Domestic General Insulation Ltd- rented property

monkeys_bunny

Hello,
Our tenants have been approached to obtain free cavity wall insulation by Domestic & General Insulation Ltd & I have to sign a form to give my consent. The tenants receive a benefit meaning they can get this work done free apparently.

Has anyone had any problems or indeed any good feedback from this company?

My main concerns are that :-
1. I know the property has very little or no cavity (the sales man advised my tenants they have a new product to get around this)
2. The consent form for me to sign, even though it says I will be in no way chargeable, is very unprofessional looking & has obviously been photocopied badly from a filled in form with bits blanked out for the new information
3. When calling the telephone number on the consent form it turns out to be a fax machine
4. When calling the 0800 number on the survey report we get through to a very unhelpful lady with limited English who tells us someone will call back, of course this hasn't happened
5. When we asked the lady who provides the funding for this work she could not tell us, her reply was "government & energy providers" when we asked who she could not tell us

My tenants of course want to save money on their heating bills & I do not want to stop them but its all smells a little fishy so I wondered if anyone had dealings with this company or knew anymore?

Thank you

Werdnal

I would say never do business with anyone who comes cold calling or touting for work. By all means get your tenants sorted with cavity wall or loft insulation, but approach a company yourself - if the tenants qualify for assistance, they will still be elligible for this through a reputable, traceable and genuine company, rather than anonymous "door-knockers" who will probably do a shoddy job, with no guarantee or come-back once they have packed up and moved on.

If it was my property, I would tell tenants I will make some enquiries and appoint someone to do the work of my choice, so I have control over the quality of the work and guarantees if anything is not up to scratch.


PS A quick Google throws up quite an impressive website for the company you mention, so you might be able to get a better contact number or more info here:

http://www.dgi.org.uk/our-locations/

sandsni

I would echo Werdnal's words of caution about any company cold-calling people. If your tenants want to find out about schemes offering help with insulation etc their benefits office or local council (or the local CAB) should be able to give them a list of recommended companies and all the relevant information for their LL.

A glossy website doesn't really prove anything in regards to the legitimacy of the company or the quality of the work.

G_M

If YOU want cavity wall insulation in YOUR property, then YOU should decide who does the work!

By all means look for grants that are available, and it may well be that grants are available if the tenant/occupant is on benefits. But such a grant would be available via a number of different installers, who you should select with care.

Esprecialy if you know your property has some idiosyncracy (eg small cavity). Quis different companies about their products and choose one that is appropriate for your house.

Edinburgh65

Before you okay this, you should try to do a bit more research online about cavity wall insulation in general.

This type of proposition was put to me at one point (as a property owner living above someone else's very pro-active tenant), and after reading an online "Which" article about cavity wall insulation, I decided that my property was far too exposed to the elements, for me to risk agreeing to something which has the potential to cause damp in some cases. I think the general gist of the "Which" article, was that whilst cavity wall insulation is a good thing for most suitable properties (if done well!), that if it goes wrong, it can go very badly wrong. You need to be careful.

As others have said, it is your property and your decision to make, not your tenant's. At the end of the day, the tenant is not going to care very much if the value of your bricks and mortar is not protected. That's not to say that the work should not be done, if properly researched.

monkeys_bunny

Yes, thank you for your replies. I know the risks of cavity wall & that in some properties it can be more harmful than good. I have of course not rushed in and said yes as I also agree that cold callers put my shields up, so to speak, straight away which is why I posted to see if anyone had actually used this company

I have told my tenant (&also friend) that I'm looking into it first & explained my reasons to them so apart from my google search & phone call to the company I just wondered if any MSE's had used them

anselld

Is this being done under "green deal"?
https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures/how-the-green-deal-works

If so, it is not really "free". It is paid for by your tenants and future tenants through higher energy bills. There is also high interest rate built in to the small print.

I would say no, personally.