Warm Front - Lets Make Them Accountable

sticher

I have also had problems with iguana and warm front.

I was told initially that i was eligible for a grant in 2006 when an engineer was sent to my house to assess it. One year and a few telephone calls later, I had another engineer call around and reassess it - this was August 2007.

By November I had still heard nothing so rang iguana yet again and was told because I had been reassessed (my own fault I suppose as I didn't want the boiler they were originally going to fit) the paperwork was then sent through in a different way.....

Anyway, to cut a long story short, my boiler finally broke down completely in December 2007 (during that week of really freezing weather), and my and my 3 boys were left with no hot water or heating for over a week! I rang iguana twice and finally the manager (who for some reason had been unwilling to take my calls previously - or even look into my case), thankfully arranged for my boiler to be changed the week before Christmas.

However, the boiler has been fitted out of line with my cupboards so as to be able to use the existing hole to the outside wall (I suppose the man felt it would be too much extra work or something). He has also put a filling loop above my worktop which extends about 4/5 inches over my worktop - so can't box the pipes in as before - so looks very ugly.:mad:

Worse than the above, as a result or the new, higher pressure I have a leak in the pipework under my floor - which happens to be fully tiled. Iguana say they are only prepared to run new pipework above my floor because of the tiles (that would look nice!). So now I have to top the boiler up several times a day - which an Iguana manager told me will ruin the boiler, etc!:mad:

I am in the process of getting someone to come and find the leak (after taking up the tiled floor!). Lord knows how much that will all cost. Iguana apparently don't find leaks, they only fit new stuff!:mad:

trisontana

There was another feature about Warmfront on this week's You and Yours .You can hear it here (real player) :-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/01/2008_06_mon.shtml

sparklegirl_3

i understand your frustration guys.
but in my opinion for what its worth.....

i used to work from WF, they do a great job! unfortunately you only tend to hear the bad stuff that happens

may thousands have been lifted from fuel poverty

it would be such a shame for those without heat/hot water to be put off by negative comments

ismeval

I am getting fed up complaining and getting no where ! In July 2007 we had our new combi boiler fitted courtesy of WarmFront .... the workmen were not the most efficient I have seen and certainly left mess behind. They also took our gas fire, back boiler and water tank without asking if we wanted them ( which we did, and we own this house so the fire etc were ours !) they didn't put any dust sheets down - unlike the crew who installed next door's boiler, and took 2 days to carry out the work. They also managed to blow our electrics probably because of having all their drills and even a wireless plugged into our sockets. We still have an ongoing problem which they are supposed to be sorting out. Every time I phone the installers and leave messages I am told the message will be passed on - but I have yet to get a reply and that is between July and now February !! Phoning WarmFront does absolutely nothing and when I asked for the inspectors phone numbers I was told they didn't have them !! I am expecting these installers to crop up on 'Rogue Traders ' one day! They came from Billingham and we live just between Sunderland and Durham - couldn't Warm Front have appointed local plumbers .... I have now written to my local MP ..... a letter I sent recorded to the installers on 13th Feb has still not been delivered today - 23rd Feb !! I feel as though I am just head butting a brick wall ..... I did once get an engineer from Ideal boilers to come check something out. They were very efficient and gave me an appointment within 2 days. When he called he shook his head at the installation and asked who had done it. When I said 'A & N Evans of Billingham ' he said he is often called out to make good their faults .... I have found many forums with complaints regarding Warm Front but nothing much seems to be happening .... Val

trisontana

There is a damning article in today's Mirror about WarmFront :-

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/investigates/2008/03/13/warm-front-s-heating-scheme-leaves-the-elderly-cold-89520-20349737/

zzzLazyDaisy

:mad: I have just had a boiler fitted in my bungalow through Warm Front. The devastation their contractors have left in their wake has been awful. I wish I had simply paid for a new boiler myself.

After the workmen went the boiler would not keep pressure - I was having to re-pressurise it 2/3 times a day. I was also constantly having to bleed the radiators. On the second day I phoned the company and was told to leave it to settle down over the Easter Weekend and contact them again if it was still doing it. On Easter saturday a damp patch appeared on my bedroom ceiling. Investigation showed that a nut had been loosened on the attic radiator and water was pouring out. The carpet and boards were soaked.

Of course the contractors were closed for the weekend, thankfully a neighbour came and tightened the nut for me. Immediately the boiler stopped losing pressure and once bled again, the radiators were fine.

But there is now a huge brown stain on my ceiling which is still drying out and the water has run down the wall behind the fitted wardrobes, bringing the paper off.

They investigated and the manager who visited accepted responsibility, told me to get a quote and assured me there would be be no problem. Today I have had a letter from the company saying their workers did not go in the attic room (they did, twice) and that the leak must have been caused by the person who fitted the new thermostat on the attic radiator (I have lived here 4 years, and the radiators and theromstats were fitted by the rpevious people - the bedroom was decorated a year ago, including stripping off the old ceiling paper and wallpaper back to plaster and completely starting again - to suggest that the leak has been going on for over 4 years, but only showed through the ceiling 4 days after the boiler was fitted is ridiculous!

Oh, AND they failed to tighten a nut in the boiler causing a gas leak, AND they left a water leak under the boiler causing me to have to rip out the carpet in the lobby as the foam back got totally ruined from the resulting flood!

I was going to write to Warm Front and ask them to intervene, but seems from this thread that propably isn't going to help much.

I can't do much now as I am going on holiday on Monday - but I will be raising the roof when I get back.... :mad:

Lip_Stick

My parents got their heating updated through Warm Front. They wanted radiators put in but was told they could only have their central heating updated. This is a blow heater in a couple of places downstairs, so there is no heating whatsoever upstairs. After the work had been completed they discovered they could infact have had radiators. I think it's terrible that an eldery couple don't have heating in their bedroom because some idiot got his facts wrong. :mad:

Random

And I thought I had trouble with Warm Front, thank goodness all they did for me was insulation! I wrote a lengthy letter to DEFRA complaining, and was totally ignored, not even an acknowledgment.

When the man from Warm Front came round, they offered me loft insulation and draught proofing, I said ok, but what I really need is a loft hatch (previous owner just cut a big square hole in the ceiling in a cupboard!). He said fine, no problem, they'd do that as part of the job. He looked in the loft, so knew it was fully boarded over and full of stuff, and I was left with the impression that they would lift the flooring to fit insulation.

Soon as the installers arrived and looked in there, they said they couldn't lift the floor. They didn't want to go ahead at all, but eventually decided they'd lay the insulation over the floor. I pointed out my house was crammed with boxes that had to go back in there, but finally decided (being younger and a lot naiver that I am now) that I had to agree to what they said, as what I really needed was that hatch, and didn't want them to leave without doing it.

However, they didn't fit one, claiming they only had to do it if they had cut the hole in the ceiling themselves. So I had a wonderfully insulated ceiling, with a gaping hole in it for the wind to whistle through. When I phoned to complain, they changed their story, saying that my ceiling wasn't strong enough to hold the hatch, and they were afraid of doing damage. I said that the plaster round the hole was damaged anyway where it had been cut, and that there were hefty great timbers every side of the hole to fix to, but they still refused to do it.

So, several years later, I have stack of insulation rolls in the loft, as I had to roll it all up again to put all the boxes back, a big hole in the ceiling still, which, despite laying carpet over it and hanging a curtain over the cupboard door, still lets in an icy draught, and my room rarely gets warm no matter how toasty the rest of the house is. Thanks Warm Front. I managed a far greater increase in warmth than they ever did, simply by paying out to replace the front windows. They had insulated the opening edges with brown sticky stuff, but all the cold was actually coming in through the (single glazed) panes of glass.

Can't remember what else they did, after all this time, but they're never coming in my house again.

JudgeDred

Many of these cases appear to contain instances of bad workmanship causing hardship and loss.

My advice is to seek legal assistance through the Citizens Advice Centre or institute civil proceeding through the County Court for damages and restitution.

For too long companies such as this have been taking advantage of people's ignorance of the Law.(I say that not unkindly)

You will need evidence from an expert witness such as a surveyor or photograhic evidence of the workmanship together with witnesses who are willing to appear in Court to tell what they saw at the house. Do not be deterred by the formalities. What happened can be explained by yourself and any friend who can attend to corroborate.

You will need to get a rough estimate of the cost of repairing or replacing damage from other tradespersons and you will also be able to sue for the cost of proceedings and distress.

Go for it because it is no good moaning to MPs or others.

God helps those who help themselves.

Here is a link.

http://www.adrnow.org.uk/courtmediation

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/A1183448

trisontana

Tonight the BBC East Midlands Today news programme featured yet another instance of poor workmanship from WarmFront. In this case a disabled woman in Derby has been waiting for four months to get the work finished. Her kitchen and bathroom looked like bomb-sites, with holes in walls and ceilings, electric plugs hanging off walls, and plastering that looked as though it had been done by a four-year-old. When approached Warmfront said that they "were aware of some outstanding problems" and were drawing up an "action plan" to rectify them.

Why have they waited this long and why have they seemingly employed contractors who have produced such a botched job ? And where is their quality control ?