Warm Front advice

inspace

For what its worth - when we applied and the surveyor called to do his job - we made him a cuppa and sat down to sign the bits of paper and I told him I had seen articles on forums on the internet saying people sometimes get extra charges to pay - he looked at me and said yes this was sometimes the case - to which I replied calmly that if it goes over the grant the work wont be done as I dont have a spare penny in the pot - after a few minutes doing some more paperwork he said it wont be much maybe about a £100 or so and carried on his paperwork - a short pause and I quipped not one penny in the pot so no job im afraid if it goes over.

Off he went with a wry smile - 2 weeks later a call to say the men would be doing the job and would complete all in a day (new combi boiler/5 rads) - they then turned up did the job (very competent happy chaps) - and all is well a warm happy house.

So I would suggest that if they think you have any spare dosh - theyll go for it. Make it plain and simple and let them know nicely if you have nothing to spare.

This may not help those already getting the qoutes but might help those in the pipeline so to speak.

Harsesis_2

Does anyone have a contact number for the director of EAGA? People keep saying that once they got in touch with him, their installations went smoothly after.

beattie

Hi
i have been given the maximum towards central heating . I have an old back boiler that is well by its useable life "25years . i would just like to know if i am given a specific installer or can i choose one locally after i have had the technical assesment by eagaheat .What are my rights thanks Beatrice

sylviesinc

In my experience of 2007, we had no choice but to use the installer provided by Eaga even though there were cheaper local people. We also found that the cost of sending someone to estimate comes off your grant amount so if you don't like the first estimate amount and ask for another, your grant goes down accordingly. If you refuse the offer you will have to reapply if you later want to take it and you will be awarded the balance of the grant.
We did manage to have ours installed without having to pay the extra £1500 first demanded but only after letters to the Director of Eaga, the Environment Minister, our local MP, the Team Leader of the Warm Front scheme and threats to go to Watchdog. I can't recall the directors name now but I looked it up on their website.

If you threaten publicity it seems to work.

Oh, and the installers told me that DEFRA set the cost of everything so it is universal. Which means that it is always going to be more than your local installer will charge.

beattie

thanks for the quick reply . One last point are you able to choose the boiler and radiators you prefer or are there limitations to that beatrice

sylviesinc

We had a very old boiler and a fairly new water tank and they told us that they would supply the latest combi-boiler meaning we no longer needed the water tank. The whole point of Warm Front is to make your home use energy efficiently so they should supply the best they can, but no, we were not given any choices. We didn't need new radiators either, just the boiler and the quote we had for that alone was more than £5800!

beattie

gracious me i need the boiler and radiators so the £3,500 isnt going very far is it Looks like i will have to see what they say Does seem a lot of money for a boiler alone.That being said would you be expected to foot the balance .Getting a little disillusioned now

sylviesinc

They asked us for the balance and I made a fuss...see my earlier posts. Considering that this is a grant aimed at the poorest and most vulnerable people in order to improve their lives, and that they could easily get the work done within the amount allowed if they didn't have to use Eaga's installers (backhanders?), the grant should cover everything needed, in my opinion. If this is still happening questions need to be asked. Make a fuss....it worked for me, but you may have to be persistent.

beattie

i see , i have read your previous post now and understand what i need to do in the event
thanks for your help on this beatrice

sylviesinc

You are very welcome and good luck.