Official Free Boilers and Insulation guide discussion

Smiley_Dan

Ask yourself this: why would an energy company be interested in saving you energy?

The energy co's are only forced by government to contribute to these schemes, so they are hardly going to be motivated to provide great customer service.

What government should do is cannibalise the energy company's business via a grand national investment project to insulate domestic and commercial properties. But they won't, because it's too simple for their high falutin' ideals and requires up front capital to be spent. Better to do a quarter-arsed job slowly.

Sorry, doesn't help with your question.

captainhindsight_2

lyndamb wrote: »

No one wants to take responsibilty and no one wants to regulate this scheme they all just want their own cut and basically pass the buck when there is an issue.

I am stunned at how easy you make it sound on your web site Mr Lewis because it is anything but easy and as the saying goes "nothing in this life is free"

No one gets paid until a boiler/insulation is fitted, so until then someone (a private company) is at a loss.

All of the advice about green deal and Eco from Mr Lewis and Mse is terrible

You can get stuff for free, but you need to do it at the right time. Now is not the right time, March/April 2015 would be a good time to try again for Eco.

quebert

The boiler in the house im in is over 40 years old, I dont pay rent or have a tenancy agreement but live here with the owners permision, I'm also on ESA with work related component. Does anyone know if its possible for me to still apply and recieve a boiler grant?

Misstess

My boiler is at least 26 years old and qualified to be replaced. After visits from a surveyor and an engineer, the installers arrived today only to tell me they think it may contain asbestos and so would need to be removed by specialists. Potterton were unable to confirm if it does contain asbestos or not and the scheme doesn't cover the cost of asbestos removal, apprx £400 I'm told. Absolutely gutted, on a low income with kids so no new boiler for me.

Mojisola

aggypanthus wrote: »

Why would SSAFA fund his mums home improvements. ? Surely thats stretching their remit too far?

Not at all -
https://www.ssafa.org.uk/about-us/stories/
See Val and Joe's story.

SSAFA bought a new oven for my parents when their ancient one failed and they were going through a very difficult time financially.

Grr-Virr

Hope you can help. I have a rental property with a really old boiler. A local firm told me about the Eco scheme and has offered to process all the paperwork etc for me. They say I will be asked to contribute towards the boiler and it would not be free because the house already has cavity wall insulation. They say can't tell me how much it would be until I pay for a new style EPC at £40+vat (I have an EPC dated Aug2010).

I have a feeling that something is amiss and I'm concerned that the 'contribution' he's saying I will need to make will line their pockets and the boiler would be free under this scheme... Isn't it a free boiler scheme?

Please advise - is it on a contributory basis and do I need the EPC?

Many thanks!

captainhindsight_2

Grr-Virr wrote: »

Hope you can help. I have a rental property with a really old boiler. A local firm told me about the Eco scheme and has offered to process all the paperwork etc for me. They say I will be asked to contribute towards the boiler and it would not be free because the house already has cavity wall insulation. They say can't tell me how much it would be until I pay for a new style EPC at £40+vat (I have an EPC dated Aug2010).

I have a feeling that something is amiss and I'm concerned that the 'contribution' he's saying I will need to make will line their pockets and the boiler would be free under this scheme... Isn't it a free boiler scheme?

Please advise - is it on a contributory basis and do I need the EPC?

Many thanks!

First thing there is no free boiler scheme and never has been. The scheme pays an amount of money per unit of energy saved for fitting the new boiler. This price per unit fluctuates, and the amount of savings varies from house to house. In SOME circumstances this has covered the full cost of the boiler.

(if the house is already well insulated, the savings from the boiler would be lower than without thus meaning the amount paid to the installer is lower)

The obligations for this period have almost been met with about 4-5 months to go. This means the price per unit is low, which means it is only paying a small amount towards the cost of the boiler average of about £500-£800 atm.

Second thing the occupiers of the property have to be on the right benefits.

Yes you need a new EPC, this is used to calculate the savings for fitting the new boiler thus the amount of money available through the scheme for you house.

If you want a free boiler and can wait for ECO 2.0 (end of first 1/4 next year) the price paid per unit should increase which would mean a smaller contribution or even free.

Relbs

sunshine124 wrote: »

hello all,


I have elederly friends who have a boiler that is approximately 30 years old and have heard about this scheme for a free replacement boiler. I have mentioned this to them but they say that they are thinking about moving home within the next two years. I know that they struggled and became ill last year due to the cold weather and cannot afford to get a new boiler.


Does anyone know if they are able to get a free bolier and still move home without any penalties? They are worried if they move within the next two years, then the company that is running the free boiler scheme might ask for the money back as they will no longer be living there.


Does anyone know the answer to this?


P.S. will this apply to free cavity and loft insulation too?

I might be slightly out of date, but a year ago I had a new boiler fitted for free in my flat which was rented out to a lady on benefits. 2 months later she decided not to renew the renal contract and moved out. I then sold the flat 4 months ago. No questions have been asked and no problems about selling (except that the energy supply suddenly had no record of an account at the property, but that's a whole different story!)

There doesn't seem to be any problem about moving/selling; it's just about the person living in the house at the time of fitting being on the correct benefits. Ditto cavity wall and loft insulation if it is free (and not on a loan system)

Relbs

We had someone come around from a Green deal installation and they drilled into the walls and said we don't have cavity wall (despite it being a new-ish house). They siad we were eligible for free cavity wall and would install it the net month (October). They didn't. After a couple of calls they said that our house was 'just outside the area they had funding for' but woul dhave new funding in November so would come then. In November I phoned them to get a date and was told it would be 1st December when the funding was released. This week they phoned to say the funding has been delayed again, so it will be January 2015.....

Is this the same with all companies offering free cavity wall insulation (to everyone, not just those on benefits)? I'm wondering if it is worth trying another company, as parts of our house are freezing!
Thanks

Buttmonkey

I checked online with British Gas today to see if I would qualify and ticked all the boxes. They rang within 10 mins and went through a few checks including checking the most recent EPC which supposedly stated we already had cavity insulation. This was a surprise to me as we'd had some work done before moving in and none was present. I was advised to contact the person who had done the survey and get back to them if it proved incorrect as we couldn't proceed.
I rechecked the EPC myself and it has "assumed" at the end of the sentence which British Gas had failed to say. Now I know that EPC surveyors are actually only in your house for 15 mins max and don't do any drilling what so ever to check, they base it on age of property, visual evidence that it's been put in or feedback from the owner.
I'm waiting on this person to get back and we'll see what happens. I'll report back on what British Gas say once I ring them back but keep that in mind.