Warmfront - heating installers should read this

[simond]

I have been doing some research on the Government Warmfront grant system, because a customer wanted to take advantage of it.

Basically, Warmfront is billed by the Government as a £400 grant for certain people eg: they might be over 60, they might have broken down or no central heating. The recipient elegibility criteria are strictly fixed by the government.

EAGA Partnership hold the exclusive contract from the government to administer the paperwork and grant rebates. Any installer with suitable credentials can register with EAGA to enable them to offer the grant.

So my 85 yr old customer wants an EAGA grant. We are two days into the install before he mentions it, but never mind. I call EAGA to enquire.

They advise that he is elegible and will send out the forms. We find out that we only get £350 back because EAGA deduct £50 for their admin costs, so it isn't a £400 rebate at all.

When I check the Government criteria for Warmfront it says the old gas boiler has to be broken down for it to be valid - it wasn't. So I ring EAGA helpline to tell them and they tell me not to worry, they will process the Grant anyway.

I ask the girl at EAGA what gives her the authority to change the metrics under which the taxpayer's money can be paid out. She told me she would get a supervisor to call me back - that was three weeks ago.

The central heating installers amongst us may be interested to know that other companies in the EAGA group collectively make them the 2nd largest heating installer in the UK. Yes, HEATING INSTALLER. They own six central heating installation companies, some of which advertise at the top of this page (eg: Iguana Heating).

So here we appear to have a company who are meant to be administering the taxpayers money, but are knowingly breaking the rules set down by the Government for grant elegibility. Larger numbers of grants are therefore processed, at £50 a time for them.

And they appear to be in a position to award grants to their own installation work, making £50 more margin than anyone else can .

 

[bripl]

dig deeper simmond and you will be very surprised at what eaga get up to under the warmfront scheme

 

[Agile]

That iguana have about 400 installers and quote a telephone number that also answered by EAGA !!!

The grant is not limited to £400. It can pay 100% of the cost of a new heating installation for some people. It can also pay for repairs to an existing system.

The main reason that it stinks to me is that the majority of the installs are obviously going to be done by the "associated" installers. The costs are not tested by competitive tender and there is no control on the quality.

Giving a few grants that dont match the criteria dont seem that important to me.

I reported an Iguana employee to the boss who had done his own private job ( badly ) using their CORGI number. No one seemed very botherer so I expect thats rife. Some reading this forum dont like me saying that here because its what they do as well.

Tony

 

[corgiman]

I have tried to get some of this for my clients

but the budget is always gone, no matter what time of the month it is.

rum

Another great idea, poorly implemented!

 

[simond]

Agile

If EAGA knowingly administer grants where the criteria are not being met this could be taken as misplaced altruism with public money.

To materially benefit by £50.00 from administering a grant knowingly not following the agreed Government procedures would be fraud.

 

[Agile]

I dont disagree but I think the grants are all going to the installs by the associated companies and the prices are not being tested. Thats to me far worse.

The EAGA has to get its operating costs paid and doing that from the grant seems one way.

A lady I know was offered a £3000 grant from Brent Council. However to get this she had to first give the employee administering the grants £1000 in cash !!!

Tony

 

[LauraLeah]

we had our boiler replaced by warmfront 18 months ago. what a farce it turned out to be.
my husband has lost his job and our boiler had broken, we had BG boiler cover and a week after it was serviced and it passed, the boiler died!
BG came out and said it was too old to fix, therefor there was nothing they could do!
So the £30 a month cover we had been paying was a waste of money...
I contacted warm front and they came out to access the house and job and we were told we qualified for a £2300 grant to replace the boiler.
Then a week later we got it in writing, only it mentioned in the letter that because our property still had lead piping in it, they would do the work they had promised, only after we had the lead piping removed.
We kicked up a fuss with warmfront and they buckled and they agreed to do the work as we had an 18 month old daughter and by the time warmfront actually actioned the claim, we had been without heating 17 weeks.
We finally got an installation date and the guy who came to install our boiler trashed our kitchen....they totally destoyed one of my kitchen carcase cupboards to remove the old piping (when i had told them i had emptied it and unfastened them from the wall so he could just pull it away from the wall).
And then, when they actually placed the boiler on the wall in my understairs cupboard they some how managed to totally destroy my light fitting to a point where it no longer works. we have done everything we can think of to solve this, but keep coming to a dead end.
I contacted warmfront to make a complaint and still (complained in oct 2007) still no further forward.
i also complained to the company that did the damaging to get them to shell out for a new kitchen carcase for me.
And whenever i ring now, they person i speak to doesnt know anything about it and it seems that they 'lose' my complaint everytime i ring up!!
I now believe that like most things, if they appear to good to be true, they normally are!!

 

[Agile]

If you had unscrewed the kitchen cabinet from the wall I am surprised that you did not move it out of the way yourself.

I do have to say that my reaction is that you have had £2300 of work done for you for free and you are complaining about what seem to me to be minor issues.

Only this afternoon I was speaking to a building worker who works on Council contracts and he was talking about the non working tenants who pay no rent and were getting new heating systems completely free and some of them complain to high heaven as if they were paying for the systems.

 

[holty]

did a bit of work for the council once and you even got tenants complaining about the ground sorce heat pumps installed for them(they dont give enough heat).does p£&s me off when you get complaints from tenants whos heating systems are serviced anually and looked after if broke. yet private owned houses dont have that luxery.

 

[oilman]

I do have to say that my reaction is that you have had £2300 of work done for you for free and you are complaining about what seem to me to be minor issues.

And you call yourself a professional businessman? Or perhaps you don't.

If you were doing work for someone whom you knew was not having to pay for the work, would you think it acceptable that you caused damage, however minor, then left it for them to sort out?

If your answer to this is yes, I hope there are a lot of people who would now go elsewhere than Agile Plumbing and Heating.

 

[keego]

If you were doing work for someone whom you knew was not having to pay for the work, would you think it acceptable that you caused damage, however minor, then left it for them to sort out?

When I was working for a housing association we had a lot of workers with that attitude. What you have to remember with tenanted properties is that although it may be the associations house it is the tenants home, OK if you go in & the place is hanging then treat it with the respect it deserves but most places are clean & tidy & when any work is done then it should be left that way.

 

[swbjackson]

Doesn't matter whether it's a grant job or private install as far as I'm concerned. If I wouldn't be happy with it in my house I won't do it in a customers house. Every job you do is an advert for your workmanship and a posible sales lead.

 

[oilman]

The principle is for me, apart from carrying out the work, and perhaps seeing some improvement in the general area, no one should be able to tell I've been in the house. That also includes not hacking off the householder. Warmfront operators have generally a poor reputation, probably because of a few "U got it 4 free, wot u moanin about?"

 

[gas4you]

Doesn't matter whether it's a grant job or private install as far as I'm concerned. If I wouldn't be happy with it in my house I won't do it in a customers house. Every job you do is an advert for your workmanship and a posible sales lead.

Well said, exactly my philosophy. Word of mouth contact comes from all sources.

Perhaps Tony thinks that those in need only communicate with others in need

Quite often those that receive help are only in this situation temporarily through no fault of their own

Glad you're not a doctor Tony, your bedside manner is atrocious

 

[oilman]

"Stop moaning, I've set your broken arm, a dislocated finger won't kill you. You should have kept it out of the way."