"Free" Loft insulation that costs £ 108

EnergyLink

The freeinsulation.co.uk web site states that 'Extra charges may apply to large properties or lofts that are already adequately insulated'. This statement is towards the top of the home page and not hidden in the small print. Most other organisations do not even mention it and give the impression that it is 'free for all'. We are not trying to deceive anyone, either via our web site or in the information we give out over the telephone. We are certainly not 'advertising it as free and then springing a surprise on people at the last minute'.

The extra charges statement above may seem vague but we cannot quote exact figures for depths of insulation already installed or maximum property sizes. The reason for this and the reason for all the confusion is that the utility companies (who ultimately pay for the insulation) all operate different schemes. DEFRA have set the utilities targets to cut carbon emissions by insulating domestic properties through their Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT). DEFRA tell the utilities how much to spend and over what period. The problem seems to be that each utility has different criteria for what can already be installed or how big properties can be. The installers who carry out the work are claiming the grant funding from different utilities, so this is why the criteria changes from company to company. The other problem is that the rules change from time-to-time, so what might be free one week is chargeable the next and vice-versa.

EnergyLink have a large network of installers who all have access to several streams of grant funding (i.e. they can claim the grants from several utilities). We also try to overlap and have several installers covering one area. This means that over 70s or those on benefits have the best possible chance of receiving insulation free of charge. All other private householders should also receive a good partial grant and therefore have a lower contribution to pay. However, as mentioned above, the rules are constantly changing so it isn't always possible to please everyone, but we do try!

If anyone is to blame for the confusion, it is not EnergyLink or the installers but the utilities or DEFRA for not standardising the way the grants are awarded..

Paul Scott (Director, EnergyLink Ltd.)

peediedj

got loft done free a few years back,and also got cavity wall insulatino done free as well

spiritus

EnergyLink wrote: »

The freeinsulation.co.uk web site states that 'Extra charges may apply to large properties or lofts that are already adequately insulated'. This statement is towards the top of the home page and not hidden in the small print. Most other organisations do not even mention it and give the impression that it is 'free for all'. We are not trying to deceive anyone, either via our web site or in the information we give out over the telephone. We are certainly not 'advertising it as free and then springing a surprise on people at the last minute'.

The extra charges statement above may seem vague but we cannot quote exact figures for depths of insulation already installed or maximum property sizes. The reason for this and the reason for all the confusion is that the utility companies (who ultimately pay for the insulation) all operate different schemes. DEFRA have set the utilities targets to cut carbon emissions by insulating domestic properties through their Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT). DEFRA tell the utilities how much to spend and over what period. The problem seems to be that each utility has different criteria for what can already be installed or how big properties can be. The installers who carry out the work are claiming the grant funding from different utilities, so this is why the criteria changes from company to company. The other problem is that the rules change from time-to-time, so what might be free one week is chargeable the next and vice-versa.

EnergyLink have a large network of installers who all have access to several streams of grant funding (i.e. they can claim the grants from several utilities). We also try to overlap and have several installers covering one area. This means that over 70s or those on benefits have the best possible chance of receiving insulation free of charge. All other private householders should also receive a good partial grant and therefore have a lower contribution to pay. However, as mentioned above, the rules are constantly changing so it isn't always possible to please everyone, but we do try!

If anyone is to blame for the confusion, it is not EnergyLink or the installers but the utilities or DEFRA for not standardising the way the grants are awarded..

Paul Scott (Director, EnergyLink Ltd.)

Thanks for the explanation Paul but you will note that it wasn't I who mentioned your company. As you rightly point out, at least your company does declare that there are exceptions to over 70's receiving a 100% "free" grant.

However, I still have an issue with other companies in your industry, notably the company which contacted my mother. I should also add I have a little bit of an issue with the vague wording on your website and the way that exceptions to the 100% grant are communicated to the customer by your industry as a whole.

In your specific case, the wording "Extra charges may apply to large properties" is perfectly adequate if it is accompanied by a more detailed conversation on this topic once a customer has contacted you. It's not unreasonable in such an instance for the customer to request what constitutes a "large property/loft" and to be able to get a straight answer.

The few companies I have phoned haven't even known about any size restrictions until I pointed out to them that there might be some exceptions to their "free" offer !! Believe it or not, British Gas was one of them.

In my experience, when wording is vague and ambiguous it's usually because the company is trying to cloak something that the company doesn't particularly want the customer to know about at that stage.

I can't help but suspect that Company A may decide that a 65 square metred loft is eligible for a genuinely free insulation but Company B may decide that only a 50 square metred loft is eligible and are then happy to add a surcharge. My suspicion is deepened when many of the companies can't tell me what the maximum size of the loft should be until AFTER the surveyor has measured the loft. If the limit is 65 squared metres then they should be able to tell me that over the phone.

Once again, in your defence, your company does clearly state there might be some exceptions. However, I am greatly concerned that many other companies in your industry may not be helping over 70's see the full picture and that the truth is being manipulated and revealed only at a point when the customer has made a conscious decision to go ahead with the insulation.

EnergyLink

Just to point out that the exceptions apply to all grants and not just the 100% funding. Also, EnergyLink do not contact people without invitation i.e. we don't do any cold calling. I appreciate that Spriritus did not suggest it was EnergyLink who contacted his mother but I wanted to mention it.

I am not exactly sure why installers / utilities are reluctant to quote over the phone. Pricing has traditionally been left to surveyors. It may be that office staff do not want to get it wrong as there are other variables that must be taken into account, not just the size and what is already fitted. I can understand why this might be frustrating for customers. Personally, I cannot see the harm in quoting a price that is 'subject to survey' but there is a whole industry to convince.

I would be surprised if installers make up the size limits to suit themselves. As I mentioned earlier, they have to work in line with whoever is funding or part-funding the work. If company A has a different limit to company B, it would normally be because they claim their funding from a different source. As the funding comes from the Utility Companies via government directives, a percentage of the work (typically 5%) is quality checked afterwards by the Utility or an agent acting on their behalf. Inspectors not only look at the quality of the workmanship. The costings and the customer satisfaction element are also taken into account. Any installer found to be working outside the schemes run the risk of losing their funding. They would then have to charge full price for the work and as it is a heavily competitive market, they wouldn't last long without funding.

Please note that all private householders are eligible to receive some form of grant assistance. Most customers who do have to pay a contribution towards the work can typically recover the cost within a year or two from the savings made on their heating bills. Without grant funding, insulating a typical house could cost up to £1,000 which would take a lot longer to recover. Also, the popularity of the grant schemes has driven up demand for the materials and thus costs have come down. In the 70s and 80s, cavity wall insulation alone could cost up to £2,000. These schemes are a good thing and people should take advantage now because the funding won't last forever. The current phase of CERT is set to run from 2008 to 2011 and no-one knows for sure what will happen after that. Even within this phase, certain elements such as the Over 70s grants could stop at any time. If the utilities hit their targets early, they can remove the funding without warning. This happenend during EEC1 and EEC2 which were the schemes that CERT replaced and it could easily happen again.

I do take on board the points that have been raised here and I will be looking at ways to improve our customer's experience this week..

spiritus

EnergyLink wrote: »

I am not exactly sure why installers / utilities are reluctant to quote over the phone. Pricing has traditionally been left to surveyors. It may be that office staff do not want to get it wrong as there are other variables that must be taken into account, not just the size and what is already fitted. I can understand why this might be frustrating for customers. Personally, I cannot see the harm in quoting a price that is 'subject to survey' but there is a whole industry to convince.

I am not expecting them to quote me a price over the phone but I am expecting them to inform me as to what the size limits on the loft space are. Why should office staff be worried ? If the limit for a 100% grant is a 55 square metred loft then why can't they tell us that on the phone BEFORE the surveyor comes around.

Why does the surveyor have to see the loft space before telling me what size restrictions are in place to receive a 100% grant. This is what makes me suspicious.

pamron

I have had a surveyor from BG to assess our bungalow for loft insulation under the free scheme but he said that they could only do two thirds of it because of the size He didn't tell me the size of our property or the maximum that could be done.
I accepted this until I spoke to two lots of friends who have had their lofts insulated under this scheme. Both couples have bungalows larger than ours and both had it all done at no cost.
I, therefore, phoned BG to ask about it and the advisor I spoke to confirmed the the surveyor was right. He then told me that the maximum they can do free for our type of property is 48 sq m and ours is 67 sq m.

I have since spoken to one of the friends I mentioned and they definitely got theirs done free and their area is 108sqm. So I phoned the firm that did theirs and asked them what their minimum area was for free and was told that they couldn't tell me but the surveyor that comes out would do that.
I will persevere!