Eco Residential - Offering free cavity wall insulation?

Baggieboy_2

Hi everybody!

Okee dokee. Wife had a guy from ECO residential visit today while I was at work. She asked him to come back when I was home. So I did a bit of research and rang the Government Dept for confirmation (0300 123 1234).

Mr. ECO came back as promised 10 minutes ago. Insisted that we could get free cavity wall insulation despite us being non-pensioners and in receipt of no benefits.

My call to the Govt. confirmed we would NOT qualify under these circumstances.

When I told him this he backed down and said we could still qualify under a "hard to treat" wall arrangement. There is nothing "hard to treat" about our wall. I told him I would consider this to be fraudulant and suggested we discontinued the conversation forthwith.

He left with no further utterance.

Ain't it funny how these cold calls have all started happening since the fuel price announcements? Just sayin' like.

PS - He also had the audacity to ignore my 2 lovely MSE "No cold callers" signs. How rude.

Solihull here btw.

Thank you and goodnight.

JoeA81

Hmm, Its been a while since I checked this thread.

To all those worrying about cancelling, I really wouldn't - I posted this thread back in April, and have heard absolutely nothing from Eco Residential since that initial visit 7 month ago! It certainly helped me with my decision on whether to go ahead or not...

NortonMan_2

Hi Jason - if you are still checking these posts....

Like people above, I signed on the door (never done so before - Sales Patter must be good!) a couple of weeks ago. The young lad immediately drilled 10 - 15 holes in my house & poked a camera down. Despite offering to fill in the holes - he did not do it! Should these holes be filled in?
Last Friday, a chap called round & spent an hour or two creating an EPC - Energy Performance Certificate (I came out as 'E') & today their office called to fix up the next appointment. It all seems kosher to me - but some of the comments above have got me worried.
Jason, please give me a sign that all is well.
Have you a list of satisfied customers, for example?
Have you testimonials you could put on your site?

NortonMan_2

Does it matter if the First Guy I let rip on my house has left 15 or 20 holes open? I let him drill them after just knocking on my door. I don't believe that I allowed him to do that. Maybe, its because he said 'free' & I knew that I did not have Cavity Insulation. I also thought he was going to drill 1 hole only, to satisfy himself that my walls were empty.

Since he came a couple of weeks ago, I have now been visited by a Consultant to look at my EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) - seems I am an 'E' grade.

After reading all these posts, I am now worried about what lies ahead. I would like Jason (if he is still monitoring this forum) to re-assure me that all is well.

(I apologise for repeating myself).
When I looked just now - my 'post' from yesterday was missing.
Now that I pressed submit on this post - as if by magic, yesterdays post has now appeared. The wonders of computing!!

jasoneco

@ Norton Man

We are currently installing around 87% of all submissions we commence. As such, it is likely there is no issue with your proposed work. However, I am not familiar with individual cases and I obviously would struggle to identify which submission is yours. For certainty, can you call our contact centre on Freephone 0808 147 1874 and ask for an update on progress? Please feel free to ask to speak with myself directly should you wish.

*shez*

I had a representative from Eco Residential call at the house and after drilling a hole in the wall and looking through a camera he stated that I could have cavity wall insulation. My concern is that I had a surveyor from British Gas call out in February of this year and he stated that I would not be eligible as I had debris between the cavity and that British Gas would not be able to go ahead with this as they would be liable to sort out any damp issues that would come about if they filled the cavity as it is not suitable. I was grateful for the honest advice, however he did warn me that not all companies are that honest with this. The rep from Eco Residential stated that the BG surveyor was correct, however they would use Thermabead insulation, as it is used for “hard to treat” properties. I have been looking into whether this is correct and it seems that debris between the walls would need to be rectified before any cavity wall insulation is put in and that it is not suitable until it is rectified. It would not fall under hard to treat, it seems to fall under not suitable, well at least until it is all removed.


I am concerned that Eco Residential may have misinformed me despite me stating that I did not think that my property was eligible. Can anyone comment on this or perhaps correct me on whether Thermabead is suitable for cavities with debris in them? Many thanks in advance.

Yogabird

Furious that I was taken in here too - yesterday

Glad I stopped him drilling part way through

Should have looked on here first and have holes in my walls that 'someone was coming back to fill' last night - in the dark!!!

how foolish do I feel this morning?

HAve contacted Eco Residential this morning by email and await a response - so cross :mad:

jasoneco

@*shez*

Your information is completely correct. Prior to Jan 1st this year, cavities with rubble could not be insulated, or rather would incur costs in addition to the utilities company contributions from the customer in order to do so.

From the start of this year, cavities with rubble could be funded in their entirety without a contribution from the customer. In order to complete the job, the rubble must be removed. This is far more important than the nature of the material used, and under the current scheme, this is done at the installers cost.

In short, your house (based on the facts you have given me) does qualify and you should have no issues in receiving your free insulation.

sarandave

Hello Jasoneco, I also havve concernsa about your cavity wall insulation offer. You say in your post back in April "CERT funding has finished and there are no further measures available on that scheme. However, we are still providing free loft insulation, cavity insulation and boiler replacement to those who qualify under the new Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme. Details of this scheme can be found on OFGEMS website."

I went to OFGEMS website and it says
"The Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) is an energy efficiency programme that was introduced into Great Britain at the beginning of 2013. It replaces two previous schemes, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP).
ECO places legal obligations on the larger energy suppliers to deliver energy efficiency measures to domestic energy users. It operates alongside the green deal which is designed to help people make energy efficiency improvements to buildings by allowing them to pay the costs through their energy bills rather than upfront.
ECO is intended to work alongside the Green Deal to provide additional support in the domestic sector, with a particular focus on vulnerable consumer groups and hard-to-treat homes."
I dont consider myself within the vunerable consumer group or my home hard to treat, in which case would I be paying for the cavity wall insulation through my energy bills?
Also it says in your cancellation form I only have 7 days from the date of sigining to cancel the contract, which your sales person has insisited I sign in order to avoid paying £99 if I want to sign at a later date. 7 days will not give time for a proper assment on my property as your sales person drilled 3 holes in the front and 3 holes on the back of the house and then told my wife that we were eligble, he failed to identify the side wall is a solid wall.



I await your comments.

jasoneco

@sarandave

I suspect your property may fall into the Hard to Treat (HTT) category as defined by OFGEM. Unfortunately, as a new user I cannot post the link, but if you search for OFGEM HTT Guidance Update you will find additional info on this. In truth, the definition of HTT is much broader than most people imagine. For example, your property may be HTT if it falls into any of the following categories -
- The cavity measures between 40mm and 49mm
- The cavity has rubble in it
- The cavity has mortar ingress (snotting)
- The external leaf requires remedial work prior to install (ie cracked bricks need replacing)
- The property is in an area of high exposure (as defined in BRE 2010)
- The property has certain access issues, eg large conservatory, which requires the use of non standard install tools such as a thermoscopic lance.
- The property has 3 or more storeys
- The property is partially insulated

As part of our service, you should be contacted by one of our validators shortly who will produce a report outlining whether or not any of the conditions above exist within your property. This report is then confirmed or contended as appropriate by our chartered surveyor. All this is free of charge irrespective of the ultimate result. If you wish to conduct your own validation at your own cost then please do so, though any such validation will simply be a duplication of the work conducted by our chartered surveyor.

In terms of payment taken from your energy bill, this in relation to Green Deal. Our company does not work with the Green Deal mechanism at present. Under ECO, we will either install the measure for free or we will not install at all. We can of course point you in the right direction if you do wish to explore Green Deal further.