Green Deal MSE Guide Discussion

sheffield_lad

Coulsdon_Town wrote: »

I would say the government doesn't give a fig about the old HIP's inspectors - what do you think happened to their income and career when HIP's were abolished? They may turn out to be victims again, while the overcharging trainers win, again. Mind you, back then some of them thought they were going to earn £60,000 a year from compulsory Home Information Packs, and expectations among some G. D. Advisors (largely the freelance ones i think) seem to be very high again...

Training has been available for £350 to DEA's right up to last week which is hardly extortionate.

paulmapp8306

Well, looked in to his green deal - its Pants. It would cost more even after any cashback/incentives than getting the same equipment installed by an independent.

In fact, the only time it makes sense from a boiler perspective is if your old one breaks, isnt economically repairable, and you dont have the funds for a new one yourself. THEN its an option. For everything else, its just not a financial incentive at all.

Strikes me its mearly a way of conning the British public into doing/buying stuff the governments way rather than researching their own way. If it really was that good a deal, then the initial "assessment" would be free.

paulmapp8306

howee wrote: »

how can that be a bad thing an option to improve your home while you save if you want.

err - because if you do your own research, and find your own suppliers it works out a lot cheaper to the individual. Its made to sound good - ie pay from what you save - when in fact its stupidly expensive. Mainly down to having to pay for an assessment, and having to used authorised installers - who charge up to 100% more than a quality independent.

There - once again - taking the public for fools. Thats all political parties, not just the current one. There trying to make things attractive, to get more people to carry out these improvements, so they can meet their own targets. Its that simple - its got nothing to do with "saving us money" - its to do with trying to meet their own ends which they have committed to but cant reach.

znbmum

Hi everyone...

Not been able to read all the messages here as I have a toddler tugging on my leg so not sure if it's been discussed.

I applied for a green deal assessment with a company, filled in an application and received an email shortly after saying that they can't do an assessment, I thought nothing of it at the time. However after my assessment from another company yesterday I am convinced that this is such a lie... I am sure these companies are cherry picking their clients! I was under the impression that the Green Deal was introduced to help those in fuel poverty but it's obviously a lie and seriously flawed.

A little background...

My back boiler broke beginning 2010, my son was 2 and it was winter we were freezing but managed to get by for the the following winters by using a gas fire in lounge in evenings after work and all sleeping in one bed at night to keep warm, our water tank was heated by electric. Not ideal .... but it was manageable.

This has become unbearable since I had my 2nd child in June last year. Being on maternity leave means I have been at home with baby all day in a house with no heating. I have got by with gas fire in lounge and locking the 2 of us in there all day. At night my husband sleeps in my eldest sons single bed with him and I have been sleeping with baby to keep him warm... It has been horrible!

When I heard about Green deal I was so excited ... finally we get some help to get heating into our house after 3 years of being cold. We have tried saving but only have managed to save a little bit of the £5000 we have been quoted. Our credit rating is poor so no loan option.

I had the assessor come yesterday and even though I obviously need a new heating system and boiler he said I can only get help with loft insulation. He said because I don't have heating, I won't save any money by getting a boiler installed so therefore can't get green deal.????? My gas bill for last quarter was over £300 because I have had gas fire in lounge on 17hours a day to keep me and baby mildly warm. Although the assessor didn't ask about my bills and didn't even ask to see them so seems strange they can just assume.

Upon seeing my annoyance he said that in the 3 weeks he had done the job he has seen loads of families in my situation and they are all getting turned down. However the guy he saw before me was living in a big 5 bedroom house on his own, had lots of money and he was offered the deal.

I don't get it.... I thought this deal was meant to help families like me. There seems to be no help for people like us.... I am not on benefits so no help there. And my husband earns 25k so not classed as low income even though we just get by and no way of saving.

I am so upset... dreading next winter already .... how many more years will we have to share beds with our kids???? How many more years will we struggle?
Why does no one care ? Why does no one help?

I am not looking for a free ride... I liked the green deal because it was something I could pay off myself. I have paid my taxes and worked since was 17 and have never claimed benefits.... is there any hope for us?

Ecodave

Hi znbmum. A couple of questions spring to mind. Have you paid for your assessment? The assessment should have been an initial inspection of your house which would have resulted in an Energy Performance Certificate being produced. This should have been followed by an Occupancy Assessment which should have included inspection of your fuel bills. If you have been charged for an assessment and these reports have not been produced, then you should be asking for a refund.

The second query is how did you find your assessor? Did you look on the greendealorb website where the accredited organisations are listed, or did you use some other means? Did you check the credentials of the company/individual to ensure that they are accredited?

znbmum

Hi ecodave
Thanks for the response.
Yes I used that website, I got it from the link on the government website. I rang about 20 companies on the list and went with the company as they were only 80 quid for the assessment. It was a little strange yesterday though as when I went to pay him he said it was free so in the end I didn't pay for it. He also said I would get a certificate in the post but would take a couple of months as they were backlogged. They are accredited & looked pretty legitimate.

Ecodave

Is your back boiler system still present, or have you had it removed?

znbmum

Still there with all radiators & pipe work

znbmum

I mean pipework ... the pipes don't work. Lol!

Ecodave

My understanding is, that the back boiler should be included on the EPC, even though it is not operational. The system would then calculate how much energy would be used to heat your home (by your defunct system), using assumptions about occupancy, thermostat settings and hours of heating. The assumptions are used rather than real data as the EPC is about your property, that anybody could inhabit, so needs to reflect average conditions.

The second report that should have been produced is called the Green Deal Advice Report, which is the output report generated by the Occupancy Assessment. This report attempts to look at your individual use of the house, and compares it to the average use of the house (as per the EPC) to see whether or not the savings you would make by implementing the recommendations for improvement, are likely to be sufficient to cover the repayments on the finance. The repayments on the finance are capped at the amount that the average user would save by implementing the recommendations (again as calculated in the EPC).

The basic idea of the Green Deal is to ensure that people who take out the finance end up no worse off in ongoing charges than they were prior to adopting the improvements. They should "save as they pay". Your circumstances appear to be that you realise that you would be paying more than you are currently (as you hardly heat your property at all at the moment), so I would have thought that as long as this was flagged up to you, and you accepted (in writing) that this had been made clear and that you were comfortable with it, then this should not preclude an offer of finance. It appears that this report has not been produced, as they would usually insist on seeing your energy bills.

I would consider going back to the company you have dealt with to ask why your occupancy assessment did not take place, and get them to come back out.