ECO Flex scheme - anyone had successfull upgrades?

stator

Hi All,

I found out that I could quality for energy efficiency upgrades through the ECO Flex scheme. This is the scheme where your local authority sets the rules about who qualifies, rather than the normal "this or that benefits" schemes. My council has said that if your income is below £30,000 after tax and fuel costs, then you should qualify if your house is below a certain rating.

I contacted the charity run by my local authority and gave them all my details and they said I  should qualify. They gave me contact details for a few companies that might help. The ones that have nice websites about free boilers and insulation etc. None of the websites seem to mention ECO flex, most of the info is about needing to receive benefits.

I contacted a couple of them with my details via e-mail and none have replied. It's now several months later.

Has anyone had anything done under the ECO Flex scheme?

If so, what did you get and how did you go about it?

My problems are mainly having a D rated boiler, an uninsulated cavity gable end wall and a solid wood front door.

I get some quotes from companies regarding insulating a single wall with polystyrene beads or expanding foam, but neither were affordable funded privately.

I'm looking for info specifically about the ECO Flex scheme.

JohnPo

My understanding of ECO Flex scheme, is that this is a funding stream is 'managed' by local authorities to install 'measures' into low income households.  I would have though that if you qualified and your local authority has an ECO Flex scheme in operation (not all do) then they would be organising an assessment of your property and informing what measures would be appropriate.  It sounds like you have been asked to contact contractors who operate under the standard ECO scheme,  where the latest variant which is ECO4 which is only just getting up and running.

wrf12345

I applied a month or so ago, following the links on the council site to the agency overseeing the work, but have not heard anything back - I suspect they are overwhelmed at the moment. This is not a council run scheme, all the council do is confirm eligibility at some point in the process. In my area EON do the actual work (or at least oversee it. who knows?) but an agency type company does the assessment and confirms eligibility (with council confirming the confirmation). It is govn money funding it, I think, with some input from the energy companies, but end cost is bloated out by all the people involved (but as it is free, the consumer should not complain at the waste, I guess). Will see what happens, if anything. One side effect of all this money floating about, it will inflate the cost for people doing eco stuff off their own bat. Different agencies and energy companies offer different options, just to confuse things!

Harvs94

Have you progressed anymore with this at all?

Currently attempting to go through my application process and I'm receiving lots of contradicting information from different installers and the council. 

I'm eligible but at the moment I'm being told by an installer and a 3rd party company it's an all or nothing deal..

I've had reservations about heat pump, the affordability of it, and the fact our current system is fairly new but supposedly if I choose not to go with the heat pump, they won't do anything at all. 

Seems odd that they are trying to force me down that route? I can't see anywhere online that this is how the scheme works? 

QrizB

Harvs94 said:

I'm eligible but at the moment I'm being told by an installer and a 3rd party company it's an all or nothing deal..

I've had reservations about heat pump, the affordability of it, and the fact our current system is fairly new but supposedly if I choose not to go with the heat pump, they won't do anything at all. 

Seems odd that they are trying to force me down that route? I can't see anywhere online that this is how the scheme works? 

@Harvs94 you had a reply from a representative of the Suffolk Warm Homes scheme in your own thread, asking you to contact him via the Scheme:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6451002/heat-pump-cost-calculations

Did you do this?

Harvs94

QrizB said:

Harvs94 said:

I'm eligible but at the moment I'm being told by an installer and a 3rd party company it's an all or nothing deal..

I've had reservations about heat pump, the affordability of it, and the fact our current system is fairly new but supposedly if I choose not to go with the heat pump, they won't do anything at all. 

Seems odd that they are trying to force me down that route? I can't see anywhere online that this is how the scheme works? 

@Harvs94 you had a reply from a representative of the Suffolk Warm Homes scheme in your own thread, asking you to contact him via the Scheme:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6451002/heat-pump-cost-calculations

Did you do this?

I contacted him directly last week both on here and email, and he said he's looking into things but I haven't heard anymore since. Chased again this morning, hopefully will hear something soon