Is this a scam?

Rachaelmmmm

Hello. I was on Instagram 🚩 when I saw am advert for energy grants on energysupportgrants.co.uk 

Knowing that i am not a home owner, i enquired to see if my mum's home would be eligible.  She may be. So i phoned her and yold her about the scheme but also told her to give them 0 information until i could carry out more research.  

I informed her that the site informed me that she could be eligible for "free" solar panels or a heat pump 🚩🚩 

I feel like such an idiot. I have been looking for 30 minutes  and cannot find any reviews.  

What can my mum do to safeguard herself? They have her address, name, email and number.  

Please tell me that someone has used them and they're okay? 🥴

My mum's quite good at giving no information over to the wrong people. I just hope all is okay.  

Ebe_Scrooge

Call me a cynic, but anything that's advertising on Instagram and the like is a scam.  I very much doubt that they are dishing out free solar panels.

There are grants available under the EC04 scheme, which your mum may be eligible for depending on meeting the required criteria.  The safest way to check this is to go on to your local authority website and see if she meets the criteria for a grant - but usually a grant will only cover part of the cost of improving energy-efficiency.

Aside from that, just tell her to ignore any "cold calls" whether in person or via phone or email.   Email addresses and phone numbers can easily be blocked if they become a nuisance.  It's not like they've got any bank details or anything, so the worst that'll happen is some annoying spam emails and phone calls - just ignore or block them.

Spoonie_Turtle

Ebe_Scrooge said:

Call me a cynic, but anything that's advertising on Instagram and the like is a scam.  I very much doubt that they are dishing out free solar panels.

There are grants available under the EC04 scheme, which your mum may be eligible for depending on meeting the required criteria.  The safest way to check this is to go on to your local authority website and see if she meets the criteria for a grant - but usually a grant will only cover part of the cost of improving energy-efficiency.

Not necessarily, the government themselves advertise on most (maybe all, I'm not on them all to know for sure) social media platforms.  This company claims to participate in the ECO4 scheme and we've recently had a poster on the main energy board genuinely offered a free heat pump and solar panels via a survey from their local authority.

THAT SAID, I wouldn't trust a random company either - they could be government contractors (in which case they're legit but I wouldn't trust them to do a good job anyway) or they could be scammers.  Completely agree that the safest way is definitely to go through energy supplier or local council.

Rachaelmmmm

Thank you, both of you. This is really helpful. 

Not long after my post, my mum had a call from a suspected scam number.  

Thank goodness my mum is switched on with this sort of thing.  I will look into government grants in her LO area.  

Fredw56

Look through your local authority website for articles on energy saving schemes. There are current grant schemes but not everywhere. Each authority or syndicate of authorities had to bid for funding. Consequently it is not uniform throughout the country.

Conditions to qualify are set by local authority also so varies from area to area. The authority does not deliver the grants themselves, they work through partners and the nominated partner is given in the local authority website.
This information was valid last week when I checked my local area. 

JALAPEME

I contacted ruraladvice Wales and was told I meet the criteria for free heat pump, solar panels, loft and wall insulation etc A surveyor for an approved energy company was sent round to see what could be offered. I then received a report informing me that our cottage was currently a G+ rating (ie terrible) but they could transform it into an A* rating. However they insisted we had to accept all or nothing. I do not want ugly solar panels plastered over our roof and for that reason declined the offer. It might suit some but not for us.

QrizB

JALAPEME said:

I contacted ruraladvice Wales and was told I meet the criteria for free heat pump, solar panels, loft and wall insulation etc A surveyor for an approved energy company was sent round to see what could be offered. I then received a report informing me that our cottage was currently a G+ rating (ie terrible) but they could transform it into an A* rating. However they insisted we had to accept all or nothing. I do not want ugly solar panels plastered over our roof and for that reason declined the offer. It might suit some but not for us.

It's your loss. Never mind.

Spoonie_Turtle

JALAPEME said:

I contacted ruraladvice Wales and was told I meet the criteria for free heat pump, solar panels, loft and wall insulation etc A surveyor for an approved energy company was sent round to see what could be offered. I then received a report informing me that our cottage was currently a G+ rating (ie terrible) but they could transform it into an A* rating. However they insisted we had to accept all or nothing. I do not want ugly solar panels plastered over our roof and for that reason declined the offer. It might suit some but not for us.

That's a shame, the savings would almost certainly have been handsome enough to offset the 'ugliness' of the solar panels.

Netexporter

I've been getting letters about ECO4 grants since I moved to my present home. I had assumed I didn't qualify, on the grounds of having too much capital. The rules have been relaxed and you may qualify on an income of under £31,000 (which sounds like wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, to me). I had my initial application interview, yesterday. Fingers crossed I get the solar panels and heat pump I was originally going to spend my savings on.

GingerTim

Spoonie_Turtle said:

JALAPEME said:

I contacted ruraladvice Wales and was told I meet the criteria for free heat pump, solar panels, loft and wall insulation etc A surveyor for an approved energy company was sent round to see what could be offered. I then received a report informing me that our cottage was currently a G+ rating (ie terrible) but they could transform it into an A* rating. However they insisted we had to accept all or nothing. I do not want ugly solar panels plastered over our roof and for that reason declined the offer. It might suit some but not for us.

That's a shame, the savings would almost certainly have been handsome enough to offset the 'ugliness' of the solar panels.

Plus the considerable increase to the property's value in having an A rating plus solar panels. And for nothing!