put of from enquiring and getting assessments.

it is an easy way to get funding for a new boiler if you go to the right companies

Yet, there are currently too many people who end up feeling the scheme is not as advertised or too complex/frustrating to deal with.

The second problem is that the lack of clarity on costs and who can make assessments etc has led to many (new and existing) firms to try to entice homeowners to have an assessment for a fee. Many unscrupulous businesses have taken advantage of this by offering to do assessments and then delaying continuously or simply vanishing without paying the fee. Other firms take a "fee" for simply arranging for an assessor to come out - they themselves are not the assessor - and a separate fee must then be paid to that company.

This is the only way the assessments can work, this ensures certain procedures are taken to ensure compliance with the scheme and makes them accountable if they do something wrong

This is a problem which particularly affected those who were most vulnerable and desperate to have the work done to provide heating for the home in winter or to try and improve their living condition.

The government needs to accept that, in re-launching investment into the scheme - they need to pay attention to some of its weaknesses and in particular tie up some of those loopholes which facilitate unscrupulous conmen using the scheme as a mask to scam homeowners/tenants.

I've written something about these and other issues with the scheme, as well as suggestions about what people need to look out for to avoid some of the problems that have occurred in the past (See my profile signature as I'm not yet able to post links).

I've made some comments above, but by your user name you are meant to be offering consumer advice. This would be advice of how to avoid companies who are not operating within the codes of conduct of the scheme. Not just by highlighting everything that is wrong with it you should be highlighting what is good about it and be telling people how to take advantage of that.

Many people have lost out on £1000s that they could have got by being told not to bother with what the green deal or eco has to offer.

lstar337

captainhindsight wrote: »

Also about a couple of points that have been made over the weekend, the free or cheap GDAR assessments (£100 or less) are not worth while!

The assessor will only do the bare minimum and you will end up with a useless report.

Surely assessments should be the same, free or otherwise? They follow the same rules.

So if the free assessments are useless and you have to pay to get an assessment that will lead to work, then these 'paid for' assessments are basically like a bribe?

"Psst!! give us 'undred quid an I'll stick in whateva improvements ya fancy"

I don't disagree with what you say as our free assessment looked like it was based on another property entirely. The whole thing was based on complete drivel!

I wish I had known about giving a bribe before hand, would have saved some time and effort.

captainhindsight_2

lstar337 wrote: »

Surely assessments should be the same, free or otherwise? They follow the same rules.

So if the free assessments are useless and you have to pay to get an assessment that will lead to work, then these 'paid for' assessments are basically like a bribe?

"Psst!! give us 'undred quid an I'll stick in whateva improvements ya fancy"

I don't disagree with what you say as our free assessment looked like it was based on another property entirely. The whole thing was based on complete drivel!

I wish I had known about giving a bribe before hand, would have saved some time and effort.

No it's not a bribe. It's like anything you get what you pay for.

Yes they do follow the same rules, but in theory an assessor can show no or very few recommendations by entering assumptions and just say access was restricted and information was not available just because they are putting as much effort into it that they are being paid for it.

Where as if they are getting paid appropriately they will put in the required amount of effort to show all the available recommendations.

lstar337

captainhindsight wrote: »

Yes they do follow the same rules, but in theory an assessor can show no or very few recommendations by entering assumptions and just say access was restricted and information was not available just because they are putting as much effort into it that they are being paid for it.

It's a bribe. You have to pay them to recommend the bits you want, that's a bribe. Makes the whole framework and training a farce.

Despicable behaviour.

captainhindsight wrote: »

Where as if they are getting paid appropriately they will put in the required amount of effort to show all the available recommendations.

Since the assessors likely work for a company, they will get paid either way.

Or are the companies telling their assessors not to bother?