Eco Residential - Offering free cavity wall insulation?

Jane1974

I had a the same today in cheslyn hay free insululation

Simonh_2

@jasoneco

I have had a guy turn up saying he is from Eco residential, he did the pre check drilled the 6 holes (3 in each wall). Confirmed that I fit under the HTT system. He then asked for a utility bill so he could take a photo of it?, I told him I was online billing (I am so have no paper bills). So he gave me his office email however this email address is to bsb1.co.uk (not Eco-residential.co.uk). Why do you need a bill when other company's do not ask for this?

I have asked the guy to have the weekend to think about it ( it was a Friday night he knocked the door).

Simon

jasoneco

@ simon

All providers of insulation are required to prove that all properties are residential in nature. 90% of the time, this is proven by the land register. However, the register has proven to be unreliable in some instances, resulting in owner/ address mismatches, or in rare circumstances, an unregistered property. To avoid wasting everyones time when such a situation does arise, we tend to apply a "Belt and braces" methodology. As such, we will look to prove ownership/ residency in other ways, including producing utility bills. Where evidencing a utility bill is particularly inconvenient, we can bypass it. If you would like to proceed on this basis, please send me a private message with your details.

Also, BSB1 are one of our licensed distributors. They work on our behalf in the Midlands, South West and South Wales.

pensioner60

I had a visit from Eco Residential...to have cavity wall insulation...they drilled holes in my walls to check that we able to have it done...which they said our house was suited for them to do it...this was on the 19th nov 2013..about a week later another guy came an energy efficient advisor to check the house ..he too said we were ok to have it done ..said we would hear from them in the next few weeks....that was a joke ...I havnt heard from them at all..I phoned them 5 times each time the persons says well you should have had it done....Il look into it and get back to you...They never get back to me....Im going to phone them again and ask to speak to the managing director...who I believe is called Jason...I only know that by seeing other posts on this Forum ..and hes replied to them..Hope he sees this post then...Has anyone else had this problem with them...I wouldn't mind but I live in Birmingham

davidshrop

Hello,

Having read previous posts on Eco Residential, and Jason the MD's posts, i have not seen a post saying all work was carried out so i am hoping mine will be the first.

Eco Residential sales men called on the 27/1/14.
Very polite, after recieving my permission drilled a few holes.
Their office rang to arrange a survey of the premisses, i delayed
the visit by a week, they are now comming out to survey in a few hours.
15/02/14.
Survey done, again polite no fuss took about an hour, he said due to the heavy workload they would be in touch in about a fortnight.
15/2/14

I will keep you posted on what happens, and my opinion on the company based on my experience.

pensioner60

In reply to davidshrop...Good Luck...I am still waiting ..Iv phoned the office again and they havnt got back to me to let me know when the works will be done ..this has been going on since nov 2013..iv phoned then at least six times,,say they will get back to me but havnt....Im phoning them up again tomorrow .19th feb to cancel them..I told them I wasn't pleased with them they drilled 6 holes in my walls and havnt filled them..I told them before I wasn't happy with the way theyed left the holes unfilled ...especially with all the bad weather weve had...So im cancelling them and going with another company....Then im going to report Eco Residential to Trading Standards...So id like to Know how you get on with them ..davidshrop ...hope you have better luck with this company than me.

rolo-polo1965

Has anyone heard of Energy Care Group, I have recieved their leaflet through the door today offering free loft insulation and free cavity wall insulation

I have filled in their on line form and someone is coming to complete a survey on 17th April

Would appreciate knowing if anyone has any experience of them. I am in the East Midlands

Thanks

pcgtron

I want to know why a company is going round the country drilling holes into peoples house and then not do anything about it. Maybe it's an uprising of small people who break into houses using the holes that this company drills as access

Wanttosavemoney

I had my home insulated, both loft and cavity through Eco-Residential last year in Edinburgh. No problems at all.

stillmiserly

I initially signed up to ECO-Residential early this Feb despite misgivings but relied on the 14 day cancellation period to give me time to do some Googling. While doing this I corresponded with Customer Services but wasn't satisfied and cancelled.

The inital surprise is that these reps tell you it is free because your house is suitable for HTTC. This is on your doorstep before doing anything like checking the cavity depth or producing a borescope. My cavity wall as shown on the contract is 80mm. Also many houses on my estate had their walls done under CERT and surely wouldn't have been accepted if in HTTC state. So what psychic powers have the reps got?

I know this was not just one rogue rep because I got a second visit within a month from another one with the same approach, oblivious to the fact that I had already been visited.

Reading the contract later at my leisure I noticed some strange clauses for a Free contract. Obviously this is an old form which they cannot be bothered to replace but are asking you to sign.

"We have carried out a survey of the property and will sell to you the goods and services."

"You may be asked to pay a deposit before the work starts."

"The Installer will invoice you during or upon completion of the Works and unless otherwise specified this invoice is payable immediately."

I accept the need to bore a hole to check the cavity depth and perhaps have a quick look with a borescope but what is the need to bore holes for the full survey? For one thing they are pre-judging your decision on going ahead. If you cancel they have damaged your property unnecessarily. As it only took a couple of minutes is it really too much to expect of the eventual surveyor to do it? He might want to look at different areas anyway. I asked why in one of my emails to customer services but it was ignored. They did however arrange for my holes to be refilled but I found it had not been done with mortar but with a light grey substance and not just in the holes but smeared around them. My walls are honey-coloured faced concrete blocks so it is visible from the street. I am awaiting another visit.

Regarding delays, the first thing to note is that signing a contract does not guarantee you anything. Only a convincing case signed by a Chartered Surveyor will get the money to do the job. Things have slowed down because Ofgem has tried to tighten things up and has held a consultation with the industry - "The consultation put forward proposals to address concerns that a significant number of HTTC measures installed under ECO may have been installed to cavity walls that do not meet the statutory definition of ‘hard to treat cavity’." Replies from the industry got the proposals watered down a bit but changes will presumably have some effect on the time taken to get approval, although surprisingly the Chartered Surveyor still only has to commit to actually visiting 20% of the houses he vouches for. The rest will rely on his being satisfied with the evidence supplied by the companies so could take longer.

JASON If you are still here, you said on your 27 Jan post "Where evidencing a utility bill is particularly inconvenient, we can bypass it." Why don't your reps know this? I too have most of my utility bills online. The only printed ones (water and council tax) are annual and fall outside your 6-month validity. I offered my Home Insurance quote dated Jan 2014. Not good enough. I then offered my Credit Card Statement dated Jan 2014. Not good enough, it has to be a current account statement. This goes way above relating me to the address as it gives my account details but they insisted on it. I should have shown them the door at that stage but decided to let them have it and photograph it and complain later. Despite asking your Customer Service several times how this could be justified I got no answer until it was finally addressed:

"A bank statement is a document accepted by our client."

"Did the Surveyor request a utility bill at any point from you?" [I had already said what happened with my first email]

"Sometimes a bank statement is an easier document to provide, as it is updated on monthy basis." [this suggests that this is not uncommon]

Mention of "our client" has made me even angrier. I have been assured that all my details have been erased but what about any you have passed on?

Perhaps you could give a clear statement on this subject.

If you want to look into any of this, my contract number was 66889.